Precious supply chain benchmarking

Abstract

This report describes a possible market entry strategy for an E-commerce marketplace trying to enter the Precious Jewellery category of the Gems & Jewellery industry in India. We have utilized various marketing techniques such as Segmentation, Target Segment, Buyer Profile and Voice-of-Customer to identify potential customers’ needs and wants. After that, we extend the traditional AIETA model to the entire consumption chain of a precious jewellery item. This helps us to gain insights into potential barriers to entry that can be acted upon to grow the category and increase demand. Then, we evaluate the existing competition with respect to the unique operational capabilities they use to differentiate their products and services. We map these capabilities to the consumption chain to realise the gaps in the existing service provided by the E-Commerce firm. Then, we list potential solutions to these gaps. The list of these solutions forms the core of our Category Design. However, it is not enough to design a category. We must also be able to fulfil demand as per customer expectations and potentially to delight the customer. It becomes clear that the existing supply chain is inadequate. We delve into the reasons why this is the case, then recommend alternatives to create a supply chain more appropriate for specifically handling precious jewellery. We finally summarize by giving a list of recommendations for the overall business model: create a new brand that captures the above value proposition and can stay true to it, create retail stores that make the service tangible, create supplier-centric features to incentivize traditional jewellers to enlist on the marketplace, and finally to invest in technology to create a “wow” factor and induce behavioural change in the customer.