Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine

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Editor’s Letter component brands, retail hands While it’s the manufacturers of outdoor apparel and gear who buy their stuff, outdoor textile and component brands have good reasons to be communicating with their customers’ customers. After all, the basic model for a branded component is to drive a premium by offering additional benefits and features, and up to this point nothing has been more effective for conveying those value-adds to the public than the helpful, trustworthy and costumer-facing specialty retailer. The good news is component suppliers have more ways than ever to reach and teach staffers on the sales floor and impact the shopping experience. Today’s online, digital and anywhere-accessible educational tools certainly can be cost-effective and convenient, and a recent survey of Inside Outdoor readers by CORDURA suggests retailers are open to utilizing them. When asked to rank the most effective methods for helping sales teams understand product component benefits, for example, (1 for most, 6 for least) more than a third of respondents picked online training as number one or two among a half dozen mediums. More than a quarter ranked video tools either one or two. Even QR codes – a technology, keep in mind, available to only a small percentage of shoppers – have impressed a fair number of folks. In a separate question, more than half of retailers said QR tags were very or somewhat helpful to increasing product sales. Also encouraging, retailers are still keen to more traditional methods of product education. Far and away, retailers continue to view the old-fashioned, hands-on product demonstration as the most powerful way to empower floor staff. More than three-quarters of retailers picked product demos as the most- or second-most-effective tool. A mere 4 percent ranked it at the bottom. Please rank the following from most to least effective in helping you or your sales team understand the benefits of the products you sell. % answering 1 or 2 Product demonstrations 77.09% Brochures/information cards 42.71% Online product training (webinars, brand Web sites, etc.) 34.37% Product training videos 26.04% Sales incentives/contests 12.5% Displays or posters for team/break room 7.29% Source: CORDURA; Inside Outdoor How helpful would each of the following be in increasing sales of products made with CORDURA fabric in your store(s)? % answering very or somewhat helpful Training of sales team on benefits … 79.6% Fabric hangtags 77.5% In-store signage 65.97% QR codes to dedicated site 52.05% Have more products with CORDURA on floor 50.01% Sales contest 44.9% Source: CORDURA; Inside Outdoor Other low-tech devices also fared well. More than three-quarters of retailers said hangtags were important to increasing sales, while two-thirds felt the same way about in-store signage. The most helpful educational tool, not surprisingly, was once again in-store training and demos. If nothing else, the findings seem to suggest component brands should consider more directly partnering with independent sales reps. If something else, it’s comforting to know that despite the instant-access, full automaton and slick interfaces available today, still nothing beats the welcoming hand and warm smile of old-fashioned personal contact. –MV Martin Vilaboy Editor-in-Chief martin@bekapublishing.com Percy Zamora Art Director outdoor@bekapublishing.com Ernest Shiwanov Editor at Large ernest@bekapublishing.com Berge Kaprelian Group Publisher berge@bekapublishing.com Rene Galan Account Executive rene@bekapublishing.com Jennifer Vilaboy Production Director jen@bekapublishing.com Suzanne Urash Ad Creative Designer suzanne@cre8groupinc.com Beka Publishing Berge Kaprelian President and CEO Philip Josephson General Counsel Jim Bankes Business Accounting Corporate Headquarters 745 N. Gilbert Road Suite 124, PMB 303 Gilbert, AZ 85234 Voice: 480.503.0770 Fax: 480.503.0990 Email: berge@bekapublishing.com © 2011 Beka Publishing, All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in any form or medium without express written permission of Beka Publishing, is prohibited. Inside Outdoor and the Inside Outdoor logo are trademarks of Beka Publishing 6 | <strong>InsideOutdoor</strong> | <strong>Fall</strong> 2011
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