PIAGET: A new era for e-commerce

Yu Ju Liu
Oct 25, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Dec 2, 2022

The secret of Piaget's success in overcoming time by not being eliminated in the ever-changing trends, nor fading with the evolution of history, in short, is to move forward.

History of the Piaget dynasty

Piaget, a Switzerland luxury watch brand founded by 19 years old Georges Edouard Piaget. Rooted in 1874, Piaget has quickly become a veritable symbol of fine watchmaking and jewelry in a short period of time. Moreover, it is one of the few watch brands that can design, develop and manufacture by its own movements.

The pursuit of manufacturing top-notch components and the development of high-precision movements demonstrate Piaget's astonishing innovation.

A unique performance in ultra-thin movements and innovative design in complex watches have made Piaget a leader in the traditional corporate and exquisite watches industry.

Embracing Digital Naturally

Thanks to the solid and well-grown digital platform nowadays, Piaget was one of the first watch brands who launch into e-commerce. Nevertheless, it is not a common case for luxury brands and especially the watch brands that have chosen to sell their products online.

As a high-end luxury brand, it is vitally important to stay connected with clients whenever or wherever they are. Therefore, Piaget considers strengthening a solid relationship with the customer as one of the priority missions for enterprise development. Like most of the watch brands in the world, Piaget also faced a serious operation crisis during the pandemic.

Especially the tremendously decreasing customer number in Asia since lots of cities have been on lockdown for several months, and thus there's no one can come to the physical stores for shopping. However, Piaget dedicated hard to distance selling by making the choice of e-commerce that opened their e-commerce shop on June 5th, 2012, which was quite a small circle at that time. As a result, Piaget still remains a great sales volume during Covid, which also the turnover rate did not drop as much as other company as well.

A Two-Pronged Channel Strategy

Not only does the online shop on Piaget’s website, but Piaget also has access to an indirect e- commerce platform. In 2017, Piaget launched a new e-commerce platform in the US, a partnership with Net-a-Porter and Mr. Porter, the luxury online fashion retailers that sell a variety of high-class products. To develop a successful channel strategy, it is essential to have both direct channels and external channels, where the environment is totally different. For instance, the clients who use Net-a-Porter are usually pursuing a certain type of lifestyle, which Piaget considers a great new opportunity for them to expand their brand in this kind of environment. As for the online shopping store on Piaget’s website, it tends to be a more inclusive environment. Therefore, it is definitely advantageous for the company to have both approaches.