Is Silver The New Gold for the Franchise Industry?

Silver is the second most preferred jewellery metal of Indians. With the current downward spiralling of gold prices, silver is the new-found love of Indians. Silver, which in India has been known as a poor man’s gold, is finding its space with franchisors.

The demand for silver jewellery has sky-rocketed in the past few years. This was not only due to the increase in prices of gold and silver is the cheaper alternative, but also that jewellery companies are bringing out a plethora of trendy designs to target young customers.

India's consumption of silver jewellery jumped 16% in 2018. The ever-increasing price of gold as well as the shifting consumer taste where silver is looked at as a ‘cool’ metal, has shifted the investor’s attention to the silver market. The craze for silver jewellery can be seen by the fact that major jewellery players such as Tanishq, Caratlaneetc has forayed into this segment with their own line of silver jewellery. Brands like Amrapali and Johareez have been the pioneers of exquisite silver jewellery for ye

In fact, realising the potential of the silver jewellery in today’s time, various brands are entering into the market with their own line of silver jewellery and opting for the franchise route to expand their business.

This has opened up an array of the opportunity of people willing to venture into the jewellery segment with low investment.

Millennials are the Driving Factor

A younger generation of millennials have become the driving factor for any business currently. Over 50 per cent of India’s population is less than 25 years of age. This generation has grown with evolving technology. This has brought a paradigm shift in their lifestyle and purchase behaviour. Millennials consumers explore products on the internet and often make online purchases.

They search for great jewellery designs at an affordable price. Artificial jewellery comes in a variety of designs but lacks proper finish whereas, gold and diamond jewellery is expensive. Fine jewellery with gold and diamonds starts at around Rs 20,000. According to a report, millennials tend to buy precious jewellery online only up to the range of 20-30K, not more than that.

Silver jewellery comes in a variety of designs with a maximum range of INR 20K. It offers numerous trendy designs at affordable prices like artificial jewellery but falls in the category of precious metals like gold. Thus, silver jewellery fits in well with the demand and has great acceptance among the youth.

All that Glitters is not Gold

Accessories have become an important part of women’s wardrobe. Today’s Indian women adorn jewellery as an expression of their individuality, rather than by necessity of tradition. They are open to tapping into new designs and trends. Silver jewellery provides them exactly with these options at affordable prices.

Also, silver jewellery, being a precious metal, is a great investment opportunity for the future. Whereas, artificial jewellery have no resale value and gold jewellery comes in traditional designs and cannot be purchased regularly owing to high costs. Hence, with jewellery brands offering a variety of designs in silver, women are increasingly switching from artificial to silver, boosting the revenue of silver jewellery franchises.

A Shining Franchise Opportunity

The rise in demand for silver jewellery made it a profitable franchise opportunity. Earlier, silver was a small part of gold & diamond jewellery stores. But, now the craze for silver jewellery has given rise to independent stores and even many home-based businesses.

A silver jewellery franchise demands for far less investment than other precious jewellery stores. The initial investment starts from 25 lakhs and may range up to 50 lakhs depending upon the area requirement, this includes the franchise fee. The area requirement ranges from 500-700 sq. ft and anticipated percentage return on investment would reach up to 20 % within the payback period of minimum 3 years.