Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – International gold prices have continued to rise in recent days, prompting many gold jewelry brands to downsize their offline stores, while others are accelerating their expansion. It is understood that Laopu Gold opened its fourth store in Hong Kong on the 25th, doubling its number of new stores this year compared to last year.
A recent report by the international financial institution Rothschild indicates that Laopu Gold will surpass Richemont Group's China jewelry business in revenue for the first time by 2025. Richemont Group, one of the world's three largest luxury goods giants, owns top-tier luxury brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, Vacheron Constantin, and Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Huang Lei, Dean of the First Financial Business School, believes that the expansion of Chinese domestic gold brands in core cities has allowed them to enter the heartland of competition with global top-tier luxury brands, with both sides vying for the core high-net-worth consumer group. "With the 'eastward shift' of global high-end consumption and the activation of local cultural consumption, a strategic window of opportunity has emerged for Chinese domestic gold brands."
Laopu Gold stated that it hopes to leverage Hong Kong's "window effect" to advance its internationalization process. In June, news broke that its first overseas store, located in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, would be expanding.
A report by Barclays indicates that a growing number of Chinese consumers believe the quality of Chinese products has caught up with the West, suggesting that the high barriers to entry for international luxury brands may be weaker than the market anticipates.
Meanwhile, driven by rising international gold prices and robust gold jewelry consumption, the counter-cyclical nature of gold jewelry and the strong consumer loyalty in China have become attractive features for international giants. This month, a Chinese high-end jewelry brand announced the completion of a RMB 100 million Series A financing round, with Kering, one of the world's three largest luxury goods groups, participating in the investment. (End)
