You’ve been hearing about watch makers creating iPhone app versions of their watches, but Victorinox Swiss Army has taken the concept to the next step. In addition to including digital versions of their watches (not likely all of their watches) they are using the “always connected” feature of the iPhone and the power of the iPhone app to keep potential customers up-to-date with the latest watches and news from the company. In fact, you can even locate authorized dealers right from the application. It will use the iPhone’s built in GPS to located the nearest store to you. Lots of potential, but it will require a dedicated team at Victorinox to handle it all in the right way.

The idea behind the application is help connect with the estimated 25 million potential users who may be interested in the free application. Being able to directly send information to interested customers is extremely valuable, and can result in much faster and wider customer education of new products as well as give them a taste of what watches might be like before they are purchased. The first major hurdle was the creation of the application for Victorinox Swiss Army, the next challenge will be for them to utilize the full potential of the application. Ideally they will be tracking what watches garner the most interest from users, as well as send offers and other valuable information to the customers. The right way is to send a customer the full details of a watch a bit before it is released, and then when it is released remind them again with the product price. Too often watch companies just announce a product that isn’t available for a long time afterward. A “news” item in the application should inform people that “the new Swiss Army model X” is out. Get one at “X” location (make sure they have it in stock) just 1 mile from your current location. That would be the best way to do it. We will have to see what ends up happening, but the signs are good that this is going to be a healthy new way for watch makers to interact with their customers in the near future. Swiss army watches tend to average in price at $300 – $500, but can go lower and obviously higher ($2,000 – $3,000 or more). What works for this price point may not be a good idea for higher end watches, but it is worth testing the waters for all ranges of watch brands in my opinion.

For those people who don’t have an iPhone (myself included), Swiss Army Watch will soon debut a WAP site optimized for mobile phones that will offer much of the same functionality. It is just a matter of time before other companies jump on board and perfect the model.

Via WatchLuxus.

[phpbay]victorinox swiss army, num, “14324”, “”[/phpbay]