Jewellery maker Pandora’s CEO indicated on Wednesday that the company would rather invest in physical locations or its own online sales platform than join huge e-commerce platforms like Amazon or Farfetch.

Jewellery maker Pandora would prefer to invest in physical stores or its own online sales platform rather than join large e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon or Farfetch, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

“If you’re a small and unknown brand, marketplaces offer a great opportunity, because they provide you with an audience. I already have an audience,” CEO Alexander Lacik said during an interview at the Reuters Next conference on Wednesday.

Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery manufacturer by manufacturing capacity, has discovered a market gap between low-cost accessories such as those offered by H&M and high-end jewellery such as that sold by Tiffany & Co.

“Eight out of ten women globally are aware of our brand, so I don’t need to make you aware of me. What I need to do is to show you what I’ve got, and I can to this much better if I have a direct relationship with my customer,” he said.

During the pandemic, the $12.3 billion company with headquarters in Copenhagen boosted its investment in e-commerce. It is available on China’s T-mall marketplace, but not on larger international platforms such as Amazon or Farfetch.

“Marketplaces always have to make a compromise for all the clients they are serving. I don’t have to compromise,” he said.

Pandora’s over 2,600 physical storefronts are still the backbone of the company, accounting for 75 per cent of worldwide revenues.

“Nearly two-thirds of my customers are men buying jewellery for their girlfriends, wifes, grandmothers or children. And we know that men buying jewellery need help,” he said.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)

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