A few years back, the hustle and bustle of gold markets was enormous. Rajesh Exports MD, Mr Rajesh Mehta stated the gold markets are losing its charm. He stated that though imports are increasing continuously, yet the famous gold markets are looking forlorn and deserted. Earlier, the onset of wedding season would keep the gold markets busy, but in the current scenario, even that fails to make an impact.The sight of large groups of women thronging the jewellery shops is not a common thing anymore. This year proved to be the most difficult year for jewelers. A dip in demand for gold has engulfed the whole country. The famous gold bazaars of Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore have also been impacted. Despite this development, gold imports are increasing as usual. Around 35,000 weddings took place in November and December, and the slight increase in gold demand hardly made a difference. Big players like Rajesh Exports are witnessing a difference in the demand for gold, but its MD Mr Rajesh Mehta stated that the organized jewelers have not been impacted. “The demand has shifted from un-organized to organized jewelers, which can be seen from the strong results posted by our company," said Mr Mehta. Today, buyers are fully aware about a product before making a purchase. Apart from this, some of the experts believe that the high prices have played a big role behind the reduced demand of gold. Also, a number of customers are not buying fresh gold and only exchanging the old jewellery or selling gold coins to acquire the jewellery with latest designs. But, having said that, jewelers who are good at providing high quality products and a good buying experience,still have a say in the market. After demonetization, a shift in the buying preference increased due to the vulnerability of the unorganized players. These players used to sell low quality gold with fake bills, but demonetization broke the back of such unorganized jewelers. Also, buyers nowadays are cautious; they only buy gold with proper bills. According to Mr Rajesh Mehta, buyers are no longer willing to take the risk by associating themselves with small jewelers. They know that small jewelers are prone to un-ethical practices and they may be selling the gold without Hallmark, which serves as a certification of purity. The organized retail jewelers are also offering wonderful schemes, which are driving the attention of customers. They are selling jewellery, starting from as low as Rs 2,000. These steps are helping big organized players grow at a decent speed, and they are slowly taking the business away from small and unorganized retailers. The newest designs and offers provided by the big players are only adding to their advantage. Rajesh Exports MD, Mr Rajesh Mehta believes that the need of the hour is to make jewellery shopping more experiential. He believes that if the business is done in a professional way, there is still scope for the organized retailers in this industry.