No pun intended in the above
headline, as I caught up with Mike France, co-founder of Christopher Ward, the
first watch brand to be sold exclusively online.
I’ve always
been fascinated by online businesses, so it was my pleasure to visit the UK
headquarters of Christopher Ward, the English watch brand that’s doing its best
to disrupt the traditional Swiss watch industry. “The Amazon of the watch world”
is quite an apt way to describe it, for the three founders spotted a gap in the
market for properly made, premium brand watches incorporating Swiss movements
at an affordable price.
Christopher
Ward was established in 2004 by retail entrepreneurs Mike France, Christopher
Ward and Peter Ellis. France and Ellis had just sold the children’s toy chain
Early Learning Centre and wondered what to do next. They all liked watches, so
they began to use their network of contacts in the watch industry to find out
more about the sector. Fortunately, their key contact was Woody Lam, one of the
“Class of 32” Asians who studied the art of watchmaking in Switzerland in the
1970s, at a time when the Swiss watch industry was under pressure from the
Asian market. Lam gave them a pile of Mintel reports, and their research began
in earnest.
“When we
researched the watch market, as we gained deeper access to the industry we
discovered the scale of the ‘first cost’ multiple [versus the final retail
price], which is usually very difficult to find out in this industry,” says
France. “The average in the industry is 10-15 times, but one brand I won’t
mention had a 37 times multiple. Marketing costs create the hype, but we wanted
to be the opposite of that and offer people good value.” A Christopher Ward
watch, he says, is around a three times multiple, “offering a healthy margin
for the business and a product that impresses customers with its stunning
quality and unbeatable value; a combination that to my mind is the perfect
retail proposition."
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| Christopher Ward C900 Worldtimer |
The three
founders decided to sell the brand exclusively online and not via the wholesale
market as the internet had “democratised luxury and was a place where luxury
brands couldn’t hide any more, as you can cross-compare effectively”, explains
France. “There’s a growing constituency of people who are not anti-brand but
are savvy enough about prices and expect a brand name. We want to be more
truthful and open.”
Although
sales were slow at first, they ticked up at Christmas – largely thanks to word
of mouth on the popular watch forum, Timezone. “People found what we were
offering was incredible, and they were overwhelmed,” he enthuses. So much so,
that one enthusiastic forumite was barred from commenting any further about the
watches on suspicion of being planted by Christopher Ward. As a result, a
dedicated Christopher Ward forum was formed, which is not controlled
editorially by CW but allows the company a right of reply where necessary. “We
are very honest and we respond to what people say. It’s all about the human
connection, and our personality is unique. You have to stand for something and
have a point of view.”
The
affordable nature of the watches does create some difficulty, as some people
don’t believe it can be the case, acknowledges France, who points to his most
expensive watch, the C900 Harrison Single Pusher chronograph, which retails at
£2,450 but “is impossible to make it for less than £7,500 to £10,000”. “This is
the best example of our brand – it’s not about price, it’s about true value, honest
communications and engagement.”
Christopher
Ward communicates with customers, who have an average age of 45, via social
media sites and a printed customer magazine, which becomes quarterly in 2014.
The company
offers worldwide delivery and counts the UK as its best market. The
best-selling model is the C60 Trident Pro Automatic diver’s watch, which France
is wearing for our interview. Now the firm is preparing to actively promote the
brand in its second-biggest market, the US, which contributes 20% of company
sales and is the world’s biggest watch market with a 30% share, according to
France. “We think the US business will be at least the size of the UK business
in three years time and ultimately our largest market,” he says.
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| Christopher Ward C900 Harrison Single Pusher |
Aside from
the US, the company plans to target overseas markets in Russia, Germany, France
and China. In a further three to five years, France believes China will
overtake the US as its biggest market. Currently, the government’s
anti-corruption drive in China is proving a challenge for all watch brands, but
“the Chinese like British brands”, he says. “We’re not ignoring China but we
need to tread sensibly in that market.”
Sales in
Hong Kong are being boosted by the company’s strategy of advertising in
inflight magazines such as British Airways – which has a daily London to Hong
Kong route – and KLM. France describes the Russian market as “booming”.
This year
Christopher Ward celebrates its tenth anniversary – and the team has a major
development in the pipeline to mark the milestone. Watch this space. Pun
intended.
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Christopher Ward Typhoon
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| Christopher Ward C9 Harrison Jumping Hour Mk2 |
