Doomsday Coming For Wrist Watch Retailers?

That and the fact that many consumers actually want to touch and see watches they want to buy. Which is partially where I come in. In addition to notifying consumers about new products, I also offer advice rich reviews and actual product images. With sites like aBlogtoRead.com, you could conceivable learn about, research, and buy a watch all without every stepping into an authorized dealer's store.Watch brands understood the major problems facing them and their business model. The Internet wasn't going anywhere no matter how much they ignored it, and it was only a matter of time until they had to deal with it. Brands had no experience with the internet. Most brands didn't (and still don't) know how to do anything but make watches. To a large degree, their problem with dealing with the Internet is one of justifiable ignorance. That and the fact that they couldn't look to others for examples on how to deal with this issue. While the economy remained pleasant from 2001-2007, they just puttered along more or less happy.Then the economy tanked. I mean really tanked. It was hell on the luxury watch industry. Companies started laying off people like it was fashionable, and many doors closed for good. The global financial meltdown killed the desire to spend excessive amounts of money on luxury goods, especially watches. It was a do or die time to think about the future and form a new business model. The brands had a couple of problems. First, the Internet was screwing with their pricing models and their relationships with their retailers. Second, they were bloated. Overall, many of them had too many redundancies, inefficient cost structures, and a reliance on unreliable suppliers. It was really time to change things, especially while they didn't have watch sales to worry about.Though the biggest attraction of the Internet was the worldwide market. Instead of just the people who came into your store, you could do business with the world. Sure stipulations and complexities applied, but the Internet seems like the end of the retailer.Brands and retailers fought back. Not very well, but they fought. Brands pressured consumers not to buy online, and threatened to remove warranties on products not sold in the traditional manner through retailers. Retailers communicated the value of service, personal treatment, and after-sales support to consumers as a way of getting people to buy from them. Perhaps those promises would have been enough if they could deliver. Lowering profits meant lower wages, and watch sales people quality plummeted. There are still good watch stores out there, but for the most part, good ones are few and far between.Internet shopping was easy, efficient, no pressure, allowed for quick research, offered a world of choices, and was cheaper than buying in a store. The only advantage many stores still had was the support from the brands and the newest watches.