Jewellery maker Pandora has no plans to join platforms like Amazon or Farfetch -CEO

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – 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 maker by production capacity, has found a niche between cheaper accessories sold by the likes of H&M and more expensive jewellery like that of 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.

The $12.3 billion company, headquartered in Copenhagen, has increased investment in e-commerce during the pandemic. It is present on China’s T-mall platform but not on large global platforms like 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 more than 2,600 physical stores remain the core of its business and still account for 75% of global sales.

“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.

To watch the Reuters Next conference please register here https://reutersevents.com/events/next/

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)