by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / pic credit: ANNUAL REPORT

INDUSTRONICS Bhd is making a foray into the RM71.24 billion pre-owned luxury watch market by launching its own luxury watch e-commerce platform called WatchExchange via its wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong, Ecgo International Ltd.

Industronics Bhd ED Datuk Chu Boon Tiong said based on data and overall market performance, the pre-owned luxury watch market has promising growth prospects.

“We are excited to capitalise on the growing trend with the launch of WatchExchange and aim to pave the way for a streamlined trading platform that will not only revolutionise the transactions of pre-owned luxury watches but drive further growth in this industry,” Chu noted in a release yesterday.

He added pricing and demand for pre-owned luxury watches is strong with high-end watch brands moving into the pre-owned market.

He added the biggest challenge for the pre-owned luxury watch market lies in authenticating the watches.

“Our role here is to ensure the shoppers can safely purchase luxury watches on WatchExchange without having to worry about the security and authenticity of the pre-owned luxury watches,” he explained.

Industronics’ e-commerce platform is set to be the first of its kind that issues authenticity certificates for pre-owned luxury watches in Malaysia and Asia Pacific, with some of the leading brands profiled including Audemars Piguet, Hublot, Patek Philippe, Tag Heuer, IWC, Omega, Jaeger LeCoultre, Panerai, Rolex and Breitling.

Industronics’ team of professional and experienced watch appraisers aims to create a professional and safe trading environment to elevate the customer experience of purchasing pre-owned luxury watches.

The company plans to set up offices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, Canada and Europe where sellers from all over the world could visit for physical appraisals.

The platform’s success depends on factors like stability, sustainability, search engine optimisation and new media marketing, all of which will determine the platform’s traffic.

Industronics is looking to set up a fund in Hong Kong to raise RM250 million in total from potential investors.

The proceeds raised from the fundraiser will be used to purchase different brands of luxury watches for resale and the group targets to invest RM25 million or 10% of the funding required, together with Hong Kong Cyberport Fund which will invest an equivalent amount as the group.

The rest of the RM200 million will be open to other investment groups.

Bain & Co noted the global pre-owned luxury watch market was valued at US$17 billion (RM71.23 billion) in 2018, with less than 20% of the market being in the Asia Pacific region while 25% of the total sales in the market were online.

Independent strategic market research provider, Euromonitor International estimates the value of retail sales of timepieces in Malaysia to grow by some 5% per annum between 2019 to 2022 to reach a market value of up to RM2.5 billion.