This is a no brainer, why would you not use Shop A Tron, and support your retailers VS stealing their sales.

DC sells direct, as does Vans.

DC, Signal, and Vans all do sell direct and have been added to the list. Thanks for the additions. Any others we’re missing?

If quiksilver was smart they would have a wholesale line with different color schemes/designs then their website and retail stores carry. Capitalize on both markets!

best kites - kiteboarding
Roxy - part of quicksilver empire
The North Face will be going direct starting fall 08 - they can be considered action sports a little

nixon

Brands and retailers have an option to work together as they always have in our industry or to be in competition with each other. Why not work together to grow the entire industry by supporting the core shops. We use the MWRC and have since 2003 and we know it is the right thing to do to support our dealers without having them do anything besides continue to carry the brand. Great job by transworld outlining the issues here to inform people they they have options.

EESA, Automaton and Lucid Notion all sell direct.

Hey Josh , Nice to see some good old fashion distribution , damn the man , debate out there . Get’s the juices flowing. With an elemetary understanding of the worldwidesuperhi-wayintranet i could never comment on the pros or cons of it all. Seems , like most everything does , a numbers issue. So , i will tell of a few of the numbers i do know about but have never worked for Quik so do not know the specifics , they are probably on the website ;-).

1) Amount of revenue Quiksilver has generated for retailers over the last 30 years : uncountable
2) Amount of credit issued to and fronted by Bob McKnight and crew to struggling surf shops ; uncountable
3) Amount of money spent on in-sore , p.o.p. , promo and promo - co-op and consequently by Quik’s competitors : uncountable
4) Amount of surf trips , snow trips , dinners , parties spent on shop personel and consequently matched by other majors and minors in the industry ; uncountable

The amazing breed of surf shop owners that have shoulder to shoulder built the most exciting industry in the world know this and they know that though there are plenty of people trying to get their hands in the shop owners pockets ,Bob McKnight , Quiksilver , Billabong , Hurley , O’Neill , Rusty and anyone who got in this industry for love not money are not the enemy .

The Surf Industry just like surfing itself will survive this just like they have every challenge from Pacific Homes making redwood boards in a prefab home yard to Hollister and their fabricated surf heritage.

Maybe we should all breathe deep , go for surf and lighten up a bit ,and get back to task at hand .

In Peace and Hope …..

Shopatron works with over 500 manufacturers online and is the #1 provider of “retailer integrated eCommerce”. Shopatron provides the manufacturer with an online store so consumers can buy direct, but then the order is fulfilled and shipped by the closest stocking retailer or the consumer can use the “In-Store Pickup” feature and pick-up their order in the store.

This not only drives consumers into the store but gives the retailer what they want; which is to move existing inventory. All of the brands that use Shopatron are showing great success and supporting the shops is best for the long term health of a company.

I work for Shopatron for almost 4 years now and have seen this company take off from 70 brands using it to now over 500 brands.

If you want to learn more or talk give me a call (805) 547-2115.

Nick

Shopatron is working with these companies in the Action Sport Market:

GLOBE SHOES
BLIND
DARKSTAR
SPY OPTIC
ADIO FOOTWEAR
PLANET EARTH STREETWEAR
HOOK-UPS
BIRDHOUSE
FLOW Snowboards
LINE SKIS
and many more coming on board soon.

Other companies are:
Panasonic
Callaway Golf
Brooks Running
Stearns
Johnson Outdoors

Here’s a link to an article called “The New Retail Paradigm: Research Online, Shop In Person” by a Denver-based business writer named Lisa Everitt. I found it interesting.

While it does not pertain to our industry directly—it focuses on how consumers are purchasing music, cell phones, and homes—I think it does have some relevant take-away. Interviewd in the piece is John Horrigan, the author of a report titled the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which focuses on how consumers are using the internet. Horrigan says the Internet is a tactical shopping tool, “not a game-changer in people’s purchasing decisions. Its impacts show up in efficiencies in the search process.”

Horrigan told the Baltimore Sun: “The large majority of people are executing their transactions at stores, not online, even for music, a purely digital good.”

The report showed that while 56% of music buyers say the Internet has become an important research tool, only 22% actually purchased online. Ok, people are definitely downloading music for free, so that may not be the best example, but with cell phones 39% use the net, only 12% purchased online.

Just some food for thought.

Check out the entire article here: http://industry.bnet.com/retail/2008/05/22/

I’ll look into the additional brands listed above and revise the list accordingly.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Black Diamond http://www.bdel.com/ (including skis)
REI (their own line)
Cloudveil http://www.cloudveil.com
Prana http://www.prana.com

…and Nike

WHATS THE CHANCE QUIKSILVER DIDN’T DIDN’T NICELY PERSUADE TRANSWORLD TO LIST THIS LIST OF BRANDS?

HMMMmmmm.

Destructo sells direct at destructo.biz