Author | Wang Xiaojuan
Editor | Huang Yu
Gold prices continue to rise sharply, seemingly witnessing history every day, with the quoted price of 24K gold jewelry from many traditional brands exceeding 850 RMB/g, making consumers hesitant to visit traditional gold shops.
However, LAOPU GOLD still attracts wealthy women, with many stores often seeing long queues.
Around this year's Spring Festival, several stores of LAOPU GOLD, including the Wangfujing store in Beijing, the SKP store in Beijing, the Yuyuan store in Shanghai, and the IFS store in Chengdu, experienced queues lasting several hours. If promotions like &#34;1000 RMB off 100 RMB&#34; or &#34;15% off storewide&#34; are encountered, the waiting time can multiply several times, creating a bustling scene comparable to a large market during the Spring Festival.
Why is the price per gram far higher than traditional gold shops, yet products like LAOPU GOLD's cross gold vajra and dragon and phoenix sachets can still captivate wealthy women?
This relates to LAOPU GOLD's unique positioning. By utilizing intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship and a high-end positioning, it aims to transform gold from a traditional &#34;hard currency&#34; into a &#34;cultural luxury item,&#34; allowing it to occupy a dual value of &#34;value preservation + culture,&#34; thereby filling the market gap between traditional gold jewelry and luxury goods.
Compared to traditional gold shops, LAOPU GOLD's products possess the attributes of cultural luxury goods, differentiating themselves from traditional gold shop formats.
In contrast to international luxury jewelry brands, LAOPU GOLD sells genuine gold, with craftsmanship that rivals luxury goods, and the intrinsic value of its products is also significant. The rarity of craftsmanship and cultural attributes enable its products to command a premium far exceeding that of ordinary gold jewelry, with prices per gram reaching over 1000 RMB, creating differentiated competition with international luxury brands.
By combining the labels of gold and luxury goods, LAOPU GOLD has entered the sight of wealthy women as the &#34;Hermès of the gold industry.&#34; Additionally, it has tapped into recent consumer sentiments—an awakening of gold's bloodline and a trend in Chinese metaphysics—attracting wealthy women who are dissatisfied with merely hoarding small gold nuggets or buying gold bars. After all, they want products that fulfill the value of gold jewelry while also catering to the social attributes of luxury goods.
As jewelry, LAOPU GOLD has long achieved the craftsmanship of embedding diamonds in 24K gold, breaking the industry's tradition of using K gold as the base material for diamond jewelry. The ancient Chinese palace gold craftsmanship, combined with traditional Chinese designs such as the safety buckle, fortune-turning gold rings, &#34;Xiangfu (sounding gourd)&#34; gold gourds, and vajra pendants, reflects both cultural confidence and meets the current consumer sentiment towards metaphysics in terms of meaning and design.
Entering the discourse of luxury goods, traditional luxury brands have also faced challenges in recent years. Richemont, the parent company of Cartier and Van Cleef &amp; Arpels, has seen sales in China decline for three consecutive quarters, and the well-established luxury jewelry brand Tiffany also experienced a significant decline last year.
Unlike traditional luxury goods, while those brands still rely on lower-value raw materials like diamond chips and sell at higher premiums through brand stories and design, LAOPU GOLD not only features complex craftsmanship but also employs genuine gold embedding techniques that enhance the intrinsic value of the jewelry, directly addressing the weakness of traditional luxury products in terms of perceived value. Furthermore, its pricing strategy has led many consumers to recognize its inherent value even more
Moreover, since its inception, LAOPU GOLD has positioned itself as a high-end brand, thus its operational model is on par with top luxury brands.
Currently, LAOPU GOLD has 38 stores, all of which are directly operated. In terms of location, its stores are situated in top commercial areas of first-tier and new first-tier cities, such as SKP and MixC, adjacent to numerous luxury brands, allowing it to directly compete with brands like Cartier and Van Cleef &amp; Arpels. In terms of store service and membership service, it also benchmarks against the services of top luxury brands, providing middle-class consumers with a fresher choice beyond traditional luxury goods.
Additionally, as a new force in the luxury goods sector, LAOPU GOLD is more friendly to entry-level consumers. Its product line is more diverse, with entry-level accessories catering to entry-level luxury consumers, contrasting with traditional luxury brands that focus more on high-net-worth clients and maintain a consistent entry-level offering.
According to LAOPU GOLD's 2023 announcement, its 93,000 members contributed 3.18 billion in revenue, with a member average spending of 34,000 yuan. Loyal members spending no more than 50,000 yuan account for 87.5%, while those spending over 50,000 yuan account for 12.5%, with the highest annual spending reaching over a million. This indicates that its popularity is driven by a larger group of new consumers.
The continued popularity has also brought tangible performance to LAOPU GOLD.
According to LAOPU GOLD's performance in the first half of 2024, its revenue and net profit were 3.52 billion yuan and 588 million yuan, respectively, both exceeding the total levels of 2023, with year-on-year growth rates reaching 148.3% and 198.8%. In the previous year, LAOPU GOLD achieved an annual revenue of 3.2 billion yuan with 32 stores, becoming an industry legend that year.
The explosive growth of LAOPU GOLD stands in stark contrast to the decline of traditional gold stores. For instance, Chow Tai Fook, a leading traditional gold store, saw its revenue and net profit decline by 20.43% and 44.4%, respectively, in the six months ending September 30, 2024. To &#34;slim down&#34; and improve store efficiency, Chow Tai Fook closed 239 stores in six months.
Also, due to its dual labels of holding hard currency gold and cultural luxury goods, LAOPU GOLD has become a darling of the capital market over the past year.
Since its listing in June 2024, LAOPU GOLD's stock price has soared from 70 HKD/share at the close on the first day to 421 HKD/share at the opening on February 11, 2025, an increase of nearly 500%, corresponding to a market value increase of over 50 billion HKD.
Currently, LAOPU GOLD is not satisfied with its success in the domestic market; among the consumers queuing at its Shanghai Yuyuan store, there are many international tourists from inbound travel, prompting LAOPU GOLD to further take Chinese aesthetics to the world.
According to news from Black Ant Capital, the lead investor in LAOPU GOLD's Pre-IPO round, LAOPU GOLD plans to gradually expand its stores to other Asian cities in the coming years, covering Singapore and Tokyo, Japan. This is expected to further open up market possibilities for LAOPU GOLD.
For LAOPU GOLD, its current popularity is a result of its unique positioning and outstanding products, while in the future, continuously launching products that combine value and aesthetics will require further building of global recognition and cultural narrative capabilities to solidify its position in the luxury goods sector for a longer journey
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The market carries risks, and investment should be approached with caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article align with their specific circumstances. Investment based on this is at one's own risk

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LAOPU GOLD continues to attract a large number of consumers, especially affluent groups, against the backdrop of rising gold prices. Its stores in cities like Beijing and Shanghai often experience long queues, and promotional activities have doubled the waiting time. LAOPU GOLD transforms gold into a cultural luxury product through intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship and high-end positioning, filling the gap between traditional gold jewelry and the luxury market. Its products not only possess cultural attributes but also create differentiated competition with international luxury brands, meeting consumers' sense of value and social attributes in gold jewelry

- The article discusses the rising popularity of Lao Pu Gold, which has positioned itself as a luxury brand in the gold market, attracting affluent consumers despite high prices.  
- It highlights the brand's unique offerings, such as traditional craftsmanship and cultural significance, which differentiate it from conventional gold retailers and luxury jewelry brands.  
- Lao Pu Gold's impressive financial performance and expansion plans indicate its potential for continued growth in both domestic and international markets.

LAOPU GOLD had a prosperous year