Diamond World (DW) November- December 2020

Cover Story
Priyal Shankar, Director – IT
& Marketing, Shivam Jewels
I am heading digital
transformation and
we ensured that the
speed at which this
transformation was
brought about is
smooth and effective.
We invested good
amount in digital
infrastructure
and boosted our
marketing efforts.
We developed many
new features on our
Digital infrastructure
to make our virtual
presence userfriendly
Priyal Shankar heads the IT and
marketing side of Shivam Jewels,
for the last five years. Ashwin Shankar
his older cousin looks after sales and
marketing for the company. The company
is an offshoot of Shivam Exports started
by Ghanshyam Shankar in 1995, Priyal’s
father, who worked as a bank accountant
before venturing into this line of business.
“My grandfather was a farmer, and so
my father worked hard to start his own
business – he initially worked with similar
companies and picked up the nuances of
diamond export business during these
stints.” Consistency and commitment
to excellence are the constants with
which Shivam Jewels operates – often as
companies and their clientele diversifies,
older clients, brokers tend to get sidelined.
The company pays attention to the fact
that none of its long standing associates
feel that way. “We are committed to our
work and our clients. Each person is
important for business.” explains Priyal.
Tech Savvy
Speaking about digital interface, “The
pandemic we have gone that extra mile to
ensure that customers get what they see
on their screens – in terms of quality, this
has helped us retain existing clientele and
increase it as well,” informs Priyal.
Leadership, team-spirit and customer
relations come easily to Priyal as he
has done his Masters in International
Business with a specialization in Data
analysis and therefore brings in both
technological prowess and effective New
Age business management principles to
make Shivam Jewels shine forth amidst a
gamut of diamond exporters in India.
Maneuvering Challenges
In the first month when restrictions in
Mumbai were strict – Shivam Jewels
had begun its operations already from its
unit in Surat, and later on slowly as the
restrictions were lifted they started their
manufacturing operations. “There we
observed all social distancing norms and
adequate sanitization, etc. and started
production full-fledged – just as we used
to work in Mumbai. This helped us save
time,” recalls Priyal.
“Customers had started demanding
goods – thereafter we balanced operations
in Surat and Mumbai. The restrictions in
Surat also were high later. In their Mumbai
office they ensured that all diamonds that
they displayed on their website had all
the minute details and were dispatched
to the customers on time and accurate as
per their demand by this we established a
lot of trust – “we made our working much
more transparent so our customers were
very happy,” beams Priyal.
Digital Transformation
“I am heading digital transformation
totally and we ensured that the speed
at which this transformation was
brought about smoothly and effectively.
We invested good amount in digital
infrastructure and boosted our marketing
efforts. We developed many new features
on our Digital infrastructure to make our
virtual presence user-friendly . Our focus
while in the lockdown was to build all over
digital platform which would connect our
Online and Offline operations, to make
sure our customers find it seamless to buy
diamonds from Shivam Jewels,” informs
the young diamantaire.
38 | November-December 2020 | DiamonD WorlD