Watches of Switzerland: Timeless payments

What do Charles Dickens, Harry Houdini, and Grace Kelly have in common? They have all been clients of Mappin & Webb, a subsidiary of The Watches of Switzerland Group, which also includes Goldsmiths and Mayor’s Jewellers. Based in the UK, its family of brands carries over 200 years of history.

Each luxury watch and piece of jewellery comes with a wealth of tradition and painstaking attention to detail. The shopper experience must match this brand promise, which is why such care is taken both in-store and online. To make it easy for shoppers from around the world to pay, The Watches of Switzerland Group accepts a wide range of payment methods, all of which are supported by Adyen. And in-store staff can serve VIP customers from anywhere in the store via mobile point of sale devices.

Processing orders over the phone via a call centre can be a compliance minefield. The customer has to rely on a salesperson entering card details on their behalf. For businesses, this creates a major fail-point for which they have total liability. A good solution is Pay by Link, where the salesperson emails the customer a link to a bespoke (totally secure) payment page. The customer enters their details themselves and the payment is complete.

The Watches of Switzerland Group now uses Pay by Link for all telephone orders. It's an easy alternative to bank transfers and removes the need for a point of sale terminal - meaning higher security for both the business and its customers. High-value transactions can even be routed via 3D Secure for a full liability shift.

"Pay by Link is a simple way of accepting telephone orders and catering to VIPs in an elegant and secure manner. Adyen's out-of-the-box pages are easily branded and they look great. It was also incredibly easy to set-up and we were live within two weeks." Paul Clare, Sales Ledger Manager

In another use case, sales staff can visit VIP shoppers with a selection of products for them to try. Once the shopper is ready to pay, a payment link can be created on the spot making it simple to process the payment, wherever the shopper happens to be. This eliminates the need for sales staff to cart around payment terminals or make lengthy phone calls to call centres in different time zones.

“Adyen’s payments platform isn’t shackled by the limitations of technical legacy which hampers the competition," said Mark Isitt, Group IT Director. "The teams are energic and helpful and react quickly when you need support. When Adyen sees a good idea, it acts. At times I’ve mentioned small improvements to the platform, only to be surprised by those being made available for general release.”

The right watch will last for generations and craftsmanship is more important than high-end technology. But with payments, you need to stay ahead of the curve. Endless new ways to pay have emerged over the last 20 years and it’s not slowing down. Before working with Adyen, The Watches of Switzerland Group was playing catch-up with its point of sale set-up. It had separate terminals for gift cards, supermarket vouchers, Chinese payment methods, and cards. Adyen was the unifying force, bringing all of these together with one simple setup, making operations more sustainable.