In 2 years, this Jaipur-based team of 3 has recorded sales worth Rs 2 cr with Jewelove
Jewelove has already completed over 1,000 shipments of platinum jewellery across India and abroad.
At a Glance
Startup: Jewelove
Founders: Sambhav Karnawat, Ruchika Beri, Khushboo Patwa
Year it was founded: 2016
Where is it based: Jaipur
Sector: Ecommerce
The problem it solves: Sells platinum jewellery
Funding raised: Bootstrapped
Jewelove, simply put, addresses the love for jewellery; platinum jewellery, to be specific.
The ecommerce platform was started in January 2016 with an aim to bridge the gap between demand and supply for platinum jewellery. “People are not fully aware of platinum jewellery because many of them also consider white gold platinum. This comes with the mindset and education,” says Co-founder and CMO Ruchika Beri.
She adds Jewelove found it easy to penetrate the market and create a niche for itself because there was no one focussing on platinum jewellery. Jaipur is known for being an indigenous hub for jewellery of all kinds, and with the founders based in the city, it was easy for the team to work with manufacturers and understand how to approach the jewellery market.
Ruchika has more than nine years of experience in marketing, branding, digital marketing, and team management across different industries. She has worked with leading brands such as AEGON Life, Ziqitza Health Care Limited and Rubique.com, and was also a visiting faculty at various universities in Mumbai and Jaipur.
Jewelove founder and CEO Sambhav Karnawat, 28, graduated from IIT-Kanpur, after which he discovered his interest in platinum and diamond jewellery. He had earlier worked with a retail jeweller in Jaipur, but the retail model didn’t excite him given its high capital expenditure. Ecommerce was his preferred mode of operation.
Khushboo Patwa, 25, who is a Co-founder and Director at Jewelove, is an image and fashion consultant and has worked with over 100 clients. At Jewelove, she helps enhance the customer experience.
“We had first started selling gold and platinum. To our surprise, we received a good response for platinum jewellery. This made us go back to the drawing board to carve a niche in the platinum and diamond segment,” Ruchika says.
Jewelove is a team of three people. The team also has mentors based in Jaipur, Delhi and US.
Precious customer
Jewelove targets young professionals in the 25-35 years age group who seek minimalistic jewellery, and do not want gold or artificial jewellery. The startup has jewellery for both men and women, and also offers a wedding jewellery collection or "couple band" that includes neckpieces, bangles and earrings.
The company has a stronger focus on its flagship category, which is wedding and engagement bands. A basic band ranges from Rs 33,000 to Rs 50,000, and a basic couple band starts at Rs 45,000.
If an item is in stock when ordered, it is shipped the very next day, but on average, it takes 12-14 days to ship products across India. Ruchika says there have been instances where they received orders in the morning, and shipped the jewellery in the evening for an engagement the next day.
Ruchika adds their first order was from the US, and came through word-of-mouth and acquaintances. Jewelove currently has more than 1000 customers.
This year, Jewelove won the award for highest sales of platinum jewellery in North India by PGI.
In the world of jewellery
Jewelove differentiates itself from its competitors with the customer experience it provides, and its designs. Several jewellers like Kalyan Jewellers, and Malabar Gold have started a line of platinum jewellery, and Jewelove also faces competition from online retailers like CaratLane and BlueStone among others, and retail chains like Tanishq and Reliance Jewels.
“We work on creating a wow experience for the customers as we believe jewellery is not just a piece, but tells the story of the person wearing it. Every piece of jewellery is crafted with love and has a personal touch as we understand the emotions and sentiments behind the purchase. By creating such experiences, we have got some lifetime customers,” says Ruchika says.
Jewelove claims to have more than 700 designs on its website, and most of these have been designed in-house depending on the trends and dynamics in the market, and the team works closely with manufacturers to ensure purity and workmanship.
The designs are created mostly by the team. Jewelove does not have a manufacturing unit so it gets a piece manufactured from vendors after an order is placed. Jewelove is close to a zero-inventory model, and works as a mix of pureplay as well as a managed marketplace. It has positive unit economics.
Ruchika explains the main challenge is the transition of customers’ mindset from buying gold jewellery to platinum. Though it takes time, preferences are changing and people now can differentiate between platinum and white gold.
Currently bootstrapped, Jewelove plans to soon raise funding. With revenue growth of 25-30 percent per annum, Jewelove has clocked Rs 2 crore in sales so far, though profits have been low. The jewellery market in India is growing at 25 percent CAGR, and is pegged at Rs 3,000 crore. Globally, the market is valued at close to $6 billion.
In this evolving platinum and diamond jewellery industry, Jewelove wishes to be a dominant player with the biggest collection. It aims to increase its product line to over 1,500 designs from what they have now.