MARKETING CHANNELS AND STRATEGIES IN

JEWELLERY INDUSTRY

Channels of distribution are the mean by which products are

moved from producer to ultimate consumer. Channel intermediaries

are those organizations which facilitate the distribution of products

from producer to consumer. They serve several specialized

functions that enable manufacturers to make their goods available to

their consumers at the place according to their requirements.

According to American Marketing Association1, “A

channel of distribution or marketing channel is the structure of

intra-company organization units and extra-company agents and

dealers, wholesale and retail through which a commodity, product

or service is marketed.

According Richard M. Clevelt2, “A channel is the pipe line

through which a product flows on its way to the consumer. The

manufacturer puts his product into the pipe line or marketing

channel and various people move it along to the consumer at the

other end of the channel.”

Thus marketing channel is the connecting link between the

manufacturer and consumer which includes a number of

intermediaries. Further, the distribution channel may have a number

1 American Marketing Association Quoted by Pillai, R.S.N. & Bagavathi; Modern Marketing Principles and Practices; S. Chand & Co. Ltd.; N.Dlh.. 1998; p. 296. 2 Ibid.; p. 296.

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of stages. Channel length or complexity depends on the range of

functions required.

Thus the physical distribution of products involved broad

range of activities relating to efficient movement of such products

from the production to the consumption level. In other words, the

distribution channel comprises set of institutions which performs all

the activities or functions utilized to move a product and its title

from production to consumption.

Following are the several distribution channels of different

complexity:

Manufacturer Consumer

Manufacturer Retailer Consumer

Manufacturer Wholesaler Retailer Consumer

Manufacturer Agent Wholesaler Retailer Consumer

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(A) MARKETING CHANNELS IN JEWELLERY

INDUSTRY In district Meerut the following marketing channels are found

in case of marketing of Jewellery:

I - Structure

MANUFACTURERS (KARIGARS)

WHOLESALERS

COMMISSION AGENTS

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

The above one is the complete marketing structure of

Jewellery industry. According to this structure, first of all, the

manufacturers approach to the wholesalers to sell their new

designed Jewellery. After getting the new designed Jewellery the

wholesalers make their approach to the retailers directly and / or

through the commission agents and then this Jewellery is finally

sold to the customers according to their requirements and likings. In

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this structure the Jewellery is also manufactured according to the

consumer’s needs and want.

II - Structure

MANUFACTURERS CUM WHOLESALERS

COMMISSION AGENTS

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

The above marketing channel is also noticed with different

degree of popularity in urban, suburban and rural areas. In this

structure manufacturers cum wholesalers get their product

manufactured in large quantity according to the latest trend, taste

and preferences of the customers. They take the services of the

commission agents to find the suitable and potential buyers in the

retail market. The commission agents search the retailers in the

markets and get orders from them. By doing so, these agents

establish healthy communication with retailers and provide them

the desired product at reasonable making charges. Here it is worth

mentioning that these commission agents are concerned with their

commission only and they do not participate in the profit at all. The

rest of the activities which are being performed between retailers

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and ultimate consumers are found to be as usual as they follow in

another structures.

III - Structure

MANUFACTURERS (KARIGARS)

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

The above one is another marketing channel which is being

noticed during the survey. In the above structure the manufacturers

of jewellery try to sell their products in the open markets. This is

the market where they directly contact to the retailers and show

their new designs to them and get the manufacturing orders

accordingly. Actually these orders are also booked by the

consumers but in that case first consumers select designs and

Jewellery is manufactured accordingly.

Practically the above structure is less popular in urban areas.

It means this marketing channel does register its existence in urban

areas but in suburban areas it is very much popular. In other words,

the above structure is followed in suburban areas with highest

degree of success. As far as the rural area is concerned this method

of marketing is less popular.

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IV - Structure

MANUFACTURERS (KARIGARS)

CONSUMERS

The above one is the last but not the least marketing structure.

This is basically based on the direct marketing system. But this

method is practically popular and followed in rural areas by the

manufacturer of small holdings. The above marketing structure

involves only two activities right from manufacturer to consumers

and consumers to manufacturers. The manufacturer of Jewellery

keep very little quantity of jewellery with him to show to the

consumers and make the consumers aware about the latest trend in

the market but even though if consumers do not like the product

they make necessary amendment in the existing product and also

make new jewellery on their demand. But the success or

significance of the above structure is restricted, as the number of

consumers in the rural areas is limited.

This marketing structure is most popular only in rural areas

because of the favorable circumstances prevailing here. In rural

areas the manufacturers generally have very less amount of capital

with them to invest that is why they prefer to manufacture the

product according to the want and taste of the consumers and not to

make any stock of them.

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As far as the popularity of the above structure is concerned, it

is not popular in urban areas because of the limitations prevailing in

these markets for the applicability of this structure. Moreover, in

urban and suburban areas the manufacturers of Jewellery have

plenty of design with them according to the taste and preferences of

consumers.

MARKETING CHANNELS OF JEWELLERY AT

NATIONAL LEVEL

Marketing of any produce at National level means sale and

distribution of products in different parts of the country. When the

manufacturers of one state go to sell their product to other state, this

is called sale at national level. Mainly there are two basic structures

which are being followed by the manufacturer of Jewellery. They

are as follows:

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I - Structure

MANUFACTURERS

COMMISSION AGENTS

WHOLESALERS

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

In the above structure the manufacturers of Jewellery send

their agents to the state in which they want to sell their product and

get orders with the help of them. As we know that Jewellery is very

precious and it is very difficult to carry it in a large quantity, so for

this purpose orders are taken by showing the design-book. This kind

of structure is also followed in case, where a specific product is

manufactured and the demand is product-oriented only as we see in

case of “Chain” and “Paizeb”. These products are also known by

their names according to the design. These items are sold all over

India by their popular names. Another reason of following this

structure is to ensure the proper consumption of the products, as the

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entire quantity cannot be ensured to be consumed in specific area

where it is manufactured.

II - Structure

MANUFACTURER

WEBSITES

RETAIL OUTLETS

CONSUMERS

The above structure is also followed by the manufacturers of

branded jewellery. The main reason of following this structure is to

save the charges paid to different marketing intermediaries viz.

wholesalers, commission agents and retailers. The branded

companies establish their research labs and manufacturing

workshops and get the jewellery manufactured according to latest

fashion and consumers preferences. The branded companies also

display their designs on their websites and try to attract rather

convince to the consumers of branded jewellery. Moreover, they

open their retail outlets at central places of different cities in the

country.

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MARKETING CHANNELS OF JEWELLERY AT

INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

It is known to all of us that international level marketing

channels are used for export or import of a particular product or

produce. According to Hess and Cateora3 “International marketing

is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of

goods and services to consumers or users in more than one nation”.

It means that international Marketing involves in itself different

markets and consumers who might have different needs, wants and

behavioral attributes. A suitable distribution strategy is needed to be adopted in

case of international marketing. The existence of more than one

market at international level necessarily makes the marketing

process complicated. Since the different countries of the world are

independent; the government of each country enacts legislation to

control the foreign trade. In other words, the decisions regarding

physical distribution involve internal as well as external organ, legal

commitment and obligations to other firms and individuals and the

International marketing runs through all the rules and regulations of

concerned countries.

Thus the process of international level marketing has a great

difference with the process of national level marketing. Hence the

3 Hess & Cateors; International marketing; Irwin Publications: London, 1996. P. 4.

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marketing channels for exporting goods like Readymade Jewellery

is very much different from channels used in national or local level.

As international level marketing procedure is lengthy as compared

to local and national level marketing procedure, hence a high degree

of attention is required for planning marketing structure at

international level.

The different marketing structures, which are being used for

international marketing of Jewellery by Manufacturers and other

persons are as follows:

I - Structure

MANUFACTURERS

DOMESTIC MIDDLEMEN (Export agencies etc.)

MIDDLEMEN IN FOREIGN MARKETS (Merchants)

RETAILERS IN FOREIGN MARKETS

CONSUMERS IN FOREIGN MARKETS

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In this structure first of all the Manufacturers of said product

contact to the local export agencies and other authorized

commission agents who run such kind of agencies to help the

exporters in the country. Here it is to be mentioned that these

agencies deal in specific products, hence a manufacturer having

interest in exporting his product has to contact these specific

agencies for the purpose. These domestic agencies having their

contacts with the foreign middlemen send the specifications to

them. Then the foreign agencies collect the orders from different

local and national markets in their countries

After getting these orders these foreign agencies finally order

for required quantity to the exporter manufacturers fulfilling all the

legal formalities for the import of the product. After this the

exporter manufacturer exports the product taking care of the

packaging standard and all required legal formalities. So far as the

jewellery export is concerned from Meerut district; there are so

many big houses which export it in a large quantity to the different

countries of the world.

After getting the delivery of the required jewellery, these

foreign agencies supply it to the firms which ordered it earlier.

These firms sell it to the final users in their country.

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II - Structure

MANUFACTURERS

MIDDLEMEN IN FOREIGN MARKETS

RETAIL OUT LET IN FOREIGN MARKETS

CONSUMERS IN FOREIGN MARKETS

The above structure of international marketing of Jewellery is

also found from last few years. Now Manufacturers of Jewellery are

getting aware about the export of their product in foreign countries

and want to compete in the international market after eliminating

undue intermediaries and their unusual margin. In this case they

directly make contact to the export-import agencies involved in

sales and purchase of Jewellery and send them their designs and

other specifications of their products for finalizing the deal with

them. After that the foreign agencies sell these produces to different

retail outlets in their countries. Thus the product reaches in the

hands of ultimate consumers through these retailers. Though this

structure is not very popular in case of export of Jewellery yet it

involves more transparency as compared to the earlier one.

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(B) MARKETING BEHAVIOUR AND STRATEGIES OF JEWELLERS

Marketing behaviour of Jewellers is nothing but a set of

strategy to be adopted for marketing their Jewellery to its ultimate

customers. In this regard whatever may be the technique, policy and

strategy adopted by jewellers to influence and attract their

customers comes under the ambit of marketing behaviour of

jewellers. Generally it is believed that Jewellers behave according

to the market as they are supposed to be the part of the market in

which they are dealing, but now the scenario is completely changed

and Jewellers behave according to the different attitudes of the

customers. Now they have started considering likings and dislikings

of customers while making Jewellery. In some specific cases

Jewellery is manufactured according to the requirements of the

customers. In this way now jewellers are trying to pick up more and

more customer loyalty by providing different types of ‘after sale

service’ like free repair and cleaning of the Jewellery etc.

Now Jewellers are adopting various modern marketing tools

to make their customers aware about their products which include

E-marketing, gold harvesting schemes, exchange offers only on

making charges, hallmark system etc. Various Jewellery designs

along with its weight and price are displayed on websites. In such a

way a customer can even order Jewellery online. During survey it

was noticed that in Meerut District the implication of such method

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is limited to a specific class only. Still today the customers of

Jewellery enjoy buying it by making a feel for touching it

personally which inspires and fascinate them to buy it.

Customers buying behaviour has changed dramatically in the

past few years. Now the customers are well informed and have

more choices about how they spend their money than ever before.

They want to buy the selected pieces of Jewellery which may

satisfy their emotional needs too. Now the competitive landscape

has changed and Jewellery retailers are no longer just competing

with each other by the traditional techniques but with the latest

developed strategies like offer of Branded Jewellery, Financial

facilities, Exchange offers, Lucky Draws, Transportation Facilities,

Sponsorship on festivals and other occasions, Special Offers (Free

Gifts), Price Discount, Refreshments, Personal Attention etc.

Understanding their customers’ needs is the first step for

winning business. In this regard the motivations and different

strategies are involved in the purchase of Jewellery and finally,

suggest ways in which jewellers can work to establish relationship

with their customers.

For this purpose a jeweller is supposed to find out the answers

of some questions and also to find out the answers for making their

marketing strategy. These questions are as below:

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I. WHAT INSPIRES THE CUSTOMERS?

Every jeweller wants to know what are the factors which

inspire customers to enter their shop and buy Jewellery? In fact they

want to know about their life style, taste, purchasing power, fashion

etc. They want to know what type of Jewellery they are likely to

buy in future. Why do they like to come to their shops rather than

their competitors? They also want to understand what the customers

dream for buying when they enter their showroom and why they

think of buying the Jewellery? In fine it is the desire of jewellers to

know about their customers to lift their business performance?

Without such deep knowledge, they cannot face the customers

confidently and it would be difficult to convince them to buy their

items of Jewellery. Thus every jeweller likes to know the behaviour

of their customers in depth so that he may act accordingly.

II. WHAT IS CUSTOMER’S BUYING PROCESS?

Customers’ research has shown that most Jewellery

customers follow a fairly standard process when making their

Jewellery purchase. Understanding this process makes it possible

for Jeweller to target his marketing and advertising to encourage

potential customers to come to his shop and buy Jewellery. For him,

it is important to understand what is happening to his customers

when they come to his shop. In other words, what are the

circumstances which inspire a customer to come to a Jewellery shop

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and to buy it? It may be the occasion of marriage, marriage

anniversary or birthday; who is the customer…man or woman; how

he/she takes it…seriously or lightly; what is his/her purchasing

power; what types of pressures are on him/her to buy Jewellery;

what are the schemes and offers attracting him/her; and what are

his/her relations with the jewellers etc? All these circumstances

decide the buying process and enforce a customer to buy Jewellery

from a particular shop.

After finding the answers of the above questions and knowing

about the buying behaviour and process of the customers; jewellers

make their marketing strategy.

STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY BRANDED AND

NON-BRANDED JEWELLERS

What traditional jewellers believe in is public relations.

According to them public relations is an extremely effective tool for

promoting and marketing their Jewellery business. It helps them in

building their customer base by making people aware of what's

happening at their business and by upgrading their Jewellery

according to the requirements of the customers.

Marketing their Jewellery successfully involves finding ways

to connect their customers with their work. Public relations and

marketing are important areas for them to concentrate some of their

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creative energy and they can have a good time developing this

aspect of their Jewellery business.

They believe considering their market and their customers

and brainstorm ways to get their attention. They try different

strategies to attract more and more customers.

Some of the traditional jewellers have made some thing new

in practice to get aware about their customers. The number of such

jewellers is very less but still it is an effective method of keeping

updated. Along the way, they compile an ongoing collection of

information of their existing and probable customers. It proves

helpful in enriching their jewelry business.

Some of the traditional Jewellers are providing even finance

facilities just to promote their sale. What they are doing they just

sale their product and ask them to make payment in installments.

This kind of practice is not very common and it is based on an

utmost good faith. Only few Jewellers are providing such type of

facilities to their reliable customer only. In villages a good number

of Jewellers make their sale effective only by this way. They

change old Jewellery for new one and difference is charged by the

customer in various installments as per their convenience. This type

of marketing practices helps in gathering those customers who are

willing to purchase the Jewellery in the present but want to pay in

installments. Such kind of strategy helps the jewellers to make their

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product marketed by this way and thus they ensure frequent visit of

their customers.

Some other strategies are being given below which are

adopted by branded and non-branded jewellers in the Jewellery

market of Meerut District.

EXCHANGE OFFER

This is a very common marketing strategy which is being

followed by almost all the jewellers. In general practice customers

have doubt in their minds regarding the purity of gold Jewellery.

Even after buying from the Jewellers from whom they have been

buying for a long. In this case the jewellers give offer to exchange

the Jewellery at the said percentage of purity to make their

goodwill. It helps both the customers as well as jewellers in creating

mutual understanding and belief among them. Thus customers get

satisfaction regarding purity of their Jewellery as well as jewellers

get customer for a long period after satisfying their doubts

regarding the purity of Jewellery.

LUCKY DRAWS

Now a days it is very common in Meerut District that the

Jewellers announce various lucky draw schemes in which the

purchase of a certain amount of gold makes a customer eligible to

participate in a lucky draw. This fascinating event helps in

improving their sale. Now the customer wishes to go to the new

jeweller each time as each jeweller today is ensuring about the

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purity of the gold sold by him. So the buyers wish to enjoy a

movement and want to participate in such kind of lucky draws.

Actually such lucky draws generally contain very attractive

proposals for their customers such as first prize 100 gm gold set,

second prize a 3 day holiday package at any hill station and the

third, fourth prizes……and so on.

TRANSPORTATION FACILITY

In Meerut district now the jewellers are providing

transportation facility to their customers to make them loyal.

Actually being and expensive item Jewellery is considered to be

risky during transportation. In this regard now the jewellers are

providing transportation facilities to their customers. This not only

promotes their sales but make their customers loyal also. It is being

realized by the jewellers that now customers are expecting some

thing unique from their side. This is an additional way of promoting

their own-shop brand. It is specially given to the customers who

make the purchase of large amount and want to avoid the risk arises

in transit.

SPONSORSHIP ON FESTIVALS AND OTHER

OCCASIONS

During research it was also observed that the jewellers in

Meerut district sponsor various gift items at the time of festivals and

other occasions. Besides above, they provide sponsorship to various

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awards and trophies during various educational fates and sports

events. It not only helps them in promoting their brand but make

their active presence in various social events too.

SPECIAL OFFERS (FREE GIFTS)

The jewellers of district Meerut launch special offer schemes

time to time for their customers for the purpose to increase their

sales. They generally distribute free gifts to their customers on the

purchase of Jewellery of a certain amount. For example they offer

silver and gold coins or gift coupons to them. By adopting this

strategy they remain successful in attracting a large number of

customers to their showrooms.

PRICE DISCOUNT

The jewellers of this district also launch a price discount

scheme on some occasions. This strategy is adopted generally in

case of Diamond Jewellery. For example Tanishq launched this

scheme so many times saying that a customer can purchase their

Diamond Jewellery @ 75% of their M.R.P.

REFRESHMENTS

Generally the jewellers of this district provide different types

of snacks, coffee, tea and cold drinks to their customers so that they

may feel relaxed and may select their ornaments in easy mood. This

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strategy generally pays the jewellers in the form of increase sales

and ultimately more profits.

PERSONAL ATTENTION

This is the welcome strategy. As a customer reaches the

showroom, first of all the watchman gives a warm salute to him and

as he enters inside, the staff welcomes him/her and pays its personal

attention to him/her. In some specific cases the owner himself pays

his personal attention to the customers. It occurs when the customer

is a renowned personality or a big buyer or his very near and dear.

Generally the staff helps the customers in matching their choice in

accordance to their purchasing capacity. Thus the staff establishes

its personal relations with the customers which proves beneficial to

the showroom in future too.

Thus it can be concluded that the jewellers of District Meerut

adopt different strategies to attract customers. These strategies are -

Branded Jewellery, Financial facilities, Exchange offers, Lucky

Draws, Transportation Facilities, Sponsorship on festivals and other

occasions, Special Offers (Free Gifts), Price Discount,

Refreshments, Personal Attention etc.

STRATEGIES OF BRANDED JEWELLERY MAKERS

While Jewellery has been evolving as a category in India, It is

believed that the present era is going to be the period of branded

Jewellery. Brands in the Jewellery category will blossom and grow

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and this category will fully bloom and make a huge jump in terms

of its acceptance and growth.

There are certain trends which will make the coming future

sovereign of branded Jewellery. People can use these trends to their

advantage to grow their individual brands in the future.

It is believed for many years that Jewellery was purchased as

an investment option. The entire thinking was related to

appreciation or using it as a security measure during bad times.

However, it is expected that in coming future branded Jewellery

will be purchased and used less for investment and more for

consumption. It will be used as a consumer product to delight the

consumer, fulfill the desires, enhance beauty and be a part of attire.

In the late 1990s, players in the branded gold Jewellery market formulated strategies for wooing customers. According to Jacob Kurian (Kurian), Chief Operating Officer of a leading brand Tanishq, the challenges were many.

As the Jewellery market was highly fragmented, lacked branding, and allowed many unethical practices to flourish, Tanishq worked hard on a two-pronged brand-building strategy: cultivate trust by educating customers about the unethical practices in the business and change the perception of Jewellery as a high-priced purchase.

After all Kurian Said, "We are changing the attitudes of customers from blind trust to informed trust." To increase its market share, Tanishq formulated a strategy for luring people away from

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traditional neighborhood jewellers. Tanishq's strategy was to create differentiation and build trust.

According to Kurian, the first part of the strategy was "to

provide a point of differentiation in a highly commoditized category

– which is the whole point of branding." The second part of the

strategy was to project Tanishq as an unimpeachable mark of trust.

According to Kurian, "If differentiation plays the role of primary

attraction, trust takes care of lifelong loyalty." One way to create

differentiation was through design.

The emphasis had to be on design because local jewellers could offer to design any pattern according to the customer's specifications. For a national brand a generic design concept with regional variations had to be evolved. For this, Tanishq set up a seven member in-house design team and also outsourced designs from freelance designers.

The designers visited different parts of the country to get feedback on Tanishq's designs and collected information about customer preferences. On the basis of this feedback, each showroom could select the designs it would carry. To stay ahead of competition from local jewellers, Tanishq decided to focus on quality control. In 1999, it introduced carat meters which showed the purity of gold.

In fact, Tanishq's USP was the purity of its gold. Accordingly, the company's ad campaigns emphasized the purity aspect of all Tanishq ornaments. In November 2002, Tanishq introduced a new collection of Jewellery called ‘Lightweights Jewellery’.

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The collection featured neckwear, earrings, bangles, rings and chains in 22 karat gold with prices starting at Rs 1,100. It also launched Lightweight Diamonds, with prices starting at Rs 3,000. Tanishq focused not only on urban markets, but small town markets too.

Besides, competition from stores in small towns was less stiff than competition from the large Jewellery stores in the metropolitan cities. According to Kurian, the best returns on investment came from small towns.

Carbon's focus had always been to move Jewellery from the vault to the dressing table and bring the selling of Jewellery out of heavily guarded Jewellery stores. This was achieved by persuading a few lifestyle stores to add branded Jewellery to their vast array of products. Besides selling from lifestyle stores, Carbon also sold its products as gift items over the internet. Like Tanishq, Carbon laid emphasis on design.

Most of its designs were contributed by students at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) through the diploma programme which the company sponsored. In addition, Peakok's team of six designers, (headed by Rajeswari Iyer, an alumnus of a German design school who had worked in the U.K., Germany and India) turned out around 180 to 200 styles in a year, with 75 designs per style.

At any point in time, there were around 600 designs of Carbon on sale, and on an average, 300 to 400 pieces per design were sold. In 2002, Carbon launched its 'Sun Sign' collection, which

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was based on the symbols of the Zodiac. This collection was a set of 12 pendants designed in a blend of 18 carat white and yellow gold.

While 18 carat gold was commonly used in Carbon products, some of the designs also used white gold, titanium and steel. Diamond was the preferred precious stone, but other colored stones were also used. Comprising items of everyday use, (rings, chains, bracelets, ear studs, tie-pins and cuff links) Carbon items were an impulse purchases. The brand had no off take cycles in the year, like the marriage season, unlike traditional Jewellery.

The creation, manufacture and marketing of Carbon were different from the making and selling of traditional Jewellery. Said Rao, "We are attempting here to eliminate the low productivity, quality inconsistencies and high precious metal loss associated with traditional Jewellery making”.

Thus it can be concluded that the coming time will be the era

of branded jewellery because it will grasp a large market of traditional jewellery in India. So it becomes necessary for the

traditional jewellers to make their marketing strategy in such a

manner so that they may be successful to retain the present cliental

and be stand in the market showing their sound existence.

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HALLMARKING OF GOLD JEWELLERY

Hallmarking is the accurate determination and official

recording of the proportionate of precious metal in Gold. Hallmarks

are thus official marks used in many countries as a guarantee of

purity or fineness of gold Jewellery.

Hallmarking has been introduced in India on voluntary basis

under BIS Act 1986. As per this scheme the license is granted to

jeweller for certification of purity of gold jewellery. In accordance

with Indian standard specifications -1S 1417; BIS is operating the

scheme through its network of regional/branch offices all over the

country. A licensee jeweller has to go to get the jewellery

hallmarked through any of the recognized assaying and hallmarking

centres.

The main objectives behind instituting hallmarking scheme

are to protect consumers against victimization of irregular good

quality and to develop export competitiveness of gold jewellery

exports. It provides third-party assurance and satisfaction that the

right quality of gold for the given price has been purchased. It

ensures the opportunity to the customers for filing complaint in case

purity is found less from that declared by jewellers.

Now Hallmarking of jewellery has been made compulsory by

the government from 2008 but it was not followed strictly by the

jewellers. Again in February, 2011 government implemented BIS

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(Revised Act, 2011) which has a provision of penalty for not

implementing the Act.

The jewellers holding BIS license shall have to provide:

I. Commitment to quality

II. Assurance of consistency in quality and purity of hallmarked gold Jewellery.

III. Implementation of quality assurance system for the purpose of operating hallmarking scheme.

IV. Provide complete customer satisfaction

V. Display all requirements describing the components of hallmark including the magnifying glass.

Hallmark consist the following:

(1) BIS Marks

(2) Purity/Fineness Marks

958 Corresponds to 23 Carat 916 Corresponds to 22 Carat 875 Corresponds to 21 Carat 750 Corresponds to 18 Carat 585 Corresponds to 14 Carat 375 Corresponds to 09 Carat

As concerned to the study area about 30 to 35 jewellers are

Selling BIS certified jewellery. M/s Manohar Lal Saraf, Akash

Ganga Jewellers, Alankar Jeweller, Jaina Jewellers, Raghunandan

Prasad, Raghunandan Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. are 100 percent BIS

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Certified. Though there are 153 hallmarking centres in India but in

Meerut District there are only the following 2 Hallmarking Centres:

(1) M/S Hira Hallmarking Centre Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta, 65, Kagzi Bazar, Saraffa, Meerut (2) M/S P. S. Hallmarking Centre Mr. Umang Agarwal, 25, Kucha Neel, Amba Market, Meerut

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