As part of WatchPro’s focus on the children’s watch sector, Peers Hardy business development manager Peter Ashfield explains how children are ready to emulate the latest trends, why adults love character watches from their childhood and one particularly amusing comment from a retailer.
WatchPro: How has the market changed for children’s watches over the past year?
Peter Ashfield: Children are definitely becoming more brand savvy and wish to emulate the latest trends in the market. Ice-Watch will be embracing this demand by introducing Ice-Mini later this year. Brands such as Hello Kitty also have a strong following across several age ranges and so designs in 2013 will be in keeping with the latest High Street trends.
WP: What kind of key trends has Peers Hardy noticed in the kids market this year?
PA: Our new Mr Men range lends itself perfectly to retro-inspired designs for adults who are big kids at heart. The parents of today grew up with Mr Men and Little Miss and so will not only reminisce about the characters when choosing a watch for their own children but may also consider a personal purchase or perhaps one for a friend.
WP: Are there any particular product developments that you are working on for this year?
PA: 3D dial and strap detail has become increasingly popular and so we will be including this in several of our designs for 2013. The key thing for Peers Hardy is to remember that just because we are designing a watch for a child at an entry level price point, there is no excuse for lazy design – kids and adults are now fashion forward thinking and product development.
WP: Are kids’ watches becoming a more serious segment of the market?
PA: Absolutely! Retailers are starting to acknowledge that there is additional revenue to be made from the kids market and this can be without the need for large space or monetary investment.
WP: What are retailers’ attitudes to selling children’s watches?
PA: One of the funniest comments we once heard from a retailer was that they didn’t need to offer kids watches as they didn’t have many children come in to their store. We appreciate that for a lot of retailers kids watches have often been an afterthought low down on their priority list however the more strategic accounts have already begun embracing kids watches on a larger scale. It is not realistic to expect retailers to devote the same amount of time to a children’s watch range compared to that of their major adult watch brands as this could involve working with a number of suppliers. This is something that Peers Hardy acknowledge and due to the wide range of kids brands now within the Peers Hardy portfolio, Peers Hardy plan to make themselves a one-stop-shop for retailers wanting to offer a strong selection of kids brands for all age ranges.
WP: How are children’s watches changing as kids are growing up quicker?
PA: The key with character watches is longevity. Retailers have been caught out in the past by buying in to the latest trend whether that be a film or playground craze however quite often this demand can be short lived leaving the retailer with surplus stock, poor demand and often a bad taste in the mouth when they next look at a kids watch brand. Moshi Monsters has completely bucked this trend thanks to the fantastic way the brand has been built by its creators, UK success story Mind Candy. The brand has quickly become a global phenomenon and we have been delighted by the response from retailers in embracing the charm watches.
