Reply With QuoteBreitling started it this summer - must be a winner for them to cut out dealer margins and only sell at rrp...
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I may have missed another post on this so apologies if it’s old news, but yesterday o noticed Omega now sell watches on their website.
I was inevitable after they set up the strap store but it still seems like a bold move that shouldn’t go unmentioned. It’s a milestone moment for any major brand and ultimately all brands will follow suit.
Who else is doing this and who else will be next?
And has anyone bought direct from Omega via the website - how was the retail experience compared with the AD route?
I’ve bought some luxury fashion stuff online direct from Gucci and Net-a-porter which went OK and didn’t feel I like online purchase devalued the brands, which seem to be a view as to why many luxury watch brands haven’t yet embraced direct online sales.
Breitling started it this summer - must be a winner for them to cut out dealer margins and only sell at rrp...
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Can't haggle with a commissioned salesperson at month end on a website.
That, I suspect, is the reasoning behind it. ADs are too keen to discount and the brand image falls down.Originally Posted by wileeeeeey
I presume that will just be their standard range, any specials will still be via Omega Boutiques.
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The Speedy Tuesday editions was them probably trialing it I'd imagine.
Steve
It's been active for a few months now. You can register your interest for announced but not yet released models also.
I agree with Chris and can fully understand why more of the big players are now heading into direct online sales or via their own boutiques having took a tour of the Edinburgh AD’s yesterday and the uninspiring window displays of row upon row of watches certainly not giving off the vibe of luxury, although the prices certainly did.
Mr Porter is my go to site for clothing and accessories for many years now and the presentation layout of the content in no way detracts from the goods or brand association. If I was a current AD owner I would be seriously concerned about the direction the big players are starting to embark on.
JLC has been doing this for a couple of years. I was very surprised that it did not get more attention when they began.
I see this as a bad move, a step in the wrong direction. There’s no scope to haggle or negotiate; anyone buying an Omega with an option of bracelet or strap from a store currently has the chance to buy the bracelet option and haggle for a strap to be thrown in to the deal etc.......this won’t happen in future when the stores have completely disappeared (which is what will happen).
If I was buying I would want to try the different watches on and decide whether I liked them or not, that’s the beauty of buying anything from a store, you get chance to look properly and make up your mind.
Definitely not for me.
Yes, I see that and ultimately it's not great for consumers wanting 'best' price.
It's clear from luxury brands that haggling and discounting isn't what they want, which is unfortunate for us when buying. When selling though, we'd much rather have brand that maintained a solid used price.
I see the future of retail being online sales with physical high street showrooms, subsidised by brands as both stand-alone boutiques and rented displays in places like Harrods, where you can handle products but ultimately buy direct.
I can see a future where shops don’t exist, banks don’t exist, pubs don’t exist........no- one will ever need to go out again except for going to work! Won’t it be fun.
You can't have a pint and a chinwag delivered by My Hermes so I think these will be safe … for now.
It's distance selling so I guess a customer can order two or three models if undecided and decide in their own homes. Makes you wonder though what happens to a watch that's been worn in the customers home for a day or so and then returned during the cooling off period. Is it re-stickered and sold as new or sold off via a clearance outlet? And what is tolerable from the retailers perspective in terms of hairlines, at what point is that watch considered beyond return?
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Apple have an online Refurb Store for this so that's possible route. Richemont brands could go on their Watchfinder platform. As for return condition:
RETURNS
Customer satisfaction is our goal. If you are not satisfied with your product, you may return any unworn, undamaged merchandise purchased online from www.omegawatches.com/en-gb by mail within 14 days of delivery for a refund of the purchase price, providing that the merchandise is in original condition and has not been damaged.
Returns are only applicable to orders made on www.omegawatches.com/en-gb.
Returns are not accepted in OMEGA boutiques.
Any product that fails the quality inspection, as exclusively determined by The Swatch Group’s Customer Service (e.g. scratches, worn or damaged items, missing components), will be returned to you and no refund will be issued.
Any products that are personalised (embossed, engraved, etc) cannot be cancelled or returned after purchase, unless we are at fault.
A box set containing several items may only be returned for refund as a whole, with all of the original items, except in cases relating to warranty.
We aim to keep the returns process as simple as possible. These terms do not affect your legal rights.
Lots of companies online attach additional stickers which if removed means you can’t return an item.
Even watchfinder do this I believe to stop people effectively renting a watch for the weekend.
They'll be refereeing sport from distant studios next. Oh wait...
Pubs, been in decline for years, shops disappearing at a frightening rate. You're not wrong.
It's a question of cost vs. benefit.
A pint and a chinwag are very nice but pubs are expensive. One can buy beer cheaper elsewhere and have a chinwag at home or someone else's home. Thus, as rents, business rates, and employment costs continue to rise at a strongly destabilising rate (to a great extent due to intentional government policy), pubs are dying out. The market just doesn't want (enough) them at the price it would have to pay, and government is not that interested in intervening to actually support businesses.
That said, it does depend on population density. If the population density is high enough then both pubs and local shops can survive. I see this my local (north west London) high street. Lots of pubs, lots of local independent shops, absolutely heaving with local customers.
But smaller towns and villages (and even less trafficked areas in London such as off-major high streets) clearly are suffering.
As costs rise it would seem that there is a move by default to centralisation.
Last edited by markrlondon; 22nd October 2019 at 17:45.
It has been getting more and more difficult over the past 12-24months too secure a decent discount from AD’s pockets and I suspect a lot of buyers now who are so used to buying online probably do not even consider asking.
Buy new online from the brand and if you are looking for a discount they will direct you to their pre owned distributor. I believe Audemars and JLC are looking to launch their own pre-owned online stores in the near future, supplied with a full warranty etc.
when I worked (recently retired) - I worked from home 3 days a week - it could have easily been 5 days but needed some human contact. Still it meant I spent more time on TZ which cost me much more!
JLC is part of Richemont group - that own Watchfinder I don’t think they need another pre-owned store? When I went to VC to enquire about a purchase they offered to part exchange via their partner firm . . . Watchfinder.
My wife works in retail. Everyone knows distance selling, aka the internet, is killing the high street and at an alarming rate. She works in what used to be and still thinks it is, a high end department store. It’s on its knees. People ‘renting’ clothes for a weekend. People trying on then buying online. People generally just not being willing to pay high street prices, so that my missus can get paid a half decent wage. I could go on...
However, the one thing where the high street has an advantage in my eyes, is luxury purchases, alongside a high quality of service. Now admittedly and somewhat shamefully, a lot of places get this wrong but when it’s done right, it makes a real difference and I for one am willing to pay for that. Buying an Omega online? Not for me at all, for all of the above reasons in my own post and others. Unfortunately though most of the millennial/snowflake generation don’t see it that way at all. If indeed a millennial would aspire to an Omega in the first place?
I suspect that as others have already said, Omega just want more direct control of their sales and prices. The whole concept of walking into a shop and haggling for a discount, doesn’t even cross the minds of most people, so the casual buyer will be happy enough with the whole online experience.
What is the world coming to? God, I feel old....
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It is a pleasure to walk down Old Bond Street in London and browse all the boutiques. Most famous brands are represented and some high end independent stores like Wempe. Also some high end retail too. It is a fun afternoon - and I ended up with a free umbrella. Reality does exist!!
Martyn.
^ I quite agree. For a luxury purchase like a watch, I want to be involved in the whole process face-to-face and enjoy the pampering. I also enjoy the ongoing relationship and camaraderie with the dealers. I wouldn't replace this with a faceless online purchase. But, like you, I'm in the older (for me, 40 and above) bracket. I am however a regular Amazon customer and buy most of my clothes online, so I am guilty of aiding the death of the high-street.
I only use the internet for the dead easy things such as razor blades and fire alarms etc. However, having said that, there is no reason to feel guilty about not using the high street for clothes etc. It's your money and you have the right to spend it as you wish and if the high street can't give you the service you want, they either adapt or die.
It's their fault, not yours.
I too like the face to face purchase process but these days it's not all its cracked up to be. ADs often lie to us, judge us, make us buy stuff we don't want in order to get what we do. Many have very little product knowledge and some lack basic customer service skills. Goldsmiths are my local Omega AD and frankly you're not missing out on relationship building, camaraderie or pampering with them. My mother-in-law used to work in there and what she could tell you about Omega could be written on a balance spring in marker pen.
It's all well and good buying everything on line, but does anyone stop to think how the goods arrive on your doorstep? All the delivery vans flying around is contributing to the worsening congestion on our roads, not to mention the impact on air quality and CO2 emission etc. Personally I think there should be a 'distance selling tax' applied to goods bought online for home delivery.
It's a changing world, I accept that, but the sight of town centres with lots of empty shops, charity shops, tattoo shops etc is something I find depressing. The concept of the traditional high street is busted in many towns but I try to support local businesses where I can, to me it's more than just buying stuff as cheaply as possible. Unfortunately our local DIY shop has closed due to the owner's ill-health and no-one's taken the business on, which is a shame. Prices were cheaper than the big places and you got advice too (whether you wanted it or not.....the guy was a character). The value of these businesses shouldn't be under-estimated, often we don't appreciate them till they're gone.
I don't. I on;y care about the watch and the package I walk away with. I see all of that "pampering" stuff as forgettable fluff, and relationships and "camaraderie" mostly imaginary (unless you are a very big spender). If I could buy from Tesco then that would suit me best. Online is good too. If I want a discount (for most stuff) then I can just buy second hand.
I'm 48. And I know what I'm really buying. And it's not the "experience". That really is worthless to me. Indeed, as we have seen recently, the AD experience is no longer what it should be.
Exactly. It is cheaper and more convenient this way. There is nothing fundamentally different about luxury purchases that changes this.
I don't see a problem with any of that. It is what we call economic activity and that is an ultimately good thing. Consider also that if all those goods were being bought by some other means then the congestion, etc. could be worse! At least delivery vans group together deliveries and thus produce a net efficiency compared to everyone going off in their own cars and buying stuff. (Remember that buses aren't useful for a large, heavy shop -- you just can't carry enough on the bus).
Rather than inventing yet more new taxes, perhaps reducing taxation on the high street might be a better option. I.e. Give tax breaks for high streets shops, allow councils to reduce punishingly high business rates on shops, and so on.
Then (a) don't create more taxes that the consumer will simply have to swallow, and (b) support reduction in taxation to help allow local shops to better compete.
However, said local shops do need to be supported by customers and, ultimately, the market will win. If the customers don't want local ships (or are not willing to do what is necessary to keep them) then local shops will disappear. So be it.
As I said in another post on this subject, it also depends on local population density. Small, independent local shops can survive if the local population density is high enough. Smaller towns and villages in many areas simply do not have an adequate population density, it seems.
Very true. This happened where I live (over 10 years ago now). The local independent DIY had everything imaginable at sensible prices. Sadly it lost out to the local B&Q (which actually has less stock of the interesting and useful widgets that the independent ship used to stock). The independent has now been replaced by a mosque operating without planning permission (it has a pseudo-shop in the front as a cover story).
What is the solution? Solution to what? Economics and culture are changing and this is the result.
In York we’ll soon have 3 Omega dealers, Goldsmiths and two Berry’s stores. All in old buildings that need heating. Stock, staff, reps, and customers all travel to those stores that sell and display very few products - compared with modern distribution centres their environmental impact can’t be any better or worse.
It’s a shame the high street is changing but where shops go, space for housing appears. And as more people start to live back in city centres, as they did in the past, the high street will start to recover.
I think you are right, as long as both councils and landlords are willing to allow the change to occur.
In the longer run, it could indeed make for more pleasant town centres than is currently the case in many cases. But it's going to be a long haul.
A few years ago my other half went into the shop to buy something priced at x. On Amazon it was selling at x/2 but she was going through a shop locally stage. The woman behind the desk looked it up on the computer and told the other half that she could order it in at x. When my other half looked around the desk at the assistants screen she saw it was on the Amazon page priced at x/2.
The above says a lot about pricing, and how the shop were stocking certain items from Amazon, and that was probably down to it being cheaper than the wholesaler, with low minimum order, and quick reliable delivery. Bear in mind I live in a place with a population of 23,000 in the middle of the North Sea. Choices are few and far between here.
I’m surprised the likes of Rolex don’t have an on line ordering system for there watches. You could order through a central system and pick which AD is going to administer and deliver the watch that way they can allocate anything that comes of the production line a bit like cars. Saves all the so called multiple lists and endless unspecified waits.
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I imagine its only a matter of time before it does go that way.
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