Page 19 - BG2014-complet-28

Our company, ROCROI,
as

importer and manufacturer, cannot agree at all

Brick-n-mortar shops are the backbone of
on the direct sales, as our policy and business is
based on networking. We understand that some
our industry. They train, educate, and service
consumers, all helping to grow our industry. markets are harder than others and in some of the

Whether you like the middlemen or not, they are smallest markets direct sales are mandatory, but

essential for the continuation of our sports. We always with the clear idea of creating interest and
are not like electronics, fashion, or health goods,
developing a network. Any brand cannot think of
where there is minimal training and education
being successful in volume and notoriety without
required. We need paddlers to be smart, enthused, a proper network. The brands that play the game
and engaged. Therefore, our company continues
on going direct to small retailers or customers
to support our retailers.
will lose inluence and volume in the market. At
Andrew Stern – Marketing Manager, Branches, LLC.
the end of the day, making more money on direct
(Aqua-Bound and Bending Branches), USA
sales is a very easy solution in the short term.
But in the mid/long term, the loss of volume and

networking will kill those brands, unless you are

Nike or CocaCola and you can invest fortunes PO
EX
in marketing—but we don’t really have those ddle
Pa
examples in paddling! From my perspective, we ner/
Lint
will see some changes, but if the manufacturers er
go in that direction, we will end up in the same Pet
©:
place as windsuring some years ago when the oto
Ph
manufacturers and big players killed the network

on direct sales and killed themselves. Is this what

we want for our market???

Lluis Rabaneda, Owner, Roc Roi

(Distribution company), SPAIN

Obviously this is a disaster for

us shops. The main effect will
be that either manufacturers will

have to run their own network

of shops, which will be a loss
to the consumer as the advice
As an independent family owned store it’s
given will always be weighted to
unsurprising we have strong views on direct sales.
one brand, or it will be regional
Along with clubs, centres and other paddlesport supply only, e.g. Pyranha are in
facilities, a well-established dealer network with
the north, Dagger in the south,
appropriate geographic distribution is the basis for
etc.
our sport. However, given the seasonal nature of
the UK market, paddling retailers must serve more Matt Bishop - General Manager,

than just their core function. Whether this means Canoe Kayak Trader, UK

diversiication into other sports as we have, or
adopting other strategies is up to the individual. As

an industry as a whole, UK paddlesport is lucky not

to have suffered from large online-only retailers and
their pursuit of turnover at the sacriice of proit, as

seen in the surf and kite market.

Georges - Robin Hood Watersports - Shop, UK

19