Cartier looks ahead to sparkling future in KSA

RIYADH: As the Kingdom prepares to celebrate the 90th Saudi National Day this Wednesday, businesses — big and small — are taking part in the festivities with gusto. But few companies can put forward what international jewelry brand Cartier has prepared.

Saudi Arabia is a key market for the brand, and the company has been celebrating its National Day for three years now. This year, the celebrations are some of their most elaborate yet.

Cartier’s managing director for Saudi Arabia, Kalid Lanssari, said the brand unveiled a new film capsule featuring Cartier’s emblematic panther lighting up Al-Faisaliah Tower in green. Cartier is also offering all guests and clients across its boutiques a special treatment to celebrate the day and make a deeper connection with them.

“Doors have already been open to all guests in our new flagship boutique in Al-Faisaliah Tower since Sept. 15. This boutique offers clients a new elevated experience through exclusive salons and a best-in-class service,” Lanssari said.

The year 2020 has been a tough year for businesses in general, given the ongoing global pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, and even an international brand such as Cartier could not escape unscathed.

“Like most brands in the industry, we suffered major drawbacks because of the pandemic. With the beginning of lockdown and the closing of our boutiques, business was hugely affected. We, however, were agile and quickly launched phone sales and home delivery services to try and compensate for the boutiques’ closure and the lack of e-commerce services. On the more positive side, the appetite of people for timeless luxury has remained and that helped the business bounce back very quickly,” said Lanssari.

He said Cartier had gone through a thorough sanitization process and taken other precautions to ensure the safety of its customers and staff.

“We’ve learned that brands need to be agile and adopt a seamless omni-channel approach. We have accelerated our e-commerce project to offer clients a new channel to purchase our collections online while continuing to offer the best in-boutique experience,” he added.

According to Lanssari, this is only the beginning for Cartier in Saudi Arabia.

“We plan to accompany the Kingdom in its trajectory of transformation through close collaborations, business expansion, cultural events and more. In the last three years, we have discovered and developed many amazing Saudi talents that are now part of the Cartier family and will continue to grow these talents in the future. This region has always inspired us and will continue to be a rich source of inspiration for years to come,” he said.