True luxury is not defined only by craftsmanship, exclusivity or price. Increasingly, it is defined by the experience surrounding the product — and by the relationship a brand creates with its customers over time.
The Watches of Switzerland Group has built its reputation around this idea. Rather than simply selling prestigious watches and jewellery, the retailer aims to make every interaction feel meaningful, personal and memorable.
Behind that customer-experience strategy are partners such as Ipsos and Medallia. Ipsos supports the Group with strategic guidance, programme implementation and operational delivery, while Medallia provides the technology used to collect customer feedback, understand behaviour and turn those insights into action.
Together, these systems help Watches of Switzerland create a more consistent experience across stores, digital channels and long-term client relationships.
As an international retailer representing many of the world’s most recognised watchmakers, including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Omega, the company is well known for luxury retail. But its broader philosophy goes beyond the products themselves.
The goal is to become part of the moments surrounding those products: engagements, anniversaries, achievements, celebrations and family milestones.
That approach can be understood through three ideas: loyalty, longevity and legacy.
Loyalty: Turning a Purchase Into a Relationship
Buying a luxury watch is rarely an ordinary transaction.
For many clients, a timepiece is connected to an important moment in their lives — a graduation, wedding, promotion, anniversary or personal achievement. Watches of Switzerland therefore approaches the buying experience with a level of care that reflects the emotional importance of the purchase.
Research from Medallia and Ipsos indicates that 85% of customer-experience professionals view the quality of individual interactions as an important driver of loyalty.
At Watches of Switzerland, that philosophy is reflected in its customer-experience programme, Xenia.
The concept is inspired by the ancient Greek tradition of hospitality and revolves around three simple principles:
Know Me. Wow Me. Remember Me.
In practice, this means understanding the individual rather than treating every visitor as simply another sale.
The physical showroom experience is designed to feel comfortable, relaxed and premium. Clients may be offered champagne, tea or refreshments while discussing their preferences with knowledgeable staff.
But the deeper value comes from conversation.
Sales teams are encouraged to understand why the customer is buying, what the occasion represents, what they hope to find and what matters most to them before recommending a particular watch or piece of jewellery.
The relationship also continues after the transaction.
Product expertise, servicing assistance and dedicated customer-support teams help ensure that clients continue to feel supported throughout the ownership of their watch.
Loyalty, in this model, is not created through a single impressive moment. It develops through repeated demonstrations of care, reliability and attention.
Longevity: Staying Relevant Throughout the Customer Journey
A strong first impression can create loyalty surprisingly quickly.
Research has shown that more than half of customers may begin developing loyalty to a brand after just one positive experience.
Maintaining that relationship, however, requires far more.
Watches of Switzerland aims to remain relevant as customers move through different stages of their lives and purchase journeys.
After-sales servicing is an important part of this strategy because a luxury watch can remain with its owner for decades. Maintaining the condition, performance and integrity of the timepiece creates additional opportunities for the retailer to continue the relationship.
The same principle applies to how customers choose to shop.
With a global network of around 195 showrooms alongside a substantial e-commerce operation, the Group has developed a multi-channel approach designed to make the experience consistent whether someone visits a boutique or begins their search online.
Services such as next-day delivery, digital appointment booking and virtual luxury-watch and jewellery consultations allow customers to interact with specialists without necessarily visiting a physical showroom.
For clients who prefer to research online before entering a store — or who cannot visit one at all — these services make luxury retail more accessible while retaining a personal element.
Maintaining that standard also depends heavily on employees.
With more than 3,000 colleagues around the world, Watches of Switzerland invests significantly in training and internal culture.
Employees participate in dedicated Xenia training designed to bring the hospitality philosophy into everyday customer interactions.
The company also uses an internal communications platform known as Connect to share customer stories, celebrate outstanding service and encourage teams across different markets to learn from one another.
In the United States, initiatives such as the “100 Club” recognise employees and teams that achieve exceptional customer-satisfaction results.
The purpose of programmes like these is not simply to retain customers.
It is to create an internal culture capable of delivering the same standard of experience year after year.
Legacy: When Watches Become Part of a Family Story
Few consumer products carry the emotional significance that watches sometimes do.
A luxury timepiece may begin as a personal purchase and eventually become something entirely different: an heirloom.
Watches are frequently passed between generations and connected with the stories of the people who owned them.
That gives luxury watch retailers an unusual role.
They are not simply helping someone choose an object. In many cases, they are helping them select something that may eventually represent a memory, achievement or family tradition.
This is where Watches of Switzerland’s focus on long-term relationships becomes especially important.
Customer Insight Executive Natasha Jarvis has described the company’s approach as building a culture of care in which everyone — from boutique employees to support teams — contributes to earning and maintaining the client’s trust.
When customers feel that they can return to the same retailer for future milestones, the relationship can extend across years and even generations.
That trust can also turn customers into advocates.
Research cited by Medallia and Ipsos shows that 87% of customer-experience professionals believe loyal clients are more likely to recommend and promote the brands they value.
For Watches of Switzerland, heritage therefore exists not only in the brands it sells, but also in the personal stories associated with the watches themselves.
From Philosophy to Everyday Practice
Ideas such as loyalty, longevity and legacy only matter when they influence what actually happens inside the business.
Watches of Switzerland has spent more than two centuries operating in luxury retail, and its approach demonstrates how these principles can become part of daily operations.
Sometimes that means something visible, such as celebrating a client’s milestone with champagne in a showroom.
In other cases, it means providing a virtual appointment to someone shopping from home, helping an existing customer service a watch years after it was purchased or recognising an employee who delivered an exceptional client experience.
The philosophy extends across both physical and digital interactions.
And the commercial results suggest that investing in customer relationships can have measurable value.
The Group reported an 8% year-on-year increase in revenue in constant currency in its FY25 results.
Meanwhile, broader customer-experience research indicates that 92% of CX professionals intend to increase their investment in customer loyalty.
Both figures reinforce an important lesson for luxury businesses: the experience surrounding a product can become just as important as the product itself.
The Meaning of Luxury Is Changing
Luxury has traditionally been associated with rarity, craftsmanship, heritage and prestige.
Those qualities remain important.
But the strongest luxury businesses increasingly recognise another element: how a customer feels when interacting with the brand.
Watches of Switzerland demonstrates that a memorable luxury experience does not end when a client leaves the showroom with a watch on their wrist.
It continues through service, communication, future purchases and the stories that develop around the product over time.
A beautiful watch may last for decades.
A carefully built customer relationship can last even longer.
And in an industry built around the measurement of time, that may be one of the most valuable forms of luxury of all.