Uralskaya Yuvelirnaya Kompaniya (Ural Jewellery Company), Yekaterinburg, holds strong positions on the Russian jewellery market and specializes in the manufacture and wholesale of trendy and classic jewellery made of precious metals, precious and semi-precious gems. Along with exclusive jewellery studded with precious gems, it manufactures big lots of inexpensive and quality jewellery. It has a reputation of a reliable and responsible partner. Valery Ilyinykh, the company’s CEO, gave his answers to questions from Rough&Polished.
What new and positive has appeared in the marketing and PR technologies?
As for marketing technologies for the jewellery sales, in my opinion, nothing new needs to be invented. It is necessary to learn how to get maximum benefit from what already exists in sales practice taking into account the current economic situation.
Despite the crisis, you take part in major jewellery exhibitions. How they foster the market development?
Exhibitions are among the mechanisms of the fastest live demonstration of the jewellery industry achievements. It is an additional and convenient way of the interaction of the jewellery manufacturers, wholesale and retail buyers, as well as a venue where each and every exhibition participant can get answers to his/her questions and solve the tasks on the business expansion.
What are the results of your participation in the JUNWEX, has it met your expectations, what is new in the exhibition sphere and what is kept from the previous experience?
The results of the participation in the JUNWEX could be higher if the economic situation in the country were not so fluid. Many clients pushed the panic button and that is why they had to solve their financial problems through ‘waiting’ for a more stable behavior of the rouble and dollar or on the contrary, through selling/buying cheap goods appearing on the market.
Did you have to change your marketing policy as well as the range of products and sales conditions because of the downturn?
A fall in the rouble had a big impact on the sales, at least, in our products segment. During the economic meltdown, it is not possible to tread water, one should use the situation for the benefit of those product lines that ensure retaining the business on the market and sometimes even fostering its economic component. An option could be the change in the range of products taking into account the demand for it in the market.
What goods were in the highest demand – judging by the results of the sales late last year and early this year? Is there any ‘crisis’ range of goods? What customers do you place your stake on in the recession times?
Many companies engaged in dumping when the recession started, but soon they took a grip on themselves and stopped ‘dumping’ the goods. We did not overreacted and did right because soon the things sorted themselves out and the results in December were even better that in the previous year. Our retail chain has kept its position, we orient our assortment towards the exclusive and VIP customers and at the end of the last year, we opened one more boutique in the Moskva-City international commercial district. The sales review shows that the jewellery market is changing again. The sales decrease and it results in lower jewellery production. In this situation, it is clear that the number of affluent customers will not decrease, the drop will be in the number of ‘middle-class’ customers, so it is necessary to improve and modify the range of the respective jewellery.
What is your attitude to the semi-precious gems segment?
Semi-precious gem studded jewellery is also among our products but one always should distinguish between mass market products and the premium class goods, because every stone needs a worthy setting and then it would find its buyer.
What is your take on the current state of the diamond and diamond jewellery market? What are your expectations as for the jewellery sales - including the sales of the diamond jewellery – for this year?
Demand for diamond jewelry has traditionally been and will be there in spite of crisis situations. At present, the jewellery industry can again undergo changes via the consolidation of some companies and some companies will leave the market. This development is vivid due to the different economic possibilities of the companies. For some companies, the credits are not affordable or are economically inefficient because of high interests. The jewellery industry can have a sustainable development in the stable economy with the stable and high earnings of the population, because jewellery is not among essentials, so every family will only use the disposable money to buy it and today, the people do not have much of it.
How should one behave to keep the success in jewellery sales in crisis time?
Everyone goes his or her own way to overcome problems - that's common for all – and the industry will cope with this crisis, too. Life must go on, and there will always be demand for jewellery, we should only keep on working hard and do a good job.
Galina Semyonova for Rough&Polished
