Physical inventory becoming less important, says Uwe Koetter Jewellers after heist

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Quick-thinking staff pressed the panic button and the robbers smashed the doors to get out. The heist was over in just 90 seconds. No shots were fired and no-one was injured.

"Uwe Koetter is committed to investing in various programmes to ensure that our staff are prepared for these unfortunate events. We regard our staff as our most prized assets, and we are incredibly proud of the calm manner in which they handled the situation under difficult conditions. It is due to this that the losses are minimal and that no-one was injured," says the jewellery company in a statement.

Reduction in physical inventory

The company expects the number of incidents like these to decline because physical inventory is becoming less important.

"Over the past three years Uwe Koetter has progressively been moving towards digitalising our business and will carry less stock as a result. The risk of such incidents will thus become less. The majority of our sales are generated from bespoke items and our digital library of products which provide clients with a 360-degree view now exceeds our physical inventory.

"We have invested in 3D scanning, 3D printing, Computer Aided Design (CAD), 360-degree photography and prototypes and these elements now form part of our daily operations and our unique customer experience," says the company.

Technology has not only been adopted in Uwe Koetter's design and production departments, but also in client services where enterprise-level video conferencing is used to communicate with clients all over the world, reducing the need for clients to visit its stores.

"It is in the spirit of remaining true to our German heritage with regard to quality and our South African roots in terms of innovation, that Uwe Koetter implemented a strategy to effectively deal with the issues within and beyond our control."

Uwe Koetter is the third jewellery store in the Cape Town CBD to be targeted by armed robbers over the past month.