Platinum jewellery sales rebound in Oct-Dec ‘20 quarter, economic recovery supports future growth. After a challenging 2020, the consumer sentiment towards precious jewellery including platinum ornaments remained positive for futures sales, finds a cross-market survey conducted by the Platinum Guild International (PGI), the premier industry body promoting sales of platinum across the world.
Launched in November 2020, the survey conducted on 2000 jewellery consumers across mainland China, Japan, India and the United States indicates that overall business sentiment remained challenging for precious jewellery segment in 2020 due to spread of Covid-19 pandemic and thereupon worldwide lockdown.
While the Chinese economy posted a growth in the October – December quarter of 2020, the retail sales of jewellery lagged as the sporadic outbreaks of Covid-19 hit store traffic. Many retail partners seized the opportunity to promote platinum products, especially branded collections as they offer better margins.
Another point of attraction towards platinum was price rise. Platinum outperform gold by 14 per cent in October – December 2020 quarter which lured customers to bet big on platinum. Also, pent-up demand with buoyant enthusiasm during the festival season led India’s jewellery industry recovering to 70 per cent by mid-November compared to the pre-Covid festival season in 2019.
Strategic retail partners reported significant sales growth in platinum in the October – December 2020 quarter, thanks to targeted recovery programmes, the survey funds.
Meanwhile, Japan’s economy has shown some resilience despite a resurgence in Covid cases and the second declaration of a state of emergency. Store traffic recovered between October and November. Platinum jewellery unit sales were supported by a strong recovery in bridal and asset jewellery all across department stores and non-store channels.
The survey further finds that the consumers in China and India remained positive about the economic conditions in the next three months. An overwhelmingly 78 per cent of Chinese respondents believe their future offers infinite possibilities, despite that 2020 was the worst year in decades regarding China’s overall economic performance.
Also, 61 per cent of Indian respondents believe their financial situation will improve in the next three months, despite being under a long period of lockdown, compared to 59 per cent in China and 52 per cent in the United State.
