Evidence that the tourist tax is impacting luxury watch sales in the UK is starting to emerge in figures from retail analyst GfK.
Year-on-year watch sales in Great Britain dropped by 10.5% in June, following a 4% dip in May.
Sales of watches priced at £5000 to £10,000 were down 15% in June, while the normally gravity-defying over £10,000 segment dropped 3%.
The summer slowdown follows a strong start to the year with watch sales rising by 8%, 10%, 15% and 28% from January to April.
Watches of Switzerland Group, the country’s largest luxury watch retailer, warned in a recent quarterly analyst call that it expected sales to dip in the quarter from May to July.
Sales fell across the country in June, but London fared slightly better with a dip of 9% compared to a 17% drop for the rest of Britain.
Online sales remain depressed. Having dropped back close to pre-pandemic levels once brick and mortar retail returned to normal, there has been very little growth since.
