What is this Blog about?
Welcome to the first post of our new blog format. Our idea behind this new content type is to inform you about the most exciting insights of our recent events. Whether it's because you weren't able to attend the event yourself or because the stress of university was so great that you've already forgotten some of it ;)
What happened at the Event?
This post is about our first event of the new semester. It was a company visit with Bucherer on the topic of strategic realignment and CPO business with the Head of CPO Odilo Lamprecht and Deputy Store Manager Khaled Shaker. They provided us with exciting insights into the world of Bucherer and its recent entry into the market of pre-owned watches.
The event took place in the form of an evening visit at the Bucherer flagship store in the heart of Zurich, where we discussed important trends in the pre-owned watch industry, toured the shop, and later sat down for an apéro in the new CPO lounge.
You are probably asking yourself: What is so special about pre-owned watches?
Why is the pre-owned watch market so interesting?
First of all, let's take a look at some data. Research of well-known management consultancies implicates high relevance of this market in the near future. BCG reckons that the second-hand watch market could already grow to the volume of the market for new wristwatches by 2025. Enormous growth is expected, primarily via online sales channels. Growth rates of up to 20% per year are attributed to the market of second-hand luxury watches via the Internet.
This trend has led to the founding of new companies and new business models are being implemented to target this still-young market opportunity. As smaller players like Chronext or Chrono24 are now becoming the first touchpoint for many first-time luxury watch buyers, even traditional buyers of new watches start to consider buying their first pre-owned timepiece.
After getting this first introduction to the pre-owned watch market, we were all the more curious to see how Bucherer as a company with a long and traditional history tackles this new opportunity and achieves a competitive positioning.
How is Bucherer positioned this market?
Bucherer had a clear focus when entering the pre-owned watch market. Quality and trust in particular are at the centre of their second-hand watch offer. This foundation resulted in a new company branch called CPO. The term is an abbreviation for "Certified pre-owned". It describes a completely new business model, which aims to fulfil its value proposition by adding a new service component to traditional marketplace concepts like the ones by Chrono24 or Chronext. The term “Certified” thereby refers to a special licensing of individual watchmakers in the Bucherer Team, which grants them sufficient competence and resources to repair, refurbish and authenticate used watches. These licenses are issued by the respective watch manufacturers to ensure they meet the company standards. Currently, this business model is unique in the pre-owned watch market as authenticity and condition certificates by most competitors are not licensed by watch manufacturers themselves.
Another dimension of Bucherer’s CPO concept, which vastly helps them draw a clear line between themselves and their competition is their broad on-site offering of pre-owned watches in selected Bucherer boutiques. Thus, customers can swap sales channels on their buying journey and experience the watches firsthand before they decide to buy. Bucherer also experiences several benefits by offering their customers selling and trading options. When trading watches, customers can exchange their used watches with Bucherer’s offering and receive a voucher for their next watch purchase. Thereby the company can lengthen customer lifecycles and strengthen customer relationships.
Of course, these were just a few of the most exciting insights we were able to experience during our first week of the semester at Bucherer. If you would like to learn more and are generally interested in business topics, we look forward to seeing you at one of our next events. To find out about our newest events follow us on Instagram to see our next announcements.
Thank you for reading this far! See you next time.
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