The Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum 2021 shines a spotlight on the industry’s brightest achievements

The first show for the jewellery industry on the shores of the City of Gold, the Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum brilliantly captured the ethos of the gem and jewellery industry after the pandemic shocker.

The Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum 2021 (RJWDF) held on April 7, 2021, at the Conrad in Dubai, successfully etched its name in the pages of history as the first jewellery show that graced the sands of the country with its mark after the pandemic.

The forum, which saw its inaugural show in 2019, became bigger this year, with better panels, erudite speakers and market strategists who listed out the valiant efforts of the Middle East gems and jewellery industry in ensuring that the business aced through the storms of the pandemic. The event saw 149 delegates from UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan. Business ideas that are tailormade for the virtual future that looks inevitable now, presentations that kept the idea of the consumer close to the heart and industry leaders who have been there and done it — that is what the RJWDF was all about. As big as it gets, this year, jewellers from India and the GCC nations attended the forum.

The forum had wonderful partners who helped scale the event to a vast magnitude and desirability. The main presenting partners were GJEPC and Ithra Dubai. The digital transformation partner was Suntech Business Solution, the jewellery discovery platform was Aurum Bazaar, the diamond laboratory partner was S.G.L Labs and the diamond technology partner was DRC Techno. Vision Board Studio was the visual mechandising partner and Kama Schachter was the diamond and platinum jewellery partner.

The theme for this year was “A Decade of Home”, which bordered on how the jewellery business will transform in the future. In tune with this, the first session was aptly called “How will jewellery consumption trend transform in future and how should manufacturers, retailers and designers collaborate to enhance consumer experience”. Moderated by Amit Dhamani of Dhamani Jewels, the panel brought together Tamjid Abdullah of Jawhara Jewellery, Maha Al Sibai from Maha Al Sibai Jewellery, Dr Motaz Al Shueibi of Salem l Shueibi Jewellery, jewellery designer Tamara Al Shamari from TAAIA Jewellery and Colin Shah, founder and CEO of Kamaschachter.

“The compliance we have from the public is amazing and has helped us moderate the effects of Covid and has given us space to conduct business. The pandemic has given us a new creativity and inspired us to conduct business in a different way,” said Tamjid Abdullah of Jawhara Jewellery.

The second offering for the day was a presentation on “Digital Transformation in Jewellery Retail”. Presented by Rishikesh Trivedi of Suntech, it outlined the impact of the virtual form of sales in the jewellery business. A panel, called “Powering business with technology: Driving personalization, productivity and processes in retail,” had speakers Shaji Kakkodi from Malabar Group and Julian Leo Serrao of La Marquise Jewellery. “Technology has become a mandatory requirement in the post pandemic scenario, and it is extremely important to take the jewellery business online,” said Kakkodi.

The ethos reverberated in the room, right from the speakers to the audience.

The next presentation came from Aditi Kotak and Deepesh Deshmukh of Vision Board Studio. She took the retailers through the importance of visual mechandising at a time when few people are keen on visiting stores.

Aurum Bazaar came with a topic that resonates with the entire of Middle East. Called “How a tech-driven jewellery discovery platform will drive finger falls to footfalls in a Middle East jewellery store”, this topic grabbed eyeballs very quickly.

“The barrier is breaking between digital and physical. It is important to capture them. Traditional marketing must be augmented with digital, and it is important for jewellers to tap into the huge pool of customers who are looking for the right jeweller online,” he said.

An energetic panel discussion followed next, as this discussed how change is the only constant and adaptability the sole solution. “Supercharging employees for change management: How to foster a high skill and high will with a no-boundary approach. Navin Sadarangani of NYUZ was the moderator for a panel that saw Arjun Dhanak of Kanz Jewels, Sushmita Kumar of Al Futtaim Jewelry & Watches and Manish Dhamani of Dhamani 1969.  

“Culture comes from the top of the management. It depends on the team. The customer is always right. Whatever you do, you must keep the customer at the centre,” said Dhamani.

Nirav Shah from Fame Advisory DMCC moderated the next panel discussion on ROI or GMROI (Gross Margin Return on Investment): True Measure of Financial Dynamics in Retail. The panelists were Ashish Garg of KGK Group, Kaushik Soni of Tejori Diamonds and Thomas Scaria of Joyalukkas.

Chirag Soni of SGL took the audience through the future of diamond origins, blockchain certifications and tech innovations in a world that is fast looking at sustainability as an important pillar along with profitability.

The same message was given by the Natural Diamond Council, whose managing director, Richa Singh showcased how the Middle East can collaborate with the council on the road ahead.

The only virtual session of the day was titled, “How will diamond jewellery customer expectations and convenience rule retail and how can jewellers collaborate with De Beers in the Middle East”. The speaker was Sachin Jain, president of Forevermark.

The biggest panel of them all, the headliner, was something that all participants had eagerly waited for throughout the day. It saw industry leaders from the Middle East put their heads together in a discussion called “Agile leadership: Strategic shift in business for managing risks, survival and success and future of the jewellery business in UAE and the Middle East post pandemic”. Moderated by Amit Dhamani again, the panel saw Dev Shetty of Fura Gems, Tawhid Abdulla of Jawhara Jewellery, Chandraprakash Siroya of Siroya Jewellers, K P Abdul Salam of Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Anuraag Sinha of Liali Jewellery and Antoine Masse of Mouawad.

“Dubai government has taken good care of us. Unless we start looking at what we want to do, we won’t succeed. We are looking at the inventory, and planning accordingly,” said Tawhid Abdullah.

“We all had a bad time during Covid. We were not sure what to do next. I had said that the immediate step we had to take was for our employees,” said Salam.

The forum wrapped up with corporate presentations by GJEPC and Ithra Dubai and a felicitation of Colin Shah, by the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group for his contribution in bringing the industries in India and the UAE together. The award was presented by Tawhid Abdullah.

What followed was an award ceremony for the wonderful achievers who braved the pandemic and still emerged with flying colours. All in all, it was a brilliant amalgamation of the brightest faces who shared the sharpest ideas for the greater good of the industry.

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller World News