India is one of the world’s largest consumers of gold jewelry. In 2021 alone India bought 611 tonnes of gold jewelry, according to the ‘Jewellery Demand and Trade’ report released by the World Gold Council.
Even though there is a huge appetite for gold, a number of people are unable to afford one – gold prices have historically always grown year-on-year. To address this, gold retail stores/chains offer attractive easy monthly installment plans and discounts whereas customers also can choose to pay via credit card to convert into EMIs. However, this may not be sufficient to make gold within reach for everyone, especially those in the low-income groups.
This is where Delhi-based Dream Ticket wants to make a difference. Founded in 2018 by Rajiv Kumar and Vinay Saini, Dream Ticket builds on conventional money-pooling systems to offer a SaaS-based platform for group buying gold and diamond jewelry.
The startup uses an online subscription-based group-buying business model to make it easier for people to buy jewelry. The company primarily aims at low-income groups. Essentially, the platform makes a cohort of 10 to 15 subscribers for a fixed number of months by paying a pre-set monthly fee. For instance, a cohort has 12 members who are paying Rs 2,000 per month for say 12 months. Each month, the platform selects one member’s name. This person becomes eligible to purchase jewelry for Rs 24,000.
Kumar told Entrackr that his company does not charge any processing fee, which is applicable on transactions through credit cards. He further stated that if someone wants to purchase before their name is pulled out by the system, they can pay an additional Rs 250 fee to buy the jewelry. However, it does not mean the system will not select one member’s month. In such situations, both members are eligible to purchase depending upon the monthly fee of the cohort.
“My revenue model is the same as any other jewelry business. I earn around 9% to 10% by making charges on jewelry. And I expect this margin to go up to 15% as volume increases in the future,” he said.
The founder disclosed that the company has entered into agreements with third-party manufacturers to source the jewlry. “We forward the design selected by the customer to the manufacturer. Once it’s ready, we ship it to the user within six or seven days,” he added.
Kumar acknowledged that the company is still at nascent stage as it has serviced over 4,500 customers to date.
“We plan to expand across India in the near future. But first we want to focus on the Delhi-NCR market,” he said. The founder disclosed that the company has as many as three branches, but will take this number to 30 in the region.
Dream Ticket said its revenue in the fiscal year 2022-23 stood at Rs 1.35 crore, up from Rs 76 lakh in the previous fiscal year.
That said, India’s significant low-income population has shown a rising interest in buying gold, for personal consumption as well as an investment mode. While Dream Ticket taps into underserved space of the country, it does face competition from established jewelry stores like Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers, and Malabar Gold & Diamonds, which not only dominate the conventional market but also enjoy consumers’ trust.
