Strong overseas watch landing in Shenzhen market fierce battle

In the first half of the year, the number of watch imports increased by 40%. Foreign brands have successively established marketing headquarters.

Overseas watch is strong landing in Shenzhen market

Experts pointed out that domestic watches must win in the competition. The most pressing task is to strengthen brand building.

Many friends living in Shenzhen have abandoned the habit of wearing watches, but they will not feel the existence of watches. On the first floor of Vientiane City, in the Rainbow Watch List Hall, on the Shennan East Road, a large watch advertisement, a Hong Kong star poster for the endorsement of the watch, and a variety of colorful watch samples, they will all be overwhelmed. Your sight.

Mindful friends will also find that the most eye-catching posters and samples in these watches are the English alphabet, which is a foreign brand, and Chinese brands are almost “overwhelmed” by them.

The sensational impression of the public directly demonstrates the grim situation of the Chinese watch industry with Shenzhen Watch as its backbone: overseas watches are accelerating into the Shenzhen market and entering the Chinese mainland market. Local watch shares face challenges in both sales volume and sales amount.

In the first half of the year, imports of watches increased by 40%

The City Watch and Watch Industry Association disclosed that compared with the same period of last year, the amount of imports of watches and clocks in our city increased by 40% in the first half of this year, which is about 150 million US dollars, which is the highest increase in recent years. It is expected that in the next few years, watch imports will continue to grow at a rate of 30%-40%. The association’s relevant personages analyzed that more and more foreign watch brands regard Mainland China as their most promising market for future development, and they have already stepped up efforts to expand promotion and expansion of sales channels. Those who have not yet entered are accelerating the pace of landing. .

Some overseas watch brand companies have set up their own sales headquarters in Shenzhen as a bridgehead and base camp to open up the mainland market in China. At the end of June this year, the headquarters of a watch company that is a joint venture between a Hong Kong company and a Mainland company has completed the industrial and commercial registration formalities and is officially operating in Shenzhen; another globally renowned watch company listed in Germany and Hong Kong has chosen to establish a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in Shenzhen and will invest in the second half of the year. Operating.

The import of finished watches has continued to increase, and the marketing headquarters has continuously moved to Shenzhen. The offensive launched by overseas watches on the Shenzhen market is rewriting the pattern of the Shenzhen watch market. According to Ms. Lin Li, Marketing Manager of “Yibo” Watch, sales of oversea watches, domestic brands, and domestic brands were three-fold and three-year-old sales in China’s mainland market three years ago; It accounts for 30%. Now that the pattern has changed, the sales of overseas watches have risen to more than 50%, and sales have exceeded 80%. Domestic watches are advancing with the times, while local small brands and small businesses are squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces, and some are even brutally eliminated.

Mid-range watch fierce competition

On August 4, the reporter visited the first floor of Vientiane City and found that all three watch shops sell or sell Swiss watches. The main brands are Swiss Swatch, Tissot and West Malaysia watches. The Chinese watch only stays in a humble position in one of them, and the sales lady also specifically states that “we basically do not sell domestic watches”.

The reporter then went to the "Watch Center" of the Rainbow Shopping Center near the Shanghai Hotel. Not yet entering the gate of the mall, advertising paintings of foreign watch brands such as Longines, Radar, and Ibo Road came into view. When you enter the door, you almost hit a counter with the reporters at the counter of Swatch. "Fiyta", "Yibo", and "Heavenly King" with the reputation of China's top four watches are "behind". . Going further, there is a row of Swiss watch counters, and a variety of well-known Swiss brand watches are displayed.

The reporter found that the price of most domestic watches has overlapped with the price positioning of a considerable number of overseas watches, and they all range from several hundred yuan to two to three thousand yuan. The feeling of a domestic female salesman was that “Although our sales volume has also increased, it is not as strong as those of foreign brands. The sales momentum of foreign brands is even more fierce”. “In fact, the quality of our products is similar to that of foreign watches in the same file. , but they are international brands, more and more consumers recognize those brands, in the price level, the same level of circumstances, are more willing to buy those brands of watches."

According to Xia Haoran, director of the network department of the Shanghai Timepieces Research and Development Service Center, the overseas watch brands imported by Shenzhen are generally mid- to low-end, with prices ranging from a few hundred to several thousand yuan. The impact of this level of foreign watch brands on domestically produced watches Larger than the impact of the top foreign brands.

According to Lin Li, the manager of the Marketing Department of "Yibo", the best-selling range of domestically produced watches is between 600 yuan and 2,000 yuan, and it is this market where the mid-to-low end of the table is attacked. The Swiss brand's mid- to low-end watch has the greatest impact on domestically produced watches. The specific performance is that when the situation is quite the same, domestic stores are more willing to choose the Swiss watch.

Domestic watches must be polished brand

The gap is there. The key is how domestically-made watches should be confronted. Xu Dongsheng, general manager of FIYTA, said that in developed countries, there are 23 watches per person and 12 in developing countries. Surveys show that in some major cities in China, there are less than 4 watches per person. Therefore, from the domestic market, watches have a very broad space. Compared with foreign excellent brands, the biggest difference in domestically produced watches is poor brand building. FIYTA shall use its own advantages in network and production, and will learn from the experience of international big brands in terms of maintaining excellent product quality, attention to detail, brand aesthetics, and personnel training, so as to become an international brand as soon as possible.

Xia Haoran of the Shanghai Timepiece Research and Development Service Center also believes that the Chinese watch market has a vast space. The domestic watch and overseas brands are seeking cooperation to jointly explore the watch culture and jointly expand the watch market. This is a win-win choice.