Middle-class buyers showed little interest in making big purchases this Akshaya Tritiya, say gold shop owners in Ongole
| Photo Credit: KOMMURI SRINIVAS
Come ‘Akshaya Tritiya’, women usually make a beeline for jewellery outlets to buy gold jewellery. But this time around, the enthusiasm the buyers showed was missing, with the gold price remaining high. The threat of another coronavirus outbreak could also have played the spoilsport.
Even as jewellery shop owners tried their best to woo the customers with discounts ranging from 5% to 20% and offering to do away with making charges, the sales have only remained dull this Akshaya Tritiya.
‘‘We have less footfalls this year compared to last year when the sales picked up after the lull caused by COVID-induced economic crisis and there are various reasons for this,’‘ says a leading Jewellery shop executive Naveen Chowdhary in a conversation with The Hindu.
Little interest from middle class
“We mainly target the middle class by giving attractive discounts. They showed little interest in making big purchases this time,” added another gold shop owner T. Prasad.
“Only a few customers bought gold on the occasion this year,” lamented another gold shop owner N. Balasubramanyam. However, affluent people made big purchases going by the analysts’ prediction that investment in yellow metal would be lucrative amid fears of global economic slowdown and high inflation looming large over 2024, he adds
High returns predicted for gold
Analysts have predicted returns anywhere between 10-15% in a normal scenario and 15-20% in a bull case scenario, with gold potentially testing a new high in the new fiscal.
Meanwhile, many spent the day holding special prayers, observing fasting and doing charities as per Akshaya Tritiya custom.
A massive ‘Sudharsana Yagam‘ was organised at the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams Kalyana Mandapam here to appease Lord Mahavishnu on the auspicious day. People who could not make big purchases bought turmeric and salt on the day.