Chrono Hunter is an online platform that helps private buyers source the best deals for watches from a network of UK retailers and dealers. WatchPro spoke to the company’s two founders, Sam Rayner and Max Nordigian, about the challenges they faced in 2020 and how their business model is perfectly suited to weather the lockdown storms.
WatchPro (WP): What is Chrono Hunter? Â
Chrono Hunter (CH): Chrono Hunter is a revolutionary online platform on-hand to help private individuals source the best possible deals from a network of the most esteemed traders of luxury timepieces in the UK and beyond when buying or selling a luxury watch. The Chrono Hunter platform allows its customers to access a reliable and trustworthy network of luxury watch retailers and since its beginning in 2018 has grown exponentially collecting 5-star customer reviews along the way.
WP: How has Chrono Hunter been coping since lockdown measures were first brought in last March?
CH: Chrono Hunter was on a bullish trajectory in the first couple of months of 2020. We did more than half of the previous year’s worth of transactions in those first 2 months. When March arrived we took a brief pause to see how the market was going to react before continuing business as ‘normal’, more conservatively than we planned for but we pushed forward with continued marketing efforts and we continued to bring a steady flow of quality customer looking to buy and sell to our retailer partners. The market began to pick up as the weeks and months went on, we introduced several new retailers to the platform who had reduced footfall due to the lockdown and overall the year was a positive one with 116% year-on-year growth.
WP: How have you had to adapt your business model, if at all?
CH: Fortunately, we have not had to adapt our business at all apart from what was already planned. The current market situation has played to the strengths of our business model which has enabled us to continue to grow. Our planned adaptations are more along the lines of adding procedures that will enable us to increase the volume of the enquiries we received whilst maintaining a personal touch for the customers and a high quality and conversion rate for the retailers to whom we are introducing the customers too.
WP: How has this allowed you to help out retailers who have suffered from the reduction in footfall, with shops closed?
CH: Chrono Hunter is a tool for luxury watch retailers to bring them more customers which is how we have helped those suffering from the reduced footfall, Our goal is to work with the best and most esteemed luxury watch retailers in the world and introduce a great volume of business to them. We’re already working with some of the biggest brands in this industry within the UK and beyond and they see the value in what we do as we’re simply introducing more qualified customers to them which compliments the customers that go directly to them. People are online more than ever and the service that Chrono Hunter offers is appealing, along with our personalised approach.
WP: To what extent are you expecting a successful 2021, once restrictions are lifted?
CH: We’re optimists, whatever the circumstances are we will always look for the opportunity. We have big IT developments in the pipeline for this year along with huge goals to increase the amount of business we are sending to our current partners as well as adding new partners. We will have another year of growth and when the restrictions are relaxed will be ready to push the turbo button and really get things going to the next level.
