Carat Crush, based in Mumbai, boasts over 100 designs, including layered chains, lockets of angel wings, and mangalsutras designed exclusively for millennial working women.
Without gold as presents, the great large Indian wedding is incomplete. When close friends and family members sent Aanchal Mahtani Kadam gold coins (worth roughly Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 at the time) for her wedding eight years ago, she thought the coins lacked a personal touch.
“They’d spend on gold coins, and you’d never know or remember who donated what,” she tells FutureSharks.
That is when Aanchal and her sister Arpan Mahtani first considered making gold jewelry for giving reasons in the Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 price range. Prior expertise in the jewelry sector came in helpful for the team.
Prior expertise in the jewellery sector came in helpful for the team.
Aanchal and Arpan, the founders, both graduated from HR College in Mumbai with a B.Com. Aanchal has a Master’s degree in international business with a marketing emphasis from Aston University in the United Kingdom, while Arpan has a Master’s degree in luxury brand management from Regents University in London. They then collaborated in marketing and public relations at Diamantina Fine Jewels in Mumbai.
Millennials’ Gold
When Aanchal and Arpan were looking for business prospects in gold jewellery, they had a specific target demographic in mind: Millennial working women.
Instead of hefty conventional gold jewellery that is maintained in safes, they concentrated on innovative designs for regular wear in 2015.
Based in Mumbai, the direct-to-consumer firm currently offers a variety of designs such as layered chains, lockets of angel wings, and millennial mangalsutras, among others.
Pricing for the mangalsutras begins at Rs 22,000 and goes up to roughly Rs 1.5 lakh at their shops in Bandra and Delhi, as well as on their website. Carat Crush offers free delivery across India.
Carat Crush’s products have been chosen by celebrity stylists and have been seen on Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Ananya Pandey, and Sara Ali Khan.
Buyers may personalize letterings and graphics on their site, which now has over 100 distinct types.
Online Gold Sales
Indian families often depend on certain jewellers to purchase gold, a connection established on years (and even generations) of trust.
Naturally, encouraging customers to spend huge sums of money online was difficult for Carat Crush, which is why having a retail presence early in its journey helped it create trust and confidence among customers.
“People have made great strides. “There was a lot of uncertainty and even a lack of trust at first, but they are now fairly comfortable,” Aanchal explains. Carat Crush’s physical and internet platforms each contribute 50% of sales.
According to the website, customers may also place orders straight via WhatsApp and Instagram.
According to the firm, each item is designed and manufactured in-house to avoid cloning.
Anchal claims that the firm has grown at a 35% yearly pace. She refused to provide income or sales data.
When questioned about competition, she says, “There’s plenty of room in the business for companies to do their thing and find an audience.”
We have a lot of copies, so I know we’re doing something properly and on the right route.” Melorra, located in Bengaluru, is another business targeting a similar market–daily wear gold jewellery.
However, it enters the retail arena considerably later, in 2020, and has a distinct asset-light business plan than Carat Crush. Both were founded in the same year and cater to working women in India.
According to Retail Jeweller India, the Indian internet jewelry business is expected to expand to $3.7 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate of 28 percent, from $850 million in 2019.
On Becoming Women Entrepreneurs
“Gender discrimination is inherent to the jewellery business.
Being women in a male-dominated sector can be difficult; originally, people did not anticipate anything from us or take the brand seriously,” explains Aanchal.
The sibling duo’s consistency is a result of these experiences, and their work speaks for itself.
