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Checks Out SIA
Ski and Snowboard Industries Trade Show
E-Commerce
Not with my Boards!
| At least that was the response I got when I asked the purveyors of the big name board companies at the 99 SIA trade show. Things on the Internet evolve faster than the seasonal pace of the snow sports industries. My roommate and even my Mom are buying stuff on the Internet these days. It is time for a few trail-blazers to try to start selling boards and accessories on the web. While walking the trade show floor and asking "the question"; the answers varied all across the board. |
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Some of the big brand names were a little up tight about the subject; until I said I was doing a story about board sport e-commerce. Then I would get their official policy from a PR person. Those PR people use a smoother method of saying - NO, you can't sell our boards online!
The medium size companies that have been recently gaining market share said they would be forced to allow online sales when the big companies started too. One middle player told me maybe and to come back near the end of the show. After booking 15,000 boards verses 4,000 the year before, they said no Internet sales thank you anyway. I can't even remember how any times I heard - "we can't upset our retail base" - "e-tailers won't respect suggested retail price" - "we will never allow online sales of our products".
The medium size companies that have lost market share were generally warm to the idea of another place to sell their products. A few captains are going down with the ship still said no.
Some small companies and upstarts say yea sure - we will drop ship for you - when do we start.
These few friendly exceptions have been the stomping grounds of an upstart online store by Cold Fusion inc. at snowboardshop.com . It is an interesting story that the online store spawned a retail outlet. The store should also allow them to pick up more product lines to sell; since having a bricks and mortar presence was a prerequisite for online sales for many vendors. I ran into Neil (the man behind Cold Fusion) about half way through the show and asked him when he thought we would be able to sell brand name boards online. He was not sure when because most of those companies are still owned privately and they got to the top with retail. He also brought up the fact that Salomon has opened the door slightly for online sales. Could this be the move that opens the e-commerce dam. Maybe? Probably not yet.
Here is a representative list of companies and their official policies:
| Company |
Allows E-tailing? |
| Burton |
No for now, maybe alpine boards |
| K2 |
No |
| Salomon |
Maybe, if you qualify |
| Lib Tech |
Absolutely not |
| Morrow |
Working on policy |
| Sims |
No direct sales |
| Ride |
For major accounts that have store fronts |
| Nitro |
No direct sales |
| Rossignol |
No direct sales |
| Option |
Top e-tail accounts only |
| Nidecher |
Top e-tail accounts only |
| 4 Star Distib |
We will do it ourselves when we do |
| Atlantis |
We will do it ourselves when we do |
| Never Summer |
No direct sales |
| Duotone |
No online sales |
| Avalanche |
Internet sales for top e-tailers |
| Joyride |
Soft goods only |
| MLY |
No direct sales |
The times are pretty good in the snowboard world, maybe someday soon in the cybersnowboard universe.
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