Project Status Report

Team 10
Executive Summary
The purpose and goal of this project is to bring back the love of watches to the new generation.
Introduce new and innovative watches to let brands gain exposure they otherwise wouldn’t have
gained. This consists of providing a brick and mortar platform for the watches to be interacted
with, using data and analytic driven business model and a relaxed browsing environment for
customers. We are progressing with this project well although we are slightly behind schedule
due to negotiations and advertising. Funds are streaming in at a steady pace from partners
while analytical data system is up and running in the stores open so far. Lack of exposure is
causing hesitant partners but solutions have been proposed to increase engagement and
closing percentages.
Project Status
We are currently on the 30th week. Minor delays were seen as the Chicago and New York
branches opened. After opening the Chicago branch and increasing brand name, it is and will
be easier to open new branches across America. What seems to be slowing the process down
is negotiations and advertising. The project is estimated to be two weeks behind schedule.
Majority of funds will be acquired through monthly payments made by brands to “rent” space in
our stores.

● Contracts will be unique to each brand

○ Adjustments can be made depending on how many watches
● Around $600 for a new brand, $1000 for established companies
○ Movado or Citizen would fall under “established companies”
○ Contracts can range from 1 to 6 months.

Costs will be physical space to place stores in, employees that will work in store will need to be
hired and display furniture such as display cases, chairs, monitors for watch information, etc.
Supplier for physical space will an independent/private market while employees will be hired
through hiring platforms such as Linkedin, Indeed and Ziprecruiter. For furniture we will work
with Chicago based local companies to fill our store.

2
Issues/Concerns
Status problems are due to a lack of demand. The root cause of this is an overall lack of interest
in watches. This creates new risks involving whether or not companies will be able and willing to
partner with AlphaWatch. Negotiations for contracts may take longer as companies would not
be willing to pay as much as before. Foot traffic might decrease which would lead to less
analytics being available to companies.

Proposed Actions
The plan of action to combat the lack of demand is to heavily market the platform AlphaWatch
would be providing these companies with along with the analytical reports that would provide
them with valuable information to help their company grow. This would provide insight as to how
AlphaWatch plans to increase the market size of watches by giving consumers a one stop shop
to discover new and innovative watches that may spark their interest unlike shopping by brand
or in a department store.

Steps Recommended
Trained representatives will be able to provide interested vendors with the benefits of signing a
contract with AlphaWatch. All interested partners will receive a one week, risk-free trial on the
analytics so that they have reassurance that if they are not completely satisfied, they don’t have
to commit to a contract, which would provide strong incentive for the companies to give
AlphaWatch a try, building demand. There will also be an emphasis on how companies may
customize in their contract how many watches they’d like to have at AlphaWatch at a time, so
they can try it with fewer at first.

Implications to buffer