‘This year will be very difficult … Stocks will be massively backlogged.’ This is what the CEO of Gucci Watch Division said at the Basel Watch Fair. This year’s extremely popular ‘Global Watch Order ‘Conference’, this year, the atmosphere seems particularly dignified.
的 The attitude of watchmakers conveys a message that high-end watches are really not easy to sell. Right now, more and more watch brands are lowering their prices, either implicitly or implicitly. At the beginning of this year, Hublot adjusted the price of mainland watches to be basically the same as that of Hong Kong, which was regarded as a direct price reduction of about 15%. For watch dealers who have survived 2013, the current situation is not optimistic. The backlog of inventory is very difficult. On the one hand, they are afraid to buy new high-end watches this year. On the other hand, they step up Find e-commerce to digest their inventory.
Regarding the future, the industry generally believes that the sales of high-end watches will not recover in a short period of time. If this situation continues, it is very likely that agents will cut off watch stores and even cut off agency brands.
2013 was very difficult for most watch brands. After going through the tough years of the big names, this year finally couldn’t help but adjust the price strategy.
Hublot first heard the ‘price cut’. On February 1 this year, Hublot announced that it will implement the same price policy in Hong Kong and the Mainland, and the price will be reduced by about 15%. It is reported that Hublot’s price adjustment is not only to revive sales performance, but also due to the impact of the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement and the reduction of luxury goods tariffs. The price of this brand watch ranges from 100,000 yuan to one million yuan, and the price adjustment range will range from 10,000 yuan to more than 100,000 yuan.
Out of concerns about “direct price reduction”, more watch brands have chosen more hidden price strategy adjustments.
‘For example, we usually sell a batch of watches with a price range of 1,000 euros to 6,000 euros, but now we will provide more watches close to 1,000 euros.’ Relevant person in charge of TAG Heuer watches under LVMH Group said.
This phenomenon does exist. It is reported that this year is not only TAG Heuer, but even big-name watches such as Vacheron Constantin have pushed new products at relatively low prices. This move has also been interpreted as an invisible price reduction strategy. ‘Lack of confidence in sales.
Watch brands may adjust prices brightly or darkly
Cut the store? Cut brand? Dealer pressure
The decline in sales of high-end watches has also directly weighed down domestic watch dealers. Recently, the industry has rumored that several watch brands on Shanghai Huaihai Road have begun to withdraw due to unbearable rental pressure, and a watch agent in Hangzhou may also be in Close down poor stores, and even ‘cut off’ the agency relationship of big-name watches such as Vacheron Constantin.
‘This possibility definitely exists. The inventory of watches in the hands of agents is actually very large. A large agent will spend tens of millions on a brand. The entire inventory is worth several hundred million yuan. It does n’t make sense to have a big name in your hand, ”said a watch industry official who asked not to be named.
It is reported that since the beginning of this year, sales of watch brands such as Blancpain and Omega have experienced double-digit declines compared to the same period last year. Even brands such as Tissot and Mido that have previously sold well have seen single-digit declines. It is also possible that Rolex and Longines, like Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre, have high sales due to the high proportion of high-end watches.
Stuck by inventory pressure, many agents didn’t even dare to enter this year’s new products. They turned to online channels to try to digest part of the inventory.
This is particularly evident when the Basel Watch Festival is held this year. This year, many online stores, including Tmall, JD.com, and Dangdang, have launched watch sales on the theme of ‘Basel watches’. Among them, such as the Rossi watch 3.2 fold up, Casio 6.5 fold up, Tissot 7.5 fold cap, etc., many of the styles on sale are models before 2012.