Will The COVID-19 Pandemic Change The (Watch) World Forever?

The current COVID-19 pandemic has a profound impact on our daily lives. In many parts of the world, staying inside is the credo, with people living their lives in social quarantine. This also has quite an effect on many industries, including that of watches. Retailers have been forced to close their shops to protect both their staff as well as their clients, and many of the manufactures did the same. This has a significant effect on the profitability of many brands and businesses as they now have a harder time reaching the consumer, as well as find that they might not be too eager to spend money now on a new timepiece. At the same time, investments have been made, and bills need to be paid, requiring everybody to be as creative as possible to steer through these difficult times as well as one possibly can with so much uncertainty. This does raise the question; will the COVID-19 pandemic change the watch world forever?

Everything online
The only safe place to meet and sell your product these days is online. Brands and retailers that have made this one of the pillars of their sales strategy now see it rapidly develop as a lifeline to the future. Even brands like Patek Philippe, which didn’t allow their dealers to sell their watches online before, have changed their position on this matter. For now, this might continue the revenue streams that not only the retailers need, but also the brand. Although forced, this does give a brand like Patek Philippe the experience of what online sales can do, and might change the outlook that they have on it, when this is eventually all over. For consumers, it is also an opportunity to be still able to buy their favorite timepieces from the safety of their private residences.

Hublot wants to even make this an experience and launched a digital boutique to further facilitate clients at home who want to purchase a new watch. Through Skype or Facetime, a sales advisor can give anybody a customer experience that comes very close to what they would experience in one of their boutiques. What could have once been a complimentary service next to their physical points of sale is now a unique way of still connecting to clients in a very personal way, yet with no risk to either party.

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Will watch fairs survive?
Currently, the LVMH Watch Week, which was held in January of this year in Dubai, has been the only watch fair that took place. Watches & Wonders Geneva (previous SIHH), Couture, and Baselworld have all been canceled for the dates that they have been initially planned for. For Baselworld, this might be especially a bitter pill to swallow, as the fair has been working hard to reinvent itself. Currently, it is facing severe issues as it has ‘postponed’ the 2020 edition of the fair till 2021 but is getting fierce criticism on the way that it is handling the way exhibitors are refunded for the fees already paid. This situation might fuel even more how the COVID-19 pandemic might change the way that brands, retailers, and press look at these massive events with people flying in from all over the world.

What the future holds is perhaps now more challenging to predict than ever before. At Haute Time, we will keep you posted, not only on the latest creations and hottest watches, but in the upcoming months also on the impact of the current situation of the watch industry.