The secrets of Tic Watches’ growth success

Tic Watches achieved the great distinction of transporting its success story as an online retailer to the offline stores while playing a significant role in celebrating the latest fashion trends with superb art-house watches and famous fashion watch brands.

Darlington-born Daniel Richmond initially named the business Tic Trading. A graphic designer by profession who decided to make an online retail store for jewellery and watches for the fashion conscious.

Since then the brand has become one of the leading online watch retailers. While beating major brands seems big enough, the real achievement is actually the robust brand value that made Tic Watches synonymous with fashion.

The Success Story

Tic Watches hit an impressive £1m turnover in 2012 and is now on track for close to £2m in 2016/17.

With the growth of its business the retailer attracted new watch brands, such as ICE Watch, Lacoste and Oclock Watches while already being an exclusive destination for world famous brands such as ICE, Armani, and Braun, as well as Daniel Wellington, Seiko, Oliva Burton and Orla Kiely.

Started as an eBay venture to market fashion watches such as Armani and Michael Kors watches, Tic Watches soon emerged as a selling sought-after designer watches online. Today, its management team proudly gives credit to the Facebook fans and several celebrity figures who played a significant role in popularising their store. The watch retailer has also been extensively covered and featured in fashion magazines such as Vogue, Men’s Health, GQ, etc.

Diversification

Richmond built his website following a loan from the Prince’s Trust and funding from the Catalyst 2 program. And he’s been thinking in terms of diversification, establishing www.BedSOS.co.uk, which also became a well-known retailer for selling beds and mattresses. Partnering with Business Link helped him to diversify the brand into this bedroom furniture niche.

Bed SOS is delivering a significant turnover in its own right and has aspirations of being the number one furniture retailer in the UK. Well known bed brands for faux leather especially include Time Living and Birlea beds have sold well. Small double and ‘spare room’ type beds have proven particularly popular sellers as customers are not as concerned with testing the beds prior to ordering. While a return policy is in place, rarely do these high quality brand mattresses and beds get rejected.

What the leaders have to say?

Daniel Richmond, then just 27, started his business, www.ticwatches.co.uk and sold only three designer watches in a whole month? In 2007, the venture managed to sell just 219 watches. But the real surprise was waiting. The redesigned website is selling more than 15,000 pieces of designer watches a month.

But this is not the only tactic. Tic Watches is also a distributor for several watch brands in the UK.  Wholesale supply opened new growth avenues for the brand.

Richmond says Tic Watches managed to sell just 120 watches after five months.  According to him, the distribution deals have helped the growth. When explaining why he chose watches he explains emphatically that watches grabbed his attention as they are high-value goods with the smaller size. To explore more about Tic Watches you can check their site.