Economic Daily News, October 8th (Reporter: Lu Tingting) With the gold price staying high, the listing price of gold brand 24K trinkets also stands in the 7000s during the National Day holiday. Some gold shop staff frankly told Economic Daily News reporters, 'only those in need will buy.'

The National Day holiday is the traditional peak season for gold trinket consumption, but consumers' enthusiasm for 'panning for gold' is no match for the same period last year. Economic Daily News reporters learned from visits that holiday promotions, coupled with wedding demand, drove up sales for some gold shops. However, consumers are showing a tendency to 'buy less weight' and non-essential customer groups are more inclined to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

Since September, the international gold price has been continuously rising and setting records, still fluctuating at high levels, approaching $2700 per ounce; domestically, the prices of gold brand 24K trinkets are generally in the 7000s. According to Jinglan Gold Price Query Network, during the National Day Golden Week, prices for some brand gold trinkets like Lao Miao Gold, Chow Tai Fook (01929.HK), Lao Feng Xiang (600612.SH), Chow Tai Seng (002867.SZ) have remained around a high of 773 yuan/gram, up by about 150 yuan from the beginning of the year.

In order to attract customers, brands such as China Gold (600916.SH), Zhou Dafu, and Luk Fook Jewelry have launched discount, weight reduction, blind box draw activities.

When asked about the sales of gold during the National Day holiday, an industry insider told Economic Daily News reporters, 'The gold price is too high, it's not like buying cabbage, purchasers are mainly from essential groups like weddings and anniversaries.'

A gold shop staff member also stated, 'Since May 20th, the gold price has risen sharply, and there are indeed many fewer people buying gold, but those who should buy will still buy.' He further stated that thanks to the significant promotion efforts in the store during the National Day holiday, as well as the boost in wedding demand at the end of the year, the store saw peak sales on the first day of the holiday and on October 2nd, with a significant increase in daily product sales by weight compared to before the holiday.

Observations show that products with small weights and low per-unit prices are more favored by consumers. 'Young people like styles like Cloud Lock and 7 Brand, while the older generation tends to buy products like Waterdrop and Love,' said a gold shop salesperson.

At a gold sales kiosk, Mr. Wu told Caishikou Magazine reporters that it was too expensive to buy, so he only bought a small weight. Even if the price rises, the price difference will not be too big. He plans to go see silver trinkets. Ms. Fang bluntly said, "Let's see the trend of the gold price first."

Market analysis believes that the gold price may continue to rise in the future.

Researcher Wu Zewei from Xingtu Financial Research Institute told Caishikou Magazine reporters that the high gold price will have two major impacts on the gold retail market. First, it will suppress residents' consumption of high-margin products such as gold trinkets, after all, gold trinkets are optional consumption, not indispensable apart from weddings; second, it will encourage residents to increase their investment in low-margin products such as gold bars. Gold bars have less premium per gram, and continuous gold price increases will stimulate residents to increase the proportion of gold assets in their portfolio.

The soaring gold price also increases the costs for businesses. Some gold shop owners said that the latest selling price of small weight products, they can't get the same goods at the same price the next day due to the rise in gold price. They can only stock up whenever they have money.

In the case of declining product sales volume, this undoubtedly adds pressure to the cash flow of gold shops.

Industry insiders predict that with the continuous rise in gold prices, more gold shops may face closure. Morgan Stanley stated in a recent report that considering chow tai fook's net closing trend and weak same-store sales performance starting from the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, it has lowered the group's revenue growth forecast for fiscal years 2024 to 2026 by 11%, 13%, and 12% respectively.