The Auspicious Akshayatritiya!

Come 22nd April 2023, we’ll celebrate the auspicious Akshayaritiya in India! The day of Akshayatritiya, as said in our Indian mythology, is believed to usher luck in everyone’s lives. Akshayatritiya is considered to be one of the most sacred days of the year. It falls on the third day after Amavasi (no moon) in the Hindu month of Vaishakha. Also, it is said that the Pandavas received the Akshaya Pathra (the legendary copper vessel) from Lord Krishna on this day. "Akshay" in Sanskrit means imperishable or eternal - that which never diminishes. Therefore it is one of the most popular dates in the Hindu calendar for investing in valuables. It is believed that buying jewellery, the ultimate symbol of wealth and prosperity, on this occasion assures prosperity, luck and success. Akshayatritiya is the festival of prosperity celebrated across India by many, irrespective of which religious faith or social cluster they belong to. Hence, starting any new activity or buying valuables on this day is considered to certainly bring luck into homes and success into families. It is belived widely that giving gifts on this day assumes a good deal of significance as the act goes to prove that one gifts ‘prosperity’ to the near and dear or a loved one and not just any material thing. The day is particularly considered auspicious for buying long term assets like gold and diamond, including ornaments made of the same. It is also an accepted belief that buying gold on the day of Akshaytritiya brings good luck throughout the rest of the year. It is also a long cherished belief that purchasing gold or diamond jewelry on the auspicious day of Akshayatritiya would mark the beginning of one’s perennial relationship with wealth!

Many have been buying the precious metal on this auspicious day for so many years now as a matter of habit to invoke the goddess of prosperity and luck. So people do throng the doors of jewellery stores right from the early hours in the morning till the day ends. Who would like to miss the day without buying any precious thing and run the risk of not getting lucky the whole year? Here is a day designated for the purpose of buying gold and diamonds to satiate the need to bring prosperity into the life of the buyer. Akshayatritiya is marketed well by all the stakeholders of the gold and diamond industry in India. Retailers do their share of the trick or gimmick to bring customers in large numbers to their stores to buy gold and diamond jewellery. As one thinks about the many customers who would visit jewellery stores on the very day of Akshayatritiya, crowds may throng at the doors of the jewellers and one wonders  how the gold buying experience is going to be for the customers on that day. Many may not be so lucky to get the right experience in our jewellery stores on that day even though the gold that they may buy on that day shall bring good luck for the rest of the year.

Will retailers make such precious shopping pleasurable on that day for customers? Will there be sweet gold and jewellery-shopping memories a shopper can be helped back home with? Many jewellery buyers seem to sweat a great deal finding it tough to go through the process of shopping on that day. Stores offer deals, discounts and buy-back promotions, vying to get their space in the customers’ mind often confusing one out of his or her wits. For some other customers the price build-up with wastage and making charges is often confusing. For some others the question that may come to mind is why any wastage charges should be levied by the jewellery retailer on gold coins as they are just minted and not filed or finished as jewellery is done, for the metal to lose even any small element of it!

Ø  Customers would expect to have the right shopping experience and also get the right value for the money spent on that day. Progressive jewellery retailers are expected to stock new jewelry designs for this occasion. How delighted customers may feel if jewellery stores open their doors for business on the day of Akshayatritiya as early as 6.30 am and close only at the last hour of day!

Ø  When jewellery retailers sell "Lakshmi-inscribed" gold coins and diamond jewellery that would bestow customers with all the benefits of material blessings and good luck, they should see that they adopt transparent and best business practices such as the declaration of any ‘value addition’ above the cost of gold in a tag attached to the ornament itself for customers to read easily.

Ø  Purity of gold sold should be certified through the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) hall-marking process. BIS hall-mark conformity on the part of the jewellery retailer would instill confidence in the customer on the purity of gold sold in the store. Similarly for diamonds, the jewellery retailer must ensure the award of a certification from trust-worthy institutions like the Indian Gemological Institute (IGI), Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or International Diamond Laboratories (IDL).

Ø  As buying gold and diamonds are considered very auspicious on Akshayatritiya day, retailers ought to serve their customers well and help them buy gold and diamonds offering the right experience. Customers may visit jewellery stores in large numbers on this auspicious day and one often finds a serpentine queue of customers waiting to be served. Retailers must ensure that they have special counters for fast moving gold coins and see that customers are not unduly made to wait. Whatever it takes to be deployed additionally to serve customers – whether it is additional manpower or infrastructure, they should be organized to achieve operational excellence. As a best practice, well-organized retail stores in developed economies do not let more than three customers to wait in any queue on even very crowded occasions when footfalls are in large numbers.

Ø  Some customers may not be able to visit stores on that day and retail jewellers should serve them at their doorsteps through a Direct-To-Home programme. Retailers ought to go that extra mile to give the advantage of making advance bookings for gold and diamonds to be delivered on the day of Akshayatritiya. Such advance bookings if done on any of the specified days preceding the Akshayatritya day, they can even come with an extra offer!

Customers should be equally responsible to look for every aspect discussed above as a responsibility of the jewellery retailer to provide or comply with – whether it is the right quality product in the right purity with proper certification or getting the right quality of service.

One needs to look for any fine-print and carefully go through every aspect of promotions done by jewellery retailers during Akshayatritiya and check whether such offers have any significant benefits. It is also advisable to check the store’s buy-back policy especially relating to gold coins and diamonds as they may be used to make ornaments later. What may come at an offer now may be lost at the time one trades it back to exchange for making jewellery because of unfair discounted buy-back practices by a few unscrupulous retailers. 

Diamonds are also safe from an investment point-of-view considering predictions by experts that demand may far exceed supply in future. The possession of diamond jewellery is an asset always besides bringing special delight to the women in our homes. Many follow the ritual of doing good deeds on this day as it is believed that doing good deeds would bring 'punya' for a life time. What better deed can jewellery retailers do than serving customers sincerely to bring luck and happiness into their own stores and their customers’ homes? Customer service is the best deed that one can sincerely do on that day. Let the never diminishing good luck and success flow into all our homes this Akshayatritiya!

Dr. Gibson G. Vedamani