Shop at xmas 2013

Wakefields’ festive sales to smash 2012’s figures

Wakefields Jewellers in Horsham is forecasting that its festive sales this year will be up on 2012 after its first full year trading with Rolex.

Co-owner Dominic Wakefield told WatchPro: "We are expecting to be upon last year, due to the store performance to date and the investments in stock, training and marketing. We are delighted with 2013 to date with sales showing significant double-digit growth on 2012."

The retailer has employed a multichannel marketing strategy this year to promote its Wish List service. Details of the initiative were sent out through its website, Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as through averts on the radio and in newspapers, and also in its store brochure, which gets posted to its top 5,000 customers.

Co-owner Melanie Wakefield said: "This year we had a more comprehensive marketing plan. The fact that we planned it in the spring helped. We had a design that we built our radio, visual merchandising, catalogue, billboards, newspaper [ads] and website around. The feedback so far has been great, though we need to get to 25th December to see if it’s paid off."

Wakefields struck up a deal with Rolex a little more than a year ago to become an official stockist, and since then the brand has performed well at the store. The retailer said it expects the brand to continue to do well this Christmas

Melanie Wakefield said: "We are very happy with the performance of the brand. We have built up a core client base, and we work hard at all those relationships."

Another new brand proving popular in store at Wakefields this Christmas is Bremont.

Dominic Wakefield said: "We are starting to see some great sell through in our newest brand Bremont. The Bremont customer is very informed and the watches almost sell themselves. It’s a great British story with fabulous theatre."

Wakefields described watches as "a fundamental part of Christmas sales", and said that the store had noted a trend in shoppers buying more than one watch. Dominic Wakefield said: "We are seeing a trend of investing in quality, not just fashion."

Challenges in the 2013 festive period have been limited at Wakefields, with staffing levels and getting the right stock in time proving to be the only hurdles.

Dominic Wakefield said: "Staffing levels have been hard this year. We measure footfall and try to predict patterns, however we always seem under prepared at certain points of the day, which is inevitable at Christmas."

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