Watch Out for Amazon

By Diana Wertz

Watch and jewelry brands are increasingly facing threats from all sides: gray market sellers, private label brands run by e-tailers, and online third-party discount sites. Unauthorized Amazon sellers pose the largest risk to the women’s watches category, according to L2 research, and women’s jewelry brands are more in danger at the hands of Amazon’s private label brands than any other category.

Here are the two areas where watch and jewelry brands should be most alert:

Amazon

Another threat is the penetration of Amazon’s private label brands into the women’s jewelry category. Currently, the Amazon Collection jewelry brand dominates traditional jewelry brands when it comes to share of listings on the platform. L2’s study notes that Amazon appears to be limiting third-party seller competition in this category, likely in order to boost its private label products.

The Greater Online Gray Market

The gray market for watches and jewelry dominates paid search visibility. More than half of the top watch brands don’t offer e-commerce capabilities, and brand-operated e-commerce store listings only appear in 19% of paid listing ads for brand-related search terms. By bidding aggressively on keywords relating to specific watch brands and models, gray market e-commerce websites poach shoppers from official brand sites.

Watch and jewelry brands need to take back ownership of their online commerce by investing in the Amazon channel as well as paid and organic search strategies. Amazon is willing to help brands that officially distribute on their platform cull unauthorized listings. Furthermore, emphasizing quality and craftsmanship through Amazon product listing content can help fend off competition from the e-tailer’s private labels.

Related posts:

You need to understand and measure what is happening on your website on a technical level. If you are a marketer or entrepreneur, GTM can prove to be a very helpful tool. It is a tag management…

From hosting some of the world’s most historic sites to the vibrant Mediterranean culture, the many charms of Cyprus make it an irresistible destination. Here are 6 reasons why you need to include…

Work from home. What used to be an occasional thing for some people is now a routine thing for most people. Working from home can look different for each employee, freelancer, or company. Over the…