Sekonda, the popular watch brand included in the Time Products line-up, is targeting further expansion in travel retail.
With Sekonda fashion watches defined by their style, high quality and realistic pricing, Time Products UK Head of International Sales Myalee Sofield considers the brand’s strength in travel retail and its plans to extend its network.
Let’s consider Sekonda brand owner Time Products, its place in the watch industry and the development of Sekonda’s design focus. What market was, and is, Sekonda targeting and why?
Sekonda is a long-standing British-designed brand established in 1966. We take pride in our original and ongoing goal of providing simply great, stylish watches at affordable, accessible prices.
In the late 1970s, the world embraced new electronic technology and Sekonda switched from producing mechanical watches to quartz battery models. Sekonda became a big household name in the ’70s and ’80s thanks to a popular ‘Beware of expensive limitations’ campaign.
This is where we were able to have a little fun with the luxury end of the watch market. In 1988, Sekonda became the UK’s bestselling volume brand and held this title for decades.
Great design, value and quality have been the values of the Sekonda brand since it was established in 1966 and remain at the heart of our business today. Inspired by designs from our past, as well as having a keen eye on latest trends and styles, our in-house design and product development team ensures our range is relevant and commercial. We monitor wider design trends – from seasonal catwalks to interiors – and keep abreast of watch trends from a raft of different style influences.
Sekonda has two seasonal product collection launches per year, with each launch bringing on average 50 new designs to the brand portfolio. Prices are affordable and range from £34.99 (US$43).
Sekonda is targeting the mid-level and ‘affordable luxury’ travel retail marketplace, with a focus on the fashion-conscious traveller who likes to shop as part of their trip. Whether that’s before travelling or during their holiday, we are well positioned to tap into that holiday mindset.
The brand is listed in over 170 travel trade outlets in 75 countries, as well as being listed with more than 100 airlines and cruise ships.
Travel retail is a key area for growth and development. We see a great deal of potential by expanding into the key channels of travel retail further and with deeper relationships with our partners, to offer more choice for travellers searching for the perfect gift or something to remind them of a travel memory.
What are Sekonda’s plans in travel retail and are there any major new developments in the pipeline?
Sekonda is well positioned in the fashion watch segment of the global travel retail market after 30 years of trading with our international travel partners. Our longest-standing retail partners include Dufry [now Avolta], Lagardère Travel Retail, Lotte Duty Free, ARI, EasyJet and Jet2, and we have over 500 SKUs available within our core Sekonda ranges to offer regional choices.
Further expansion is planned in all travel retail channels including our growing cruise and ferry businesses as well as our robust inflight business. By growing these channels – where our strengths in choice and selection lie – we see opportunities for collaboration and exclusive collections for partners.
Prospects are good as we see more of our partners seeking multiple price points for greater numbers of discerning travellers.
And the major changes for the brand, and the sector, over the years, considering especially the evolution of smartwatches?
We’ve seen a lot of changes to the watch sector over our decades-long brand history. Today consumers demand durability, functionality, quality, craftsmanship, the latest designs and value for money.
The Sekonda watch brand has played a very important part in travel retail over the decades. Looking back to the year 2000 (and for many years afterwards), Sekonda was the number one selling category brand at World Duty Free. That year we embarked on a long trajectory of double digit growth year-on-year.
Fast forward 20+ years and Sekonda is still one of the biggest watch brands in travel retail globally. The product development team continues to work very closely with our sales teams, and they take on board the feedback from our customers. We can be quite agile with our design and production and are constantly coming up with new collections for each season as well as great gifting ideas.
We are known for our style-leading designs, and this is of course influenced by consumer culture. One of the biggest trends we’ve witnessed is the increasing focus on smart technology and the need for consumers to track their movements through data capture. The recent introduction of smart watches has also allowed us to develop and add a whole new layer to our business, which is really exciting to see. We can offer smart wristwear technology at great value prices while still providing excellent quality under a brand name our consumers have grown to love and trust.
For 2024 we will focus on expanding our smart watch offer and new styles will be featured in consumer advertising campaigns.
The Sekonda Alpine GPS Smart Watch offers a wide range of new features. The case is black plastic with a 1.3in round, fully interactive HD touchscreen display. Users can track steps, distance, calories and sleep, with a continuous heart rate and warning monitor.
With 20 sports modes including running, walking, cycling, football, climbing and yoga, it is ideal for those on the move.
Sekonda Connect Smart Watch features GPS and Bluetooth calling, a step/distance/calorie tracker, sleep monitor, blood pressure/oxygen measurement and heart rate monitor. The case is silver alloy, with a 1.1in round interactive touchscreen display.
What role does sustainability play in Sekonda’s business model? What is the brand doing to ensure that it meets the demands of sustainability-conscious consumers?
With regards to sustainability, it’s something we’re making progress on by updating and re-working our watch box packaging and displays.
It will continue to be a key focus as our designers and production teams work with suppliers to offer more sustainably produced products.
What major trends are influencing the watch category? And what are Sekonda’s key product lines to meet those market demands?
Our product portfolio covers a wide range of consumer needs. We use this framework as a basis for our new product pipeline development, to identify gaps and opportunity areas and to monitor performance. We have over 500 SKUs included within our Sekonda core range.
There are six watch collection pillars – Sport, Classic, Modern, Heritage, Dress and Smart Watches – with elements of all these collections included in travel retail.
Along with the Sekonda Alpine GPS and Sekonda Connect smart watches, other new releases for the channel in 2024 include Sekonda Armstrong Moon Phase Men’s Watch and Sekonda Monica Ladies Watch Gift Set.
Sekonda’s customer profile is anchored by the brand values of design, value and quality. The brand has something for watch wearers of all ages; those not worried about status, but looking for designer looks for less.
What matters most to them is that the watch is a great British design and offers value for money, along with over 21 quality checks and a two-year guarantee. 
