Gold purchase volumes declined 25 per cent during the previous Dussehra in Delhi and Mumbai, even as purchase value in Delhi rose 30–35 per cent, according to a study by LS Digital and Quilt.AI. The report, The State of Festive India, Decoded, found that consumers are adjusting purchase sizes and formats to manage budgets while continuing festive traditions.
The study found a shift towards five-gram gold coins, lightweight 14K–18K jewellery and old-gold exchanges to finance new purchases. In Hyderabad, old gold is estimated to account for 50–60 per cent of jewellery sales during the festive period. The findings suggest that affordability is influencing how consumers buy gold rather than eliminating demand for the category.
The report also identified changing fashion spending patterns during Navratri. In Mumbai, outfit restyling accounted for 47.8 per cent of search interest, compared with 14.9 per cent of written discourse. In Delhi, consumers showed interest in budget-conscious styling using two or three pieces priced below Rs 1,000, which could be reused across celebrations.
Search behaviour revealed gaps between the information consumers seek and the subjects covered in festive discourse. In Delhi, gold accounted for 67.1 per cent of Dussehra-related search interest but only 0.5 per cent of written coverage. The report cited more than 12,000 monthly searches for “Navratri colours”; in Hyderabad, colour-list searches accounted for 99.9% of search interest, compared with 1.6 per cent of written discourse.
The study, which analysed consumer behaviour across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, also highlighted demand for home-based rituals and community-led celebrations. It found that 56 per cent of identified Dussehra audience segments were oriented towards home-based rituals and cooking, while neighbourhood Ramlilas and housing-society Garba events emerged as alternatives to larger, more expensive celebrations. The findings are based on discourse analysis, digital audience segmentation, cultural semiotics and futures analysis, and identify potential opportunities for brands ahead of the 2027 festive season.
