Urban Indians look forward to a golden Diwali, with nearly three in ten planning to spend on gold

Millennials are more likely than other generations to spend on gold this festive season

With the festive season around the corner, YouGov’s Diwali Spending Index, an indicator of spending propensity, reveals a recovering appetite to spend during festive season among urban Indians.

At 90.71, the spending intent is higher than last year (80.96), however, it is yet to match the pre-pandemic times.

When asked about where they are planning to spend in the next three months, nearly two in five urban Indians claimed they are likely to spend on smart home appliances (37%). Following this, roughly a third said they would be spending on travel (35%) or health and fitness gadgets (32%).

Almost three in ten urban Indians (28%) are planning to spend on gold in the next 3 months. Millennials were most likely to say this as compared to the rest of the generations, at 36%.

Furthermore, seven in ten (69%) of these prospective gold buyers agreed with the statement, "Diwali and the festive season is the best time to buy gold", highlighting their inclination to spend during the festive season.

Our data suggests out of those looking to spend on gold in the near future, nearly three in five respondents (58%) are planning to buy gold for personal/family use either in physical gold form or through a gold scheme (like Tanishq Gold Harvest Plan).

The remaining (38%) are likely to spend on the yellow metal for the purpose of investment either through gold funds or in physical gold form.

Among the generations, the GenX are somewhat more likely than GenZ and millennials to buy gold for personal use (61% GenX vs 56% millennials and 54% GenZ) while the younger adults are more likely than their predecessors (41% millennials and GenZ vs 34% GenX) to invest in gold this festive season.

When we look at this across regions, we see that respondents in South India are more likely to buy gold for personal use while North Indians are keener to invest in gold this festive season.

Those buying gold for personal use are most likely to buy it from branded jewellery stores (56%), followed by local jewellers (36%). For investors, buying gold from branded jewellery stores is the most likely option (23%), but it is closely followed by investments through online trading apps or through banks (21% each).

Hallmark or certificate is the most important consideration factor when deciding where to buy gold from (61%), followed by the cost per gram (45%) and a proper bill for the purchase (36%). Flexi-payment schemes (22%), relationship with the brand or retailer (20%) and recommendations from friends are family (17%) are far less important to consumers.

Hallmark/ certification and offers or discounts are notably more important in East India (at 71% and 50% respectively) while making charges appeal more to South Indians (at 46%) than the rest of the population.

Similarly, recommendations from friends and family are notably more important to men than women (24% vs 10%) when deciding where to buy gold from.

When asked which brands do they trust the most for buying gold, a majority (57%) named Tanishq as their most trusted brand. Kalyan Jewellers (51%), Malabar Gold & Diamonds (37%) and PC Jewellers (30%) are other brands that are trusted by people when it comes to buying gold.

Interestingly, all these brands appeal more strongly to the millennials than the rest of the generations.

Data was collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 2021 respondents in the country between August 17th-20th, 2021 using YouGov’s panel of over 15 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult online population in the country.