sportFACHHANDEL 03_2018 Leseprobe

3.2018 Stores | RETAIL | 45
Ski rental platforms are a
must nowadays and you
can no longer imagine the
rental business without it.«
CEO Martin Tykal
almost 500 square metres for the rental service. Our
branch at the Nebelhorn has gone through a similar
development.
Which customer groups buy and which rent? Our
main focus is on the rental business. When some
body buys anything, it is mostly through our Test
& Buy offer. The customer can test the skis and the
boots without hurry and if he finds products he likes,
he can buy them and knows it is the right choice.
Mostly, winter holidays are often meticulously
planned in advance. How do your customers find
you? The web has a central role in this respect.
Nowadays, the majority of our marketing activities
takes place in digital media. As soon as a guest
shows interest for a winter trip to Oberstdorf, we
come into play. Accordingly, we have to optimise
our homepage so that we can be found immediately.
We do that as a team and we work together with
an agency now. Nonetheless, online marketing
has become a very complicated subject in the
meantime. This is why we need extern partners and
platforms where as many winter tourists as possible
can find us.
With which ski rental platforms do you work
together? We have established collaboration with the
big ski rental platforms Alpinresorts and Snowell.
This is a must nowadays and you cannot imagine the
rental business without it.
Alpinresorts is going to exceed the mark of 1.000
rental stations in the Alpine region in this season.
You are one of the currently eight partners of
Alpinresorts in Germany. How does the marketing
via Alpinresorts work? The team of Alpinresorts
works highly professional in online marketing.
They almost exclusively deal with such matters.
We cannot do this. It’s not our core competence.
Here is our interface with the service provider,
especially when it is about the distribution in
distant regions. We have problems to optimise
our online marketing in the Netherland and in
the UK, for example. Alpinresort does this better;
they are specialised on it.
How many customers come via Alpinresort?
Several hundreds of guests per season come via
Alpinresort and the number is increasing.
NTC is surely not the cheapest ski rental. How are
you positioned? We don’t sell prices, but services.
Our intention is to provide our customers with
the best possible products for their winter holiday.
Above that, it is important for the operator of
a rental platform that he can rely on his rental
partner.
Alpinresorts intends to cover all price levels with
its own offer. That means, not only premium
rental service, but also the medium and low-price
segment. Correspondingly, Alpinresorts would
boost the competition with these suppliers,
wouldn’t it? This is, of course, the decision of
Alpinresorts and the approach reflects the market
situation. We are talking about different target
groups here. A low price is just not the most
important factor for our target group. Our ski
rentals are situated directly at the cable car. This
is very convenient for the guests. Additionally,
competitors focused on the price are not able to
offer our comprehensive service.
Do you still consider yourselves as sports good
retailer? No, we don’t. Our business is more
complex as in case of a sports goods retailer. We
are sports service provider.