No more searching for keys on the showroom floor

In a luxury showroom, the moment a customer asks to see a watch is the moment that matters most — and it's also the moment staff have traditionally had to step away to find the right key among a large set, unlock the correct display case, and get back to the counter. For a brand selling watches worth tens of thousands of pounds, a visible search for keys undercuts the polished experience the showroom is built around.

The keys themselves also protect some of the highest-value single items any retailer carries, so casual or untracked access was never an option. 

ecos systems supplied Watches of Switzerland with 10 ecos key cabinets, installed to manage the keys to its display cases as well as its facility keys — stockrooms, safes and back-of-house doors — in a single system rather than two separate keysets.

Every cabinet is wired into the showroom's existing Gallagher access control platform: staff authenticate with their Gallagher card at a reader built into the cabinet, and a built-in camera and QR code scanner add a second, independent check before any watch drawer key unlocks. 

Every key issuance and return is logged automatically against the staff member and the exact time, giving Watches of Switzerland a complete, auditable record for every key protecting its watch inventory.

With 10 ecos key cabinets now live, Watches of Switzerland staff no longer need to search through a set of keys to find the right display case — every key is exactly where the system says it is, logged the moment it's taken. Staff estimate the change saves them in the order of 10-15% of the time they previously spent locating and returning keys each week, time now spent with customers instead of at the back counter.

That speed shows up on the shop floor: opening a display case becomes a quick, confident motion rather than a visible search, in a setting where customers are examining some of the most valuable watches in the store. And with the same system also securing facility keys behind Gallagher-authenticated, dual-verified access, Watches of Switzerland now has one consistent, auditable standard for key security — from the display case to the back of house.