Citizens shop for gold, silver & household items for Dasara

Pune: City jewellers are gearing up to attend to a rush of customers dropping into their shops to pick up pre-booked gold items on Dasara.
Though gold rates are soaring above Rs 60,000 per 10 gram, citizens are purchasing the yellow metal in anticipation for further price hikes.
Vastupal Ranka, director, House of Ranka Jewellers, said, “Sales have been up since the start of Navaratra.Many people are buying gold jewellery during Dasara for the upcoming wedding season. We expect this trend to on Diwali also.”
Ranka added, “There is also an increase in the sale of silver with customers buying Laxmi idols, dry fruit boxes and other jewellery items. Customers are taking advantage of the festive discounts and offers by jewellers.”
On an average, customers are spending in the range of Rs 50,000-2,00,000 on gold, silver or gem-based jewellery at chain stores this Dasara.
Saurabh Gadgil, chairman and managing director, PNG Jewellers, said, “We have seen a huge uptick across all categories of gold, silver and natural diamonds. Consumer sentiment has turned bullish, not only this season but for the next two to three years. Almost all mutual and hedge funds have predicted gold crossing the $ 2200/ounce mark from the current levels of approximately $1970/ounce by next year, creating a sense of buying opportunity among consumers.”
He said, “I estimate around 30% increase in quantity-wise sales from last Dasara. About 30% quantity sales this year would be in bullion and the rest in jewellery. Diamond prices have also seen a correction and there is huge demand for natural diamond jewellery.”
Sales at smaller single-store jewellers seem to have taken a hit this year. Shailesh Bhavsar, owner of a jewellery shop on Sinhagad Road, said, “Single-stores have not yet come out of the slouch in sales since the pandemic, but business is getting better year after year. This year due to reasons such as an unfavourable monsoon and hike in gold price, it has become a little more difficult for middleclass and lower-middleclass households to spend lavishly on luxury items.”
Many citizens are also opting to buy furniture and kitchen items during the festival. “We are buying a set of pressure cookers to replace our old ones that were in use for over 10-15 years,” said Radhika Prakash, a resident of Kharadi.
Prateeksha Trivedi from Wagholi, said, “For people like me who work nightshifts, proper sleep is paramount. Towards this, I have been saving up to buy a high-quality mattress this Dasara.”
Ecommerce websites also reported a hike in sales of home, kitchen and outdoor furniture in Maharashtra. K N Srikanth, director, Amazon India, said, “Pune is witnessing a 70% year-on-year order surge for our home, kitchen, and outdoor category this festive season. Around 50% of our customer base in Maharashtra comes from Tier-2 and higher cities/towns, contributing to the highest number of new customers for our home, kitchen and outdoors market.”