Nuance-Watson operates 47 stores across two terminals, including general merchandise, perfumes and cosmetics, audio-visual/electronics, luxury brand boutiques, specialty stores and pharmaceutical stores. The company employs 700 members of staff and serves 45 million passengers passing through the airport each year. The company's commitment to providing superior quality products and excellent customer service was recognized when Nuance-Watson received the prestigious Frontier Award for ‘Airport/Land-based Retailer of the Year’ in 2006. Nuance-Watson was also the winner of the Raven Fox Award ‘Asia/Pacific Travel Retailer of the Year’ in 2002 and 2003. Since beginning operations in 1998, Nuance-Watson (HK) has received over 30 international and local awards in recognition of its excellence in operations, product merchandising and customer service.
International Editor Keith W. Strandberg talked with merchandising controller Raymond Chong of Nuance-Watson (HK) Limited about the newly opened Master of Time shop, a high-end watch retailer at the Hong Kong International Airport.

ES: How's business?
RC: Since opening in May last year, sales at Master of Time have been remarkable and growing positively. It has well exceeded our aggressive sales target by 30 percent in the first year.

ES: Please give me the history of your store and your background.
RC: The watch department at our luxury department store, 'The Atrium,' at HKIA has captured significant business growth. We have seen an increase of high-spending business travellers at the airport, especially from European and mainland Chinese customers who desire high-priced luxury watches. To tap into this growing market, we needed a dedicated space with the right ambience to fully maximize the potential. Therefore, we started in January 2006 to develop the concept of opening a stand-alone boutique to appeal directly to the watch collectors and discerning shoppers who are interested in the top of the range luxurious brands, serviced in a prestigious and comfortable environment. Eventually, the concept turned into Master of Time, which had its grand opening on May 25, 2006 as the first stand-alone, multi-brand luxury watch boutique at HKIA. The boutique features four world-renowned luxury watch brands - IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Franck Muller, the latter being introduced for the first time at the airport. The name Master of Time aims to reflect the image of precision and perfection for the boutique as the destination for the ultimate collections of exquisite timepieces from the world’s leading brands. We wanted to convey a strong sense of skill and professionalism warranting the highest level of satisfaction.





ES: How has business changed in recent years?
RC: There is a significant increase in customers’ spending, thanks to the global economy. People are willing to spend more money on buying watches for themselves, as gifts and as investments. Watches have now become part of fashion. People wear different styles of watches to match their weekday professions, weekend activities, sports functions and party occasions. The popularity of precious metals and gem stones has also helped in lifting the value and retail level of watches. Most recently, the development of mechanical watch movements attracts not only collectors but also watch fans.

ES: What is the secret of your success?
RC: Our success is built on our understanding of our customers, in the same light of our company’s philosophy. Although the shop only carries selective brands due to its limited space, we offer a wide variety of choices in terms of styles and prices for our customers. The four brands are carefully selected to ensure the widest possible range of offers from classic to sporty, elegant to casual, basic to complications to cater to travellers’ unique tastes and desires, from the conventional to avid collectors, and both men and women.
In addition, we provide a comfortable and relaxed shopping environment for our customers. Our sales advisors are also well-trained to offer a high level of product knowledge and professional consultancy services.

ES: What other watch stores does the company have in HKIA?
RC: At HKIA, we offer a wide variety of watches in eight general merchandise stores plus three boutiques, namely Master of Time, Omega and Bulgari. With this strong portfolio, we are delighted to have established dominance for the watch segment at Hong Kong International Airport. However, we are still committed to continue to grow this segment for the utmost satisfaction of our customers. From time to time, we review and evaluate our product offers and upgrade our service level and ensure that we always have the best choice for them.

ES: What do you like about your job?
RC: I like my job as it is full of challenges. The retail environment is dynamic and we need to make quick responses to cope with ever-changing customer tastes and demands. Yet, the satisfaction in return is rewarding.

ES: What don't you like?
RC: Challenges always have two sides.

ES: Any advice for other retailers?
RC: Without a doubt, understanding your customers is the key to success.

ES: What is the biggest challenge facing your store right now?
RC: The biggest challenge is how to sustain business growth given the limited space. There is always room for improvement in the area of product choices, customer services, communications and promotions.

ES: What is the biggest challenge facing the watch industry right now?
RC: In the luxury watch segment, the hottest topic is production. With the increasing demand from all over the world, the supply is running behind. Even though brands are investing resources to expand their factories’ capacities, there is still the challenge of the shortage of watchmakers and watch components.

ES: How do you market your store?
RC: We use numerous display aids to animate and promote the brands and collections our store offers, such as window display and a rotating display case at the centre of the boutique that is specially designed for exhibiting themed collections, special editions and museum pieces. A monthly promotion calendar showcases one brand or one themed collection each month to deliver constant newness to travellers at HKIA.





ES: Who is your customer?
RC: We enjoy quite a broad customer base. We have both male and female customers, with a slightly higher percentage of men, age 30 and above with high spending power. Asian customers are mainly from Mainland China and Taiwan. We also have the European and American travellers as well.

ES: How important is customer service?
RC: Customer service is of utmost importance in helping customers make their choice of high-priced luxury watches. Therefore, we work very closely with our brands to provide intensive product training for our advisors to equip them with in-depth knowledge of their brands and products, whereas our in-house trainers provide on-going training in both customer service and selling skills.

ES: How do you handle repairs?
RC: To guarantee our customers total confidence and satisfaction in terms of authenticity, genuine quality and top performance, we divert repair requests to the respective brands which have the expertise to handle the service.

ES: How important is security?
RC: Security is definitely an important aspect, especially for premium luxury watches. Therefore, we also involve our security department in the planning of our shop layouts.

ES: Has your store ever been robbed?
RC: Fortunately no, thanks to the well-equipped security devices and our strict operating procedures.

ES: Are you optimistic about the future?
RC: We are optimistic about the luxury watch segment. Although there is still some way to go in matching the customer spending level of that in domestic high street stores. Customers in general are worry-free in terms of brand and product authenticity when they shop in an airport environment, which is an advantage for us to service them within the limited time when they travel.

ES: What does time mean to you?
RC: To me, time is precious. It will never come back once it passes. So my motto is: treasure every moment and enjoy every second, no matter if it is good or bad.

ES: What is your favourite watch?
RC: It depends on the occasion. In the workplace, a simple, classic and precise watch is my choice. For weekends, light-weight, sporty, functional watches, with a touch of colour, are my favourite.

Nuance-Watson is committed to achieving growth both within the Hong Kong Inter-national Airport as well as outside. Apart from exploiting upcoming new developments at HKIA, the company is set to open a new multi-category store at the Venetian Macao, a leading resort and gaming destination, at Cotai in mid 2007. The new mega store will share the same name as the company’s popular ‘The Atrium’ outlet at HKIA. Occupying some 2,000 square metres, the new store will also be the single largest retail outlet within the Venetian Macao. The Atrium Macau will provide six carefully targeted, key propositions showcasing top brands in the fashion, luggage & bags; eyewear, watches & jewellery; perfumes & cosmetics; lifestyle electronics; oriental health and ethnic gifts categories. The store will also be home to an innovative new retail concept integrating fine food, wines and cigars.
This will be the first time Nuance-Watson has expanded its travel retail portfolio beyond the airport environment, entering a bold new era of selling and servicing travellers in a hospitality environment. This development should also allow Nuance-Watson to expand its operational expertise and solidify its strategic position to pave the way for further developments into China.

Many thanks to Mr. Raymond Chong for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk with Europa Star.


Source: Europa Star August-September 2007 Magazine Issue

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