Jewelers Struggle to Connect as Young Chinese Consumers Go Cold on Gold

As has been the case for virtually every high-end brand - domestic or foreign - operating in the highly balkanized luxury market in China, the young generation presents new challenges for brands heavy on gold jewelry According to a recent survey by the World Gold Council, only 12 percent of people aged 18 to 22 in China plan to buy gold jewelry in the coming year Chinese press reports indicated that gold jewelry consumption in the first three quarters of 2019 fell for the first time in recent memory, with consumers purchasing 768 tons of gold - a decrease of nearly 96 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to the China Gold Association, 24K gold jewelry - long a preferred segment in Greater China - saw a double-digit decline in sales in the third quarter of the year, weighing down overall gold jewelry demand during the recent Golden Week and National Day holiday The decreasing demand for gold jewelry isn't due only to less mainland Chinese tourism in Hong Kong - it's a consumer-led trend According to a recent Zhihu report on users in collaboration with iResearch, younger Chinese consumers simply are not satisfied with gold jewelry currently on the market, with many dismissing it as ugly and tacky.

It will be interesting to see how China's gold jewelry market fares in the year ahead - whether moves like unmanned gold vending machines or younger brand spokespeople can stave off plummeting gold sales or are simply PR What is definitely the case is that legacy jewelers in the region need to take a page from their foreign competitors and figure out how to appeal to younger consumers in a sustainable way - and quickly. . Source