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Kriaa: The A to Z for all Your Fashion Imitation Jewellery Quest

Anamika Sahu
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Anamika Sahu
Jewellery has been festooning human figures since time immemorial. Whether it is the yellow metal or the precious stones of any color, jewels have been the status symbol that describes the stricture to judge peoples wealth till date. As these metals and stones costs sky, it was left for the opulence and one thats not, like the upper middle class and higher earners, longed for something that would supplant the original. Imitation jewellery has been filling this chasm for quite some time. But it is recently that it gained momentum in the market when its big brother Gold went above the sky, becoming barely reachable by these set of people. Today, upper middle class and higher income class are the major buyers of imitation jewellery. To address these inflating consumers, several jewellery designers have launched collections targeting them. But a larger portion of the consumer group middle class has been alienated by these designers due to high price. Their dreams to be equally stylish and chic was a long standing quandary until Kriaa came into being as one of the most passionate designers of imitation jewellery offering products at a much affordable price. But yes, with no compromise on design and quality attitude.

Kriaa is fathered by TIP TOP Fashions Private Limited a 1983 founded jewellery manufacturing, exports and retailing company. In 2006, TIP TOP entered into retail shops as their focus shifted to value retail via Reliance Retail, Big Bazaar, Spencers, EasyDay (Bharti Walmart) and turned to departmental stores by 2009 with Pantaloons, Reliance Trends, when the company ventured into the lifestyle category through their brand Urthn. Soon the rising sun of e-Commerce caught the eyes of TIP TOP and they decided to foray into the domain. But moving to the online platform with similar MRP with the same set of customers struck a tug-of-war for them as the price distinction between online commerce and physical retail is huge. This is when Kriaa was conceptualized as a potent place for e-Commerce in 2012. The company kick-started its operations with couple of players back then, primarily being Rediff, eBay and few others. Since then, the sun has never set on Kriaas back. The company is growing profoundly and its list of partners now includes giant e-Commerce companies like Snapdeal, ShopClues, Flipkart, Amazon, HomeShop18, Paytm and others along with tie-ups with TV shopping channels namely ShopCJ, Naaptol, Shopping Zone, Sakal group, DealTV and many more. This partnership is reaping fresh, healthy fruits each day for Kriaa as the company generates bigger chunk of their revenues and volume from this practice and never reached nadir in its three years of lifespan.

Curtailing the Shortcomings
Picking up the market and building a brand was a daunting task. But the ravishing designs and innocuous metals (especially lead free) paved the way further towards success. However, there seemed to be two more issues that needed their immediate attention logistics and packaging that ate a huge chunk of their revenue. The Combo offers from Kriaa that consists of minimum of 10-15 items in a box sold as a unique product helped the company cut the logistics cost to a minimum, thus also benefiting the customers in return. Customers get a huge balance saving. Today, we ship more than 1,000 Combos a day in addition to over the similar number of orders from various market places that we receive, explains Ritesh Barbhaya, CEO, Kriaa.

However, jewellery being a delicate product is more prone to defect and damage in transit. To eliminate this, Kriaa removed all old machineries and brought in new ones with advanced technologies where it makes very light weight, eco-friendly and non-allergic metal, which is damage free and lead free. The company uses Zinc alloy to manufacture all its jewelleries. This helps Kriaa price its products much below its competition. We have been in-tune with technologies and retail chains in the industry. Although TIP TOP as a brand is very well known in, export, manufacturing and wholesale line, venturing into the retail industry would have been a difficult move. So we came up with the new brand that we cultivated over the last few years to give it a better proposition in the market, adds Ritesh. To ensure even the last mile delivery at a much affordable price, Kriaa has tied-up with India Post, thus enhancing the reach to every nook and corner of the country.

Kriaa Aurum The Celebrity Collection

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