Amid High Tariff Rates & Rising Gold Prices, Caratlane Continues Its International & Domestic Expansion Plans Around INR 50 to INR 60 crore would be invested in marketing and for the rest of the portfolio, capex would be 15, 20 percent up over last year, says, Saumen Bhaumik, MD, CaratLane

Although rising gold rates have dampened demand in the short term, moving forward the market looks optimistic. Despite headwinds, the wedding season of April and May was not disappointing. With a 24 percent year-on-year(YoY) growth in the financial year (FY) 2024-2025, Titan owned Caratlane, the maker of accessible luxury jewellery, aims to maintain the growth momentum in FY26. The company has plans to expand its international presence coupled with a focus on strengthening its domestic market. The retailer is also diving into Quick Commerce.

"In the month of June, surely this rising gold rate has dampened demand. But once the dust settles down, people reconcile with the new normal. We expect to maintain the growth trajectory and as part of expansion, we would be opening 40 stores mostly in Tier II and III towns," said Saumen Bhaumik, MD, CaratLane.

Another major blow to the Indian jewellery industry was US President Donald Trump's 27 per cent tariff on the sector. This announcement caused major disruption as the US is one of the major exporting destinations for India. "This tariff was very steep and sudden. It surely impacted us and it was not something that business could have held back, and hence we had to pass it on. Therefore we suddenly saw a slowdown in business. July is the month of clarity in this regard. We have one physical store in New Jersey and we saw its effect there. Even our online sale, which is the bulk of our business to the US, witnessed a slowdown," he added.

The company will be adding a second store in Dallas, US, in another three to four months. This is a pilot phase. Later, it would add a couple of stores in the Middle East, more specifically Dubai. "We intend to accomplish this before this financial year ends. This is our international experiment. Depending on how these two pilots go, one in the US, another in the Middle East, we will decide the next set of actions," he explained.

In India, the top 14 cities contribute around 70 percent of total revenue. Currently, it has 330 stores across 140-plus towns, cities. Almost 90 percent of the total revenue comes from offline stores and online contributes around 10 percent.

CaratLane is also diving into Quick commerce. Explaining the way ahead, the CEO said, "We have no intention of partnering with any other quick commerce players. We are doing the experiment ourselves in two cities, Gurgaon and soon we will do it in Bangalore. This is to check whether significant reduction in intraday delivery raises demand or not. In a couple of months we will get a clear picture." They are experimenting with options of six hours, four hours, weekday and weekend. "We have got to try a few options and obviously we are not looking for a 10 minute delivery right now."

The focus continues to be in the creation of beautiful jewelry at an affordable price, with an aim to make digital platforms only experiences more seamless. The company is doing multiple things in order to stay relevant and attempting to grow with customers, such as experimenting with nine carat jewellery, silver brand Shaya, Shaya home for artifacts, amongst others.

Shaya has as many as 10 retail stores, one in Mumbai, one in Punea and six in Bangalore. "We will not open anymore, at least not in the immediate future. However, Shaya will be available in many Caratlane stores in the next three to six months," he said.

With ambitious goals for the future, investment in marketing, in the inventory, and in the product line are the top priority, coupled with factory expansion. "We are setting up a brand new state-of-the-art factory in Chennai in another four, five months time and then we are going to set up half a dozen flagship stores around the country in the bigger cities. The capex would be roughly in the ballpark of INR 50 to 60 crore in the marketing and for the rest of the portfolio 15, 20 percent up over last year," Bhaumik concluded.