Jewellers plan to reopen stores in orange and green zones in a phased manner

Jewellery chains like Senco Gold and Diamonds and Kalyan Jewellers announced to reopen their stores in a phased manner in orange and green zones.
Senco Gold and Diamonds said it has reopened 11 stores in four states — West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Karnataka — after getting the clearance from authorities.
Kalyan Jewellers will be reopening 10 showrooms – seven showrooms in Karnataka, one each in Orissa and Assam and one in Puducherry respectively as part of the first phase towards being fully operational in the country.
Further, the brands plans to start operations across all locations in a phased manner after getting clearance from the concerned government authorities.
Commenting on the development, Suvankar Sen, Executive Director, Senco Gold and Diamonds said that the company will ensure contact-less shopping experience by using new-age technology and emphasising on digital payments.”
On safety measures to be followed at stores, the brands will ensure delivery of sterilised and sanitised jewelleries to customers. They will also ensure sanitisation of jewelleries after every display to customers.
To provide ‘contactless experience’ to customers, Senco has installed a ‘virtual jewellery trial room’ at selected stores. Customers can try out the jewellery virtually while choosing from multiple options.
Senco Gold and Diamonds is encouraging customers on digital payment. Post payment, the cards will also be sanitised with customer’s approval.
Talking about the reopening, T S Kalyanaraman, Chairman and Managing Director, Kalyan Jewellers said, “India, UAE and Qatar are markets where tradition of gold-buying is engrained as part of the culture. As the lockdown in these countries, coincided with the peak purchase/wedding season, we are expecting the pent up demand for gold to resume, once the lockdown is lifted and the markets open. While we begin operations across these showrooms, the health and safety of our patrons and the community at large will remain of utmost importance to us and we have instituted heightened hygiene and sanitation measures in these showrooms. With these openings, we hope to begin operations across our networks and get back to normalcy in the short term in a step-by-step manner.”
Besides, the brands will regularly check the temperature of employees and customers at the entry gate and sanitise the entire store including lifts at standard intervals.
The staff will wear hand gloves, face masks and head shields while assisting customers in maintaining social distancing norms.