Just Dial, the hyper-local search engine, witnessed a significant QoQ 20 per cent jump in demand for precious metals with demand for gold remaining high, almost at 3X of silver during this festive season. The demand surge for precious metals in Tier-II cities remained higher in vis-à-vis Tier-I.
Gold prices have fallen since reaching the peak in August 2020 and this festive season has remained the most searched precious metal on India’s No.1 local search engine, reports the latest
Consumer Insight Report. While demand for gold was 3X of silver, the latter saw the highest QoQ growth in demand of 30 per cent while demand for both gold and diamond saw a growth of 18 per cent.
Commenting on consumer behaviour, Mr. Prasun Kumar, CMO, Just Dial, said “Correction in gold prices and strong demand triggered by the festive season across the country, have made the yellow metal the most sought after. On Just Dial, demand for gold in Tier-1 cities remained high but it was also interesting to witness faster growth in demand in Tier-II cities led by Lucknow, Jaipur, and Coimbatore. With volatility in the market, we will see more and more consumers investing in gold for security reasons. Besides, the rise in demand for other precious metals such as silver and diamond are also encouraging.”
For gold, silver, and diamond, demand growth rate in Tier-II cities remained higher than Tier-I cities. In terms of gold, the demand growth rate in Tier-II towns (24 per cent) remained marginally ahead of Tier-I cities (22 per cent). For silver, Tier-II cities (40 per cent) saw 2X growth rate vis-à-vis Tier- 1 (20 per cent) while demand for diamond also remained higher in Tier-II cities (38 per cent) compared to Tier-1 cities (14 per cent).
In terms of demand volume (searches) for gold, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad were the top-3 Tier-I cities followed by Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, and Ahmedabad. Among Tier-II cities, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Coimbatore were the top-3 with maximum demand followed by Vijayawada, Surat, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Patna, Chandigarh, and Thrissur. Most of the demand in gold was for jewellery, coins, and bars. Demand for gold jewellery has picked up by 20 per cent QoQ with chain, necklace, and nose ring being the most sought after.
For silver, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore were the top-3 cities with maximum demand among Tier-I cities followed by Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Pune. Among tier-II cities, demand remained high in Jaipur, Vijayawada, and Coimbatore followed by Rajkot, Agra, Kolhapur, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Salem, and Surat. The demand for silver was largely driven by jewellery sets, coins, decorative items, and dinner sets.
Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai saw higher demand for diamonds among Tier-I cities followed by Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Pune. Among Tier-II cities, the traditional diamond hub of Surat witnessed maximum demand followed by Lucknow, and Bhopal. The cities of Jaipur, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Varanasi, Vadodara, Indore, and Kanpur also made it to the top-10 Tier-II cities with maximum demand. The demand growth rate for diamond jewellery also went up by 18 per cent with rings, nose rings, and necklace being the most sought diamond items during this festive season.