Gold jewelry consumption is on the rise during the Chinese Valentine's Day as it is both beautiful and maintains its value
2024-08-10
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Changsha Evening News Changsha on Palm August 9 (all-media reporter Peng Fang) "From mocking aunties to understanding them, and now becoming an 'auntie'." On August 9, Xiao Yan, born in the 1990s, posted on her circle of friends the Chinese Valentine's Day gift she and her boyfriend had chosen - a gold bracelet made with ancient craftsmanship. She claimed that she used to think gold jewelry was "old-fashioned", but now she has personally chosen this gift that is "both beautiful and can maintain its value."
Since the beginning of this year, gold prices have continued to fluctuate at high levels, but consumers' enthusiasm for buying gold has not diminished. Young people under the age of 40 have taken over from "Chinese aunties" and become the new force in current gold consumption. Recently, reporters visited the market and learned that as the Chinese Valentine's Day approaches, more and more young people are lingering in gold shops, and the popularity of gold jewelry consumption continues to rise.
Phenomenon: Online marketing and Xiaokezhong become a magic weapon for attracting traffic
On the 9th, the reporter came to the pedestrian street of Huangxing South Road. Less than 100 meters south of the bronze statue of Huang Xing, there are gold shops of many brands, such as China Gold, Chow Tai Fook, Zhang Wanfu, and Mingpai Heirloom Gold. Each store has launched a variety of promotional activities to attract consumers: 23% off on Chinese Valentine's Day, 8.8 Super Brand Day, Douyin's hot items at 29.9 yuan, buy three golds and get one free, 29 yuan for 200 yuan... Some stores have live broadcasting stations, selling offline and attracting online traffic.
Every gold shop was crowded with people, most of whom were young couples. 23-year-old Xiao Xiao was choosing a gift for the Chinese Valentine's Day with her boyfriend. The budget of the young couple who had just graduated from college was not high, but it did not affect their good mood to choose the gift they liked. The small gold sugar cube beads are an online traffic-generating model to attract young consumers. Each bead weighs 0.1 grams and is made of pure gold. The original group purchase price of 3 beads is 176.9 yuan. "3 beads represent three lives and three worlds, which has a good meaning." The staff introduced while weaving a bracelet for Xiao Xiao.
"Since I was 10 years old, my parents have been saving 100 grams of gold bars every year to save my 'dowry' in this way. The price of the gold bars they bought at the beginning was only more than 200 yuan per gram, but now it has more than doubled." Influenced by her parents, Xiao Han, 25 years old this year, has a special liking for gold. When she first started working, she was a moonlighter. Later, she saw that there were many small-gram gold ornaments such as gold beans and gold melon seeds launched on the market for young consumers, so she started to save a gold bean for herself every month. "Saving gold beans is easier than saving money, because watching the gold beans in the bottle fill up is like saving coins in a piggy bank when I was a child. It feels very ritual and satisfying, and I am getting more and more addicted."
A sales manager with many years of experience in a gold shop said that many young people now advocate a refined and frugal consumption concept. Buying gold jewelry with the potential to maintain its value can not only enjoy consumption and express affection, but also avoid being frustrated by overspending. In the past two years, the number of young people buying gold jewelry has increased significantly. Various gold brands and gold sales merchants have also taken the initiative to approach young people and actively carry out online traffic diversion. At the same time, they have launched new styles and small-weight traffic diversion products to lower the consumption threshold.
Online gold sales have also become hot as the Chinese Valentine's Day approaches. On August 8, Taobao released the 2024 Chinese Valentine's Day gift consumption observation chart, and "gold cake" was listed on the list of the top ten popular gifts for the Chinese Valentine's Day. The reporter saw that each "gold cake" weighs 1 gram to 3 grams, designed in the style of a gold cake, with the words "I earn money but don't spend it, I save money to buy you gold" engraved on it, and the name can be customized on the packaging. According to statistics from the Taobao platform, in the online gold buying trend, people born in the 1990s are gradually becoming the main force, and people born in the 2000s have a higher preference for gold consumption than those born in the 1970s.
Trend: Antique gold and solid gold are increasingly popular
In many gold shops, the reporter saw that "ancient gold" occupied the center of the store. Compared with the labor cost of ordinary gold jewelry of 28 yuan/gram to 60 yuan/gram, the labor cost of gold jewelry made with ancient craftsmanship is mostly above 100 yuan/gram, and some are as high as 160 yuan/gram. With the blessing of traditional crafts such as engraving, filigree, hammering, and filigree inlay, "ancient gold" presents a more heavy and simple texture than ordinary gold jewelry.
"Ancient gold has more cultural heritage and is more beautiful. It's expensive for a reason." Mr. Wang, 34, has booked a wedding banquet for October this year. Taking advantage of the Chinese Valentine's Day promotion, he accompanied his fiancée to choose three pieces of gold. They both liked a gold pendant inlaid with pearls using ancient craftsmanship.
"The rise of the national trend is the main driving force behind the popularity of ancient gold jewelry." Li Yi, a staff member of a gold jewelry brand, said that according to data from JD Research Institute, the scale of national trend consumers increased by 74% between 2019 and 2022, and related consumption surged by 335%. Against this background, the gold jewelry industry has developed ancient gold products that emphasize the ancient gold casting process and have a national trend style, which are becoming more and more popular among young consumers.
In addition to capturing the young consumers’ demand for “refinement”, many gold brands have also “grasped” the young people’s love for IP. Li Yi introduced, “In the tide of co-branding everything, our brand has cooperated with museums to launch limited co-branded items. The museum’s collection of cultural relics has become the source of inspiration for the design of gold jewelry. Ruyi patterns, peacock patterns, pomegranate patterns, etc. are engraved on gold using ancient craftsmanship.”
The reporter noticed that in the gold brand stores, solid gold products have become a rising star. The high hardness of this type of solid gold products allows for greater flexibility in product design, and various innovative and fashionable designs have attracted young consumer groups.
"Self-pleasure consumption has gradually become the number one reason for consumers to buy gold jewelry, and more and more female consumers of Generation Z are beginning to choose solid gold jewelry." A salesperson of a certain brand introduced that solid gold is made through two major processes: electroplating and lost wax casting. It breaks the traditional properties of solid gold that it is soft and easy to deform, and brings consumers a new experience of "hard, light and bright". Compared with traditional solid gold jewelry, it is more wear-resistant, not easy to deform or scratch, easier to inlay gemstones, can be made thinner or hollow, and has improved brightness, and can maintain the shiny gold color for a long time.
Reminder: Don’t use gold jewelry for investment
The reporter learned from the interview that young people buy gold to satisfy the "emotional value" and also hope to preserve and increase its value. "There is no skill in buying gold, it all depends on buying it early", this sentence has become a sales pitch for many gold jewelry salesmen. What do professionals think of this?
From the perspective of gold price outlook, DBS Group analyst Wu Junyong raised the 12-month gold target price to $2,500 per ounce, up $250 from the previous forecast. Citigroup said it expects gold prices to break through $2,700 to $3,000 per ounce by 2025. The logic behind these forecasts is that the central bank's continued increase in gold demand has accounted for most of the mine supply, becoming the main driving force behind the rise in gold prices.
A person in charge of precious metal business of a state-owned bank said that when buying gold, it is important to distinguish between investment-type precious metals and consumption-type precious metals. If the main purpose is to increase value or preserve value, it is recommended to choose to buy ordinary gold bars or bank deposits. Gold jewelry is a consumption-type precious metal, and the price per gram is often more expensive, and an additional labor fee will be charged. Therefore, do not use gold jewelry for investment. In addition, do not blindly chase the trend.
