Britain’s biggest online watch retailer has described how it uses different social media platforms as a medley of tools to boost sales and improve customer satisfaction.
Alex Fisher, CEO at Aurum Holdings-owned Watch Shop, says the company sees social media as a platform where it is able to connect to customers on a more interactive and personal level.
While some businesses see social media as a promotion and marketing vehicle. Watch Shop takes a more quantifiable approach.
“Our strategy is based upon three core principles: growing the business, creating brand awareness and driving ‘direct’ sales through social,” says Mr Fisher.
“Our approach is very much about understanding customer interaction with brands, and maximising this either through the existing audience, or in addition through lookalike acquisition,” he adds.
WatchPro uses different social media platforms for subtly different jobs.
Facebook, where the Watch Shop page has almost 220,000 likes, is used to drive sales, marketing and conversations. “We attain website conversion by using a combination of paid and organic reach. This is achieved through ad campaigns, posts, customer service inquires and the Facebook Messenger tool,” Mr Fisher explains.
Watch Shop’s closest rival on Facebook is H Samuel, which has 81,500 likes.
Twitter, where Watch Shop has 19,500 followers, compared to 26,900 for H Samuel, is used primarily as an easy port of call for our customers to contact and connect with us as a business, says Mr Fisher. “We want to be able to both listen, understand and most importantly help our consumers,” he adds.
Instagram is the newest platform for Watch Shop, and the retailer has just over 3000 followers. Aurum Holdings stablemate Watches of Switzerland has 28,200 followers.
Right now, Instagram is primarily used for marketing and brand awareness, but Mr Fisher hints that direct sales via the platform is being considered.
Mr Fisher spoke to WatchPro as part of our research into the 2017 Reach List, a special report that compares the web traffic and social media engagement of multiple and independent watch retailers in the UK. The report appears in the January edition of WatchPro magazine.
