With China’s strong economic growth in the first quarter of this year, jewellery demand in that country also increased, but platinum jewellery demand lagged behind other jewellery segments owing to a lack in innovative product and market-wide marketing support, says Platinum Guild International (PGI).
PGI, on Wednesday, released its quarterly ‘Platinum Jewellery Business Review’ saying that the outlook for Chinese consumption this year and over the coming years remains positive, driven by a growing middle class and rising income.
This has led to a change in consumer preferences along with increasing urbanisation, wider Internet penetration and retail competition, which will benefit consumption of high-end goods.
Meanwhile, India’s economy returned to strong growth in the first quarter of this year, and the implementation of a goods and services tax will continue to benefit the organised trade, while unorganised trade is likely to experience further pressure, says the PGI.
Platinum retail sales among partners outperformed that of gold and diamond jewellery. PGI reported robust growth in the first quarter, mainly contributed by heavier products sold by retailers. Growth predominantly came from one of the PGI’s flagship brands Platinum Evara, and men’s jewellery increasing the average weight of platinum jewellery sold.
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