From gold jewellery to smartphones: Consumer appetite for premium products drives sales resurgence
gold jewellery to smartphones to televisions to improve sales in the December quarter after struggling in most of 2023, latest earnings report of companies and market researchers' data show.
In electronics, smartphone sales bounced back after five quarters of decline, driven by high sales of premium models such as Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S23 series, and demand for large screens during the cricket world cup helped TV sales volume grow by 8-9% on year — up from 2% growth during January to September — last quarter, industry executives said.
While overall gold demand has been muted due to record high prices that rose 15% in 2023 as per the World Gold Council, two of the largest retailers in this segment — Reliance Retail and Titan Company's Tanishq — said demand was robust in the October-December quarter.
Titan in an investor note said the growth in gold last quarter exceeded the studded sales growth despite elevated prices and volatility. The company's jewellery division reported sales growth of 21%.
Reliance Retail's chief financial officer Dinesh Taluja told analysts on Friday that the jewellery store format had a «very good» last quarter, driven by the festive and wedding buying season with its highest ever sales last Dhanteras.
The country's largest retailer also grew electronic sales by 19% year-on-year last quarter.
