The last two years have been extremely trying for the watch industry in every way. From sales, to distribution, to marketing, allocation and production. These things are all so intertwined. Everything is really fucked up. Consumers have been having a field day in this down economy, because they are able to get prices on watches that were never possible before. This is all supply and demand. So, What's really Happening? Because consumers aren't buying nearly what they were 5 years ago. and retailers are stuck with crazy inventories, the retailers are forced to give this shit away to pay their bills which means giving 30% of on everything , and that's just to start with. Some retailers are giving consumers 5 to 10 % over cost just to move inventory and stay in this blood bath of a game.
Now, this creates a serious problem for the watch companies. Their product ain't worth shit! To counter this, the watch companies are seriously cleaning house in the most severe ways. Cartier, has recently just cut a hundred plus doors in the US and dropped their margin by a couple percentage points with their retail partners in order to preserve and hold their reputation and value. The new Cartier President's attitude in my opinion, is cut retail partners and strengthen their boutique presence world wide to uphold their image and control their distribution. What does this mean for the you as the consumer?
This means it will be nearly impossible to get a discount on Cartier which translates to buying something that actually has value. This is for the greater good for all the watch brands for the time being, but the issue is still not resolved because other countries will be the source to buy watches at a better price in the near future. It's not just Cartier, it's the entire watch industry. Every brand is cutting distribution and retailers to validate who they are. It's pretty sad that it has to come to this but the last five years have been a downward spiral because of greed and power. We will have to wait and see what happens next?
1 comments:
Interesting and thoughtful analysis
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