Although Chanel, Céline and other e-commerce business in the face of slow pace of luxury fashion 'nails' that will also start selling the brand's core products online, the current high-end watches and jewelry brands still believe that consumers can not actually touch And feel the product itself, will not spend on 'hard luxury'.
However, e-commerce is still one of the rare growth points in the stagnant luxury market. There are signs that attitudes are changing now.
'This is still one of the most important topics in the' hard luxury 'category, where we see that 9% of luxury sales come from online sources, but only 4% for' hard luxury ' Or 4.5%, which also includes jewelry, which is far bigger than the watch business, "said Rene Weber, senior vice-president at Vontobel, a Swiss watch bank." But if you're going to buy and sell really high-end watches online, Basically, there are many brands that started last year, such as Net-a-Porter and the first brand on their own website, but this is just a starting point.
Some luxury watch brands still believe that e-commerce tends to nourish counterfeit goods or unauthorized sellers who buy inventory that is difficult to sell at discounts from authorized resellers.
Hard luxury, especially the watch brand, relies heavily on the wholesale business to face the relatively small business of consumers, despite the latter's higher margins and better customer experience quality control. Bremont, ) Earlier in 2013, it was first marketed in the Mr Porter watch of Yoox Net-a-Porter's men's clothing site, but the watchmaker also had only four self-service boutiques and the authorized dealers reached 185.
'It is a crucial decision to replace these wholesalers and we feel that our wholesale clients are performing well and I also do not want to compete online with them to some degree,' said Giles English 'But in the end it's time to go back to the question: What do you want to give your customers - but through what channels? If you want to be able to buy products directly from your site, you should provide a website buying channel. I think many brands will eventually begin to do so eventually, but we are also watching to see what big brands are going to do.
Indeed, well-known brands in the watch industry, such as Rolex, have an extensive wholesale network, but there is still no direct online presence, while others, such as the luxury Swiss luxury watch owned by the luxury tycoon Richemont IWC Schaffhausen, which sells its products on Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter's Web site in November last year, has not opened its own direct e-commerce business yet. Richemont is also the largest investor in the YNAP group and is currently working on Net -A-Porter, Mr Porter and many other websites to conduct RQ tests on Rifle's brands, including senior watch manufacturer Panerai and jewelry brand Piaget.
"Until now, we were very interested in sales," said Angelo Bonati, chief executive of Panerai, for the first time online: 25 watches were sold at Mr Porter, 'in the digital arena As the international market is now facing a new era, e-commerce platforms are rapidly growing and continue to build their reputation. '
High-end services have become the key to attracting online retailers such as YNAP Group and Jingdong YNAP Group has never concealed its ambition to develop high-end luxury goods market: jewelery and watch revenue is expected to exceed 1 by 2020 Billion euros (about $ 116 million). For each brand, the attraction for working with these e-commerce providers stems from the high net worth customers they attract - with only 2% of customers contributing 40% of revenue, and These sites in the courier logistics, personal shopping guide and other 'white glove service' ability.
Earlier this year, luxury jeweler Chopard chose to open its first e-commerce store in the Chinese market in Jingdong, hiring qualified couriers to deliver electric cars within hours, said Chopard General Manager Tasso von Berlepsch said the move will 'make Chopard more accessible to younger customers who like online shopping.'
In contrast, jewelry brands embrace online sales faster, and give priority to setting up their own Web site.In 2010, Cartier introduced e-commerce business in the United States; followed by Chopin in 2012; Tiffany has been online for sales since 2000, although online jewelry sales in the United States have not seen any increase over the past three years, maintaining around 6% of net sales.
Philippe Galtié, Tiffany's senior vice president of global sales, said: 'While we find that more and more customers start their online shopping journey, most customers will eventually need to have a luxury shopping experience and want knowledgeable sales professionals Guidance.
Bain & Company said department stores are the most popular channel for buying diamond jewelry, even for the 'millennials' who regularly shop online, followed by independent shops, multi-brand specialty boutiques, Then there's e-commerce, said Olya Linde, a partner at Bain & Associates, Inc. "Buying diamond jewelry is still an emotional process that involves a lot of personal emotions and stories."
Ecommerce is commonplace for cheap products, but analysts believe the shift is happening, with British jewelery maker Boodles saying online sales average about £ 1,000 five years ago and have now risen to £ 3,000. However, the offline experience is still crucial. "James Amos, director of marketing for Boodles, said: 'For an employee to meet someone who is really interested in the store and get to know them, this experience is always beyond the power of the e- Excitement for you as this is a true relationship. 'Boodles has annual sales of about 70 million euros, only slightly more than 1% of this figure comes from e-commerce, Amos said the proportion or Achieve 2% to 3%.
Although not all brands enthusiastically embrace e-commerce, many brands have begun tagging product prices on their websites, purchasing stores, interacting with website users and branded customers via live chat, social media, etc. Vontobel Weber Said that the highest-end brands in the watch and jewelery markets may never make any inroads, but by 2025 eCommerce will contribute 20% of total luxury sales.
'Customers wishing to buy watches worth 100,000 Swiss francs may not choose to go online, but now we can see the prices of more products online, and we'll see more websites that can be traded.' We are slowly seeing the industry change.