After weathering three difficult decades, French watchmaking is now undergoing a promising transformation, marked by production growth of nearly 10% per year. Just five years ago, only 2% of watches sold in France bore the “Made in France” label. To sustain this upturn, the French retail sector must now transform itself.
The true driver of this industrial revival is no longer found solely within our manufacturing facilities, but rather in the hands of retailers.
An article by Tony Da Motta Cerveira, co-authored with Sandrine Marcot, Executive Vice President of the Union de la Bijouterie Horlogerie.
Retail: a blind spot in industrial sovereignty
Until now, reindustrialization efforts have logically focused on the upstream end of the value chain, namely manufacturing. While an industrial foundation is a prerequisite for regaining sovereignty, it remains insufficient.
In France, a robust network of over 4,500 retail outlets generates more than 2 billion euros in annual revenue. But today, the vast majority of this sales power benefits imported products.
The challenge is therefore not to blindly produce more, but to figure out how to direct demand toward French products. For French watchmaking to establish itself as the obvious choice in consumers’ minds, it is imperative that our distribution network reinvent itself and actively support the national effort.
Expanding and sustaining market opportunities are strategic levers often overlooked in industrial policies.
From the linear chain to the value loop: the importance of the “prosumer”
To foster engagement, we must shift customers from a passive stance to becoming active participants in reindustrialization. We are entering the era of the “prosumer”—a term coined by sociologist Alvin Toffler—which defines a customer capable of driving innovation, creating trends, and getting involved in the design and distribution phases, particularly thanks to the digital economy.
In this new model, distribution is no longer simply the end point of a linear supply chain, but the starting point of a true value loop. The retailer becomes a key player who picks up on subtle signals, analyzes behavioral shifts, and feeds back innovation leads and specific aspirations to inventors and manufacturers.
Upstream and downstream thus interact constantly to perfectly align production with market demands. If, from the outset, the end customer shapes the offering according to their expectations by engaging with the manufacturer through the retailer, adoption is all the more facilitated. By evolving from simple customer proximity toward a prosumption model, the sector would strengthen the building of trust and foster a stronger emotional attachment to French brands.
Artificial Intelligence, Catalyst for Tomorrow’s Retailer
Today’s customers demand products that are meaningful, rooted in local expertise, and environmentally responsible. It is the retailer’s mission to embody these values, tell this story, and transform a desire into an enriched offering through services.
The retailer is the architect of trust.
To amplify their impact, retailers now have access to an unprecedented technological lever: generative artificial intelligence. Generative AI now enables them to easily co-design images to influence purchases or to engage communities of pioneering customers—“lead users”—who will drive innovation. Going even further, the technology offers them the opportunity to create virtual stores and apps via “vibe coding” (a software development method) or to orchestrate influencer campaigns with formidable precision thanks to agent-based AI. These tools transform the retailer into an ultra-connected ambassador for “Made in France,” capable of setting the industry in motion and creating a connection between the French manufacturer and the customer.
An industry is not reborn solely within the walls of its factories and workshops. It is reborn where value crystallizes: at the strategic meeting point between bold inventors, enlightened ambassadors, and active customers. This absolute point of convergence is distribution.
The future and sustainability of “Made in France” watchmaking require that the excellence of our industrial know-how and French creativity finally be combined with the forward-thinking nature of our sales networks. It is at this price that French watchmaking will continue its renaissance.
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Featured Photo: © Breguet
