Latest Tendency for Boutiques' Opening
The watchmaking industry has become a part of the recent well-displayed tendency for opening brand boutiques. At present day we have an opportunity to visit boutiques of our favorite brands not only in the cities appreciated as the leading cultural center such as Geneva, Paris and London, but also in New York, Beverly Hills, Tokyo, and Shanghai - the list is endless. Watch boutiques are gradually spreading around the world and find their location in the bigger cities.
It is obvious that the matter of opening brand boutiques is all about promoting the awareness about the particular brand, its traditions and prestige. This is an effective way to reach attention of greater part of general public, not only passionate watch aficionados.
A brand boutique allows the brand to choose and maintain the best methods of advertising, displaying and presenting their products to customers. The brands also put in practice their new products' testing held right in the boutiques. It is essential that brand boutiques have a possibility to showcase the whole collections of the brand - usually retailers do not dispose the entire collections as they are limited by space or financial problems. Some timepieces, usually the ones of limited editions, are destined to be found only in the brand boutiques.
The majority of watch brands' officials support the idea of opening their own boutiques. Ron Jackson, the President of Girard-Perregaux NA, thinks that a lot of retailers concentrate their attention upon the best selling timepieces as they consider it to be the most successful commercial strategy. Boutiques, on the contrary, display a great variety of products, including most exceptional and avant-garde timepieces. What is important, organizing one's business through boutiques is a perfect chance to become aware of the consumers' opinion and reaction at innovative products and then find the best decisions of distributing the products through retail shops.
Antoine Preziuso has opened his boutique in Geneva. According to Antoine Preziuso's opinion, one of the major advantageous offered by the brand boutique is an opportunity to initiate and maintain opened direct contact with one's customers.
Antoine Pin , the Marketing Director of Zenith, considers that brand boutiques are the most vivid embodiment of the brand's wealth, image and vision as all the space and attention of sales people is entirely dedicated to the brand's products. The customer surrounded by special atmosphere created in the boutique gets thorough information about the particular product he is interested in. Additional information people get through a boutique's advertising campaign and during their visit to the boutique make them buy more and more products, and this is true about the independent retailers as well.
Louis Vuitton has recently reopened its boutique in Geneva. As Romain Guinier, the Europe Deputy General Director of the brand put it, a boutique is a successful and safest way to deliver the necessary message to the customers. The brand boutique offers the best service to every visitor, thus enhancing the brand's prestigious reputation. People coming to the boutique feel the legacy of the brand and perceive the vision of luxury promoted by the brand.
The market research proves that brand boutiques contribute to the sales growth in general - considering both retailer stores and boutiques. The increase in the sales is explained by such factors as active introduction of advertising and marketing techniques . As a result, people become more informed about the brand and its creations. Regular customers of the retail shops will most probably keep to their preferences. No doubt, some of them will be curious to visit the brand boutique to find out what it is like, still a lot of customers will remain devoted to their favorite retailers.
The Hublot brand has also decided to open a few brand boutiques. Jean-Claude Biver , CEO of the brand, also expresses the opinion that brand boutiques help retailers attain greater success. Mr. Biver thinks that the main advantage of a retail store is the perspective of offering a wider choice, not just the one limited by the production of a single brand. A visitor of a retail shop has an opportunity to compare and test timepieces produced by different brands and then be sure he or she made the right choice.
As for retailers themselves, they are rather afraid that the brand boutiques will partially paralyze their business. Some retailers agree to the idea that at the initial stage boutiques will arouse customers' awareness and interest of certain brands and consequently increase their sales. Regular customers who appreciate retailers' loyal attitude towards them and feel comfortable shopping in the familiar environment, will not turn their backs to the retailers.
But later the high competition may take away retailers' clients who are fascinated by the special atmosphere and complete product range provided by boutiques. Moreover, a boutique may benefit from a more advantageous location as well as Internet sales. Passionate fans of a particular brand eager to have a look and probably acquire a timepiece from the brand's just launched limited edition will most definitely go to the brand's boutique.
A boutique may be compared to a home of the brand that delivers the powerful brand's message without outside interpretation of retail agents. With all the possible advantages of boutiques' opening, retailers should be ready to face the competition.
