Qoqa.ch has launched an anniversary offer with many Moonswatches at half price. Swatch did not appreciate it and told us to take legal action against the Vaudois site. Image: Qoqa.ch
MoonSwatches were sold at knockdown prices on the e-commerce site Qoqa.ch. An operation which did not please the Bienne group at all, which is preparing legal action.
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Pascal Meyer celebrated the anniversary of Qoqa.ch by offering MoonSwatches at 50% off, with a sales title: “the watchmaking buzz of the decade is yours”. A new big PR stunt from the French-speaking site and its conductor.
Except that in Bienne, the buzz was (very) negative. When contacted, the firm’s press service did not hide its dissatisfaction and confirmed that it had not given its agreement in any way.
“Swatch Group was never contacted as part of this unilateral and opportunistic operation initiated by this platform. This is clearly wrongdoing. We are facing a case of obvious unfair competition in the sense that this platform is not an approved retailer for the sale of our products. Furthermore, the proposed price misleads our customers and is completely unrealistic. This platform acquired the watches at the official price but resold them at -50%. It’s illegal.”
Swatch Group.
The Biel group says it is a victim of its success and deplores the search for buzz on the Vaudois site:
“We will obviously take legal action against this platform”
Swatch Group.
The brand recalls the specifics concerning the sale of its creations, which are only available in Swatch stores; it is only possible to purchase one watch per day, per person and per point of sale.
The Swatch Group concludes:
“All we can hope for the end customer is that these were not counterfeits given the price offered. To do this, we tried to buy one of these watches ourselves, in vain.”
“We’ve been trying to collaborate with Swatch for 5 years”
But Pascal Meyer, the emblematic boss of Qoqa.ch, takes it with good humor and even sees a chance to establish a dialogue with the Bienne brand. “Perhaps our offer will wake them up and motivate them to work with us rather than attack us,” he says straight away.
“We’ve been trying to collaborate with them, the whole Swatch Group, for 5 years. In addition, the watch industry is not in great shape,” emphasizes Pascal Meyer.
The 44-year-old entrepreneur tells us that the day the offer appeared, Swatch called within a minute. And to add:
“For our anniversary offer, we wanted to go through Swatch. But our requests remained a dead letter”
Pascal Meyer, CEO of Qoqa.ch.
But the Jura native, by dint of being ignored by the watch brand, took the bull by the horns by sourcing his supplies through an intermediary.
He even tells us that he flirted with the watch brand to make a unique Qoqa edition. “We are talking about 10,000 unique pieces for our anniversary edition. I would dream of launching it for our 20th anniversary next year. But behind it, it doesn’t follow with their complex policy,” laments Pascal Meyer.
Ultimately, there are more than 104,000 people who were connected to get a Moonswatch – according to information, a few hundred watches were on sale. They were awarded in the space of two times three minutes, confirms the chief otter of Qoqa.
Figures that make you dizzy. Can they change Swatch’s mind?
“We want to collaborate with them, nothing more. We have a very close side to people and Swatch is a watch brand that wants to be close to people. We have common values.”
Pascal Meyer.
However, the Bienne firm does not seem to follow this same logic. “The big Swatches who want to hit the little Qoqa, it’s a bit of David against Goliath. But I hope that it will lead to something positive,” concludes Pascal Meyer, saying he is certain that the leaders will have the intelligence to work and establish a collaboration in the future.
A first shot with Rolex
Qoqa.ch had already caused a lot of talk when the site, based in Bussigny, offered in December 2013, nearly 100 Rolex Daytonas, sold for 50% less than their usual selling price. The good deal had also caused some cringe in the crown firm’s offices. Without legal action this time.
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