It’s also important to host events throughout the year. Events increase visibility, highlight branded merchandise, and increase traffic. Host parties to showcase special pieces and draw attention to new product. This is also an opportunity to forge and maintain new relationships with customers who may not be on your roster.

Initiate trunk shows with special pieces not available in the store. Invite representatives and experts to educate customers and answer questions on the special products being showcased.

An event such as a Swiss Watch Day is the perfect venue to entice customers to an assortment of branded watches available at your retail location. Bring all brands and reps together in order to make the event complete.

Use your client register to target consumers and participants. Your register can be used for all events, so it’s important to maintain accurate records of your regular clientele.

Also, be sure to take advantage of all events put on by the brands in the market and tie them to your own.

Events and parties are not the only ways to excite sales. In-store promotions can also be very effective. For example, a watchmaker’s demonstration on the movements and complications of watch construction will not only bring traffic to the store but also increase customer understanding of the expertise that is involved in the manufacture of a timepiece.

Gift-with-purchase promotions are great incentives. Free battery replacement, extended warranties, and watch support materials like rotators are effective at enticing customers to purchase sooner rather than later.

Once you’ve achieved an increase in store traffic, and your external efforts have been effective, you have a responsibility to ensure that your store is ready for the boost in consumers. Pay vigilant attention to the brand details. Keeping up-to-date inventory, proper point-of-sale materials, accurate price lists, and detailed presentations are as important to a successful promotion as awareness. Ensure the high visibility of the top brands in your store with an emphasis paid to windows and major in-store displays. You may also want to schedule more staff on the floor to cope with the increased traffic.

Since demographics and client preferences vary from community to community, retailers should tailor these suggestions to their customers’ tastes.

Too often retailers rely on the two-month holiday season to carry them through the rest of the year. Yet watches do not have to be exclusively a holiday item. They’re the perfect vehicle to sell throughout the year.

The non-holiday season is a great time to use advertising to create a regular, consistent campaign for branded watches. This timing allows more visibility, since you won’t run the risk of getting lost in the clutter of so many holiday advertisements. It’s more fruitful to run a regular campaign for 12 months than to concentrate heavily over one season. This is a more expert use of advertising dollars. Be sure to invest with brands early and use all available co-op dollars to increase traffic and sales in your store.