“We plan to enhance our manufacturing to produce smart watches in India”

Driving product innovation to the next level, Timex is set to launch TIMEX Ironman One GPS+ in India soon. With the help of this product, the company will focus on providing an all-in-one solution that includes GPS fitness tracking, phone-free live tracking and 8-hour life in full GPS etc.

Anupam Mathur, Head - Sales and Marketing, Timex Group India speaks with Zia Askari from TelecomDrive.com about the company’s plans for India and how it is looking at the emerging wearable market.

How does Timex look at the emerging segment of wearables today? What is the big value proposition that Timex is bringing forward?

TIMEX is globally known for innovation and technology. With the evolving lifestyle, we have always focused on making the technology to better fit our consumer’s expectations. This has ultimately driven us to foray into wearable technology – smartwatches. The wearable segment has been continuously expanding with the Indian market offering a lot of opportunities challenging us further to dive more into this space and offer our consumers the best health and fitness products. Under the wearable segment, TIMEX has expanded its Ironman portfolio with the introduction of Timex® IRONMAN® Move x20 and Timex® IRONMAN® Run x20 GPS.

Going forward and keeping in mind TIMEX’s focus on connected performance devices, we plan to bring into India the TIMEX Ironman One GPS+. It is an endeavor to provide athletes and running enthusiasts with technology solutions to enhance their training experiences. It is an evolved training tool for runners of all levels. It will simplify your active life and help you become mobile. We have received a fantastic response for this product in the global market and are soon looking to launch our smart watch in India in partnership with a reliable telecom partner.

What is your go to market strategy on this segment? How many channel partners do you have?

Timex is an iconic American heritage watch brand renowned for its timeless designs. Since its inception TIMEX has established a tradition of creating high-quality, innovative watches to suit the needs of every customer. Further we plan to launch international best sellers in India for instance the recent launches - IRONMAN series and the Yacht Racer.

The focus is also on growing our presence thorough TIMEX World Stores that serve as one stop shop for a finely laid collection of popular timepieces across the globe.

We are also present across 4000 traditional multi brand stores and modern retail outlets. Since the era is digital, we have expanded our online presence through exclusive TIMEX stores on all leading ecommerce portals. We want to touch base across all touch points, one of them being the Defense Canteen Stores where TIMEX is the most favorable brand extending up to the service centers across India

We have always focused on strengthening our presence in major cities along with expanding our distribution channels. In the past few years, we have invested in improving our online presence with all the leading ecommerce players having exclusive Timex stores on their portal. Our retail presence has also grown through Timex world stores that help consumers in experiencing the world of Timex as well as receive a world class service.

Today a lot of telecom channel partners as well as LFRs (large format retailers) are selling wearables as well? Please share any plans to grow your channel base in this segment?

Basis our focus on being present on all platforms, we have tapped multi brand stores, modern and large format retail outlets across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities apart from the top 10 metros. Reaching the corners of the country is aided by these retail outlets that help us connect better with our consumers and bring into light TIMEX’s legacy in watch making.

We aim to make our ground breaking technologies like the Indiglo and the variety of watches we offer available to each and every consumer in India and these retailers give us the right platform in doing so.

What are some of the product innovations that we can expect from Timex today?

We strive to cater to a varied segment of audiences and suit every wallet as a brand. Right from casual wear weekender series to the expedition series for the adventure junkie in you or the Sports series for the sport enthusiast. We also have a range that caters especially to the fashion conscious and stylish generation.

Our product innovation can be experienced through the Ironman Series and the to be launched TIMEX Ironman One GPS+ that will focus on providing an all-in-one solution that includes GPS fitness tracking, phone-free live tracking, an SOS feature, find-me feature, customizable interval timers, audible and vibrating pace and heart rate alerts and notifications, 8-hour life in full GPS and water resistance to 50 meters.

India already has a lot of international as well as some Indian brands such as Xiaomi, GOQii, Micromax etc offering wearables in India. In such scenario how can Timex be able to create the big market differentiation in the eyes of the consumers?

The Indian market is flooded with wearable product offerings owing to its potential but it is still at a nascent stage. TIMEX is the world’s only authentic watch brand to provide a confluence of technology and watch making.

Our aim has always been to offer timepieces that carry the essence of time keeping but are in sync with the latest technology. Expanding our presence through service centers helps us in creating a brand that can be trusted. What adds to our credibility is the our expertise in innovative technology apart from carrying a lineage of being an iconic American watch brand

What is your vision to take the wearable segment forward - please share some of your future plans?

Given the continuously expanding Indian watch market industry, we aim to expand our presence over Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities apart from strengthening our foothold in the major Tier 1cities. The focus is to dwell more into the wearable segment by offering technologically advanced products that serve our customers well along with maintaining our legacy as the pioneer in timekeeping.

Gaining a considerable market share in the smartwatch/fitness tracker segment by becoming a major player is what our focus will be for the coming five years.

Where do you manufacture your wearable line today? Is there any plan to start using India as a manufacturing base?

In India, we have a manufacturing unit located at Baddi, H.P apart from the manufacturing facilities in US & Philippines. In future we plan to enhance our manufacturing to produce smart watches as India is a priority market with huge potential in the wearable segment.

Is Timex also looking at taking wearables outside India? If yes, please share the countries / geographies?

TIMEX is a global brand with highly acclaimed watches across the globe. The wearable portfolio that we launch in India like the Ironman series or the Yacht Racer are celebrated watches in the global markets. Similarly, we are planning to launch One GPS+ in India which has received a great response in US and Canada. We are looking for a preferred telecom partner for the same.