We are publishing an interview of Mr. Sunil Sony, Co-founder, Jewelebration.
About the founders
Sunil Sony – (Co-Founder): Sunil is passionate about Internet and the shift of consumer behaviour towards e – commerce. He is a staunch believer that it is the way for any business to grow! The kerygma is to take care of every customer and deliver an experience of buying with Jewelebration.
An MBA in Finance, Sunil began his career as an Investment Banker. His experience is of more than ten years in debt syndication. A certified gemmologist from the Gemological Institute of America, he started Jewelebration in 2016 with a vision to bring his family’s century old preserved heritage to everyone’s doorstep.
He Came from Asansol a small town in West Bengal. Pursued an MBA in Kolkata, became an investment banker and served for 8 Years, however, my passion dragged me to our ancestral jewellery business.
Manish Verma – (Co-Founder): Manish has a gigantic experience of the retail and manufacture industry due to his family business. He holds a MBA in marketing from Symbiosis International University and also a professional Gemologist degree from International Gemological Institute.
Manish’s role is to procure the raw materials the most competitive prices to trickle down the benefits to the customers. His zeal lies in providing a hassle free experience to the customers and keeping an unquestionable quality of his products!
Manish is from Janakpur, Nepal and completed his higher studies and MBA from Pune, India. He is in India for more than 12 Years now.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Pressing problem, transparency and reliability, increase choice, improved quality, personalization and shopping experience.
What is the uniqueness about your Startup?
‘My roots lie in the jewellery business’, said Sunil. Sunil also shared, ‘I came from Asansol a small town in West Bengal. Pursued an MBA in Kolkata, became an investment banker, however, my passion dragged me to our ancestral jewellery business. However, with changing times and convenience of customers, we have shifted gears from traditional buying to online shopping and I had to adhere and imbibe this in my business too!’ According to estimates, the trend of buying jewellery online will only increase. The current market is worth 13 million USD, by 2022, it will rise to 2 billion USD!
In the Indian e- commerce market, the online jewellery sales figures are infinitesimal. The percentage is microscopic; however, Sunil and Manish see a possibility of growth in this market. Manish be it Gold, Diamond or Platinum, Jewelebration design and deliver all sorts of jewellery with certificate of transparency that speaks of the quality of jewellery the customers are buying.
Jewelery is our family business and we thought to take it to another level after observing the trends of e – commerce in India. It was solely our passion to expand our family business that led to Jewelebration.
“Jewelebration” is a vision to bring our century old preserved heritage to everyone’s doorstep. Based in Kolkata, we want to showcase our pride and in-house “karigari” (creation) through our online Jewellery store, where we have fine collections of India’s Best Ethnic Jewellery specialising in Gold, Diamond and Platinum Jewellery. We started by designing jewellery that was modern and affordable. Jewellery that would fit today’s lifestyles and could be worn every day and not relegated to the lockers. We put up our jewellery, the specifications and the pricing transparently online – something that traditional jewellers never did.
What is the revenue model? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free / Freemium / Premium etc. ? Explain your thought process.
When it come to difference between US and others. Its’ our Team, Design and most important Pricing.
• Unlike other e-tailors that either outsource some or all of their manufacturing operations, our unique demand driven and ‘zero inventory’ made-to-order zero store rent, staff & overheads business model helps to save up to 30% so that we can pass down that benefit to our customers.
• We keep on trying to make our website a user friendly and more informative, therefore we have provide every single specification and details so that our customer can understand it very easily.
• Designers create the latest design keeping customer preferences and demands in mind.
• Pricing:- We don’t believe in giving the high percentage of discount to customers by raising the price in prior rather we’ll give them the real and honest price.
Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them?
The jewellery market in India is proliferating however; there are certain challenges for selling jewellery online. In India, buying jewellery is a tradition & always resonates with the most important things in life such as wedding, festivals etc. It is one accessory that everyone wants to touch, feel and try.
We operate across all categories in the precious jewellery segment, but our focus is to make jewellery that fits today’s lifestyles and could be worn everyday. Pendants, necklaces, earrings and bracelets are among the top items purchased from our site.
Our target audience is between the age group of 20 – 50. Jewellery, being a customized and expensive, we make available thousands of designs with mouse clicks without having to go anywhere!
What is the big picture of your startup? Will it lead to something bigger? If so, how?
We deliver across India, we work with multiple courier partners to make sure we can deliver anywhere and everywhere in the country. Our website features over 5,000 unique designs from a wide collection of themes for every occasion and ships to over 10,000 pin codes across the country.
One of the biggest single order received by Jewelebration was worth Rs 3.3 lakhs for ladies bracelet. We want to leverage technology to streamline the shopping experience that will leading to scaling up the business
What is the success story of your startup in your own words?
I always remember this Quote in mind “Challenges always make us stronger” by “Arun Yellamaty”
As we are into e-retailing that too into Jewellery we have came across with various challenges and we have also overcome some of them are.
• Touch and Fill: Some of our customers weren’t sure about the exact size of the jewellery from the images and guide provided and they also miss the whole “Touch and Feel” experience. Therefore, we have introduced our unique “Try on a 3D printed model” feature. Using this feature, you can request an exact physical 3D printed replica of your jewellery and try it on in the comfort of your home before making an informed purchase. (Available within India)
• Trust: All our Jewellery are accompanied by the genuine and valid certificate from an independent & reputable organisation such as GIA/ IGI and BIS hallmarked. Upfront pricing, detailed specification and breakup is provided for more trust.
Any other information about your startup that you would like to share with us.
• During the first two years of operations, the primary focus is to strengthen the team, design, packaging, manufacturing, logistics and brand building. We want to leverage technology to streamline the shopping experience that will leading to scaling up our business.
• Since we are into jewellery it is very necessary to create “Trust” and retain it all the time. So we are totally focused on the same and this is where and why we are keeping the Tag of “Honest and real Price” and not giving the High percentage of Discounts”.
• We are planning to offer our loyalty programme, thereby giving existing buyers more choice and better deals. We have a host of new collections lined up for the year which you will see in the next few months. While enjoying the benefit of our unique feature – online, we also look at Jewelebration as platform which offers wide range jewelery products in India at modelled stores.
• Brand Building Generating awareness, establishing and promoting company using strategies and tactics.
• Bootstrap, as we are new but over the last two years we have served more than 1500 orders in India as well as outside of India having ASP of Rs. 15000.
• Our FB followers are over 1 Lac