by Board Retailers Association | Nov 8, 2016 | Industry, Skateboard, Snowboard, Surf
November is finally here, and you know what that means? It’s holiday shopping seasons! Retailers everywhere are plotting the most strategic methods for successfully making it through the frantic November and December months of shopping. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales, their plates are guaranteed to be full. However, some must all prepare for Small Business Saturday, which lands right in between the two. Small Business Saturday began as an initiative to encourage buyers to shop at their local small business during the busy holiday season. What started as a small initiative eventually grew into a prime shopping holiday, with millions and millions of consumers choosing the “shop small” for their gifts. That being said, there is a lot of preparation and planning that goes into making Small Business Saturday a success story, and we are here to help you get ready! Don’t Wait! The future success of your Small Business Saturday sales is determined right now. Start your preparation now (or yesterday) and don’t waste any time promoting holiday shopping to your consumers. Begin alerting your followers on social media about upcoming sales, offering contest and incentive opportunities to engage interest. Put together a creative email campaign to send off to your current shoppers featuring products and sales. Begin organizing your storefront to best appeal to your brick and mortar customers. Preparation begins now, so get to it! Fine Tune Your Website. Your online presence is often times your first impression for your brand. That being said, you want to ensure that your website is optimized to best serve its viewers. Update your current inventory, highlighting your...
by Board Retailers Association | Oct 20, 2016 | Industry, Skateboard, Snowboard, Surf
I know what you’re thinking. It’s not even Halloween yet, so why are we already talking about the holidays?! We know that some of you save your holiday shopping for the last minute, but retailers spend months preparing for Santa to load his sleigh. When planning for the holiday season, retailers know that they need to be ready to take on their busiest time of the year! Here are a few tips for helping your business stay ahead of the game during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Perfect Your Website Customers tend to be drawn to brands that give them the most pleasant experience, and customer service is not limited to just the brick and mortar presence. Your customer’s online experience is just as important! Ensure that you have created a website that is easy-to-navigate for your shoppers this holiday season. Remember that one of the biggest reasons that customers gravitate to online shopping is for the convenience factor. Therefore, a quick and smooth process on your website will result in more sales. It is also crucial that your website is mobile-friendly. Smartphones are becoming increasingly more popular than desktops for surfing the web, so make sure to create that level of mobile convenience for your buyers. Prepare Your Products Do you have what your shoppers are shopping for? Before the holidays arrive, it’s a good idea to stock up on your key inventory products. With that, take a look at trending sales over the last year and even the previous holiday season. What products are your customers looking for? By understanding the wants and needs of...
by Board Retailers Association | Nov 12, 2014 | Snowboard, Trade Shows
This year’s Snow Show is set for January 28 – February 3 in Denver Colorado, and our friends over at Snowsports Industries America (SIA) gave us the head’s up that hotel blocks are selling out fast. If you’re still finalizing your plans to attend, we’re here to give you the scoop on two new features SIA has added to help you stay ahead in this fast moving industry. But those are just two reasons, of about 100, why we go to SIA’s Snow Show. Check them out – and a few more – below: It’s all about the data. And the world’s most concentrated and authentic trade event in the snow sports industry certainly has the most thorough and useful industry intelligence with an incredible lineup of speakers, seminars and roundtables. SIA is launching a new element called Industry + Intelligence at this year’s Snow Show (January 28, 2015) to give your staff insight on the latest consumer behavior, retail data, digital marketing and social media trends and keynote speaker Amy Purdy, 2014 Paralympic Medalist, Actress and Author will be sharing her inspiring story and passion for snow sports. As a non-profit trade association representing over 3,500 action front storefronts across the country, it’s important for us to have a presence on the show floor. Not only are snow sports products are integral to action sport retail—over 40% of our members and over 75% of our Board members carry snow hardgoods. We could tell you how important it is for you to attend, but it makes way more sense for you to hear it from retailers themselves. Lucky for...
by Board Retailers Association | Sep 29, 2014 | Internet, Skateboard, Snowboard, Surf
In the midst of an era dominated by ecommerce, there is still an undeniable need for family-run, brick and mortar board shops. Nothing can replace the nostalgic feeling you get when you walk into a local surf shop, and are warmly greeted by their friendly staff, excited to chat about the recent swell while you’re purchasing a bar of wax. That moment defines this unique culture and drives the action sports industry. It’s what keeps us paddling out, even on flat days, just to get our feet wet. In honor of these specialty retailers, TransWorld Business, a leader in boardsports news, has launched a new feature entitled 30 Shops in 30 Days. Throughout this month-long series, TransWorld Business will highlight a new shop every day. Each spotlight will feature the shop’s unique story through an exclusive interview and a behind-the-scenes tour. To kick off their 30 Shops in 30 Days series, TransWorld Business chatted with the crew from Sawyer Land and Sea Supply in Santa Cruz, California. Since then, they’ve featured shops around the nation, including Cleanline Surf Shop in Oregon, Bikle’s Snow, Surf & Skate in Maryland, Wetsand Surf Shop in California and many more! For 30 days, TransWorld Surf is giving shops across the country a loud voice in this noisy, online world. Support your local shop and checkout the TransWorld Business #30Shopsin30Days featured series. Own a board shop? Join the Board Retailers Association and find out how we help protect specialty retailers and the board sports...
by Board Retailers Association | Jul 25, 2014 | Industry, Snowboard
SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is a non-profit member owned trade association focused on promoting the growth and development of snow sports. They put together the most remarkable and comprehensive snow sports industry trade show and network environment globally each year—which is only one of the major benefits of an investment in membership. Year after year SIA delivers invaluable data, research, support, marketing products, government affairs representation, services and programs to retailers, reps and resort communities. Although July typically conjures images of sun and sand, SIA was busy showcasing twenty snow sports brands and two non-profits at the 8th annual SIA Summer Snowdown. SIA’s Summer Snowdown is a by invitation, media-only event, and the Manhattan showroom was chosen to give key media a sneak peek of the freshest snow sports gear, fashion and accessories as they plan their winter editorials. Visit Transworld Business for the scoop on which journalists attended which SIA member brands were represented. To learn more about SIA and it’s vast membership options, visit the SIA...
by Board Retailers Association | Apr 13, 2014 | Industry, Skateboard, Snowboard, Surf, Vision
Digitally savvy consumers are entering stores already well informed about a product’s features and prices. They are building communities and relationships online, which has retailers focusing more in the e-commerce and social media realm. It’s more important than ever to ensure that initiatives and efforts across all platforms of the customer experience work together: customer service, brand/marketing communications, brick-and-mortar stores, social, and e-commerce platforms. In terms of marketing communications, storytelling has been one of the most effective strategies to date. People love stories, and love the stories they can relate to even more. Short- and long-form blogging works wonders, and with the onset of new social trends and development of new mobile and social apps, visual storytelling has moved its way up to the front of the fold. We’ve witnessed the exponential growth of Instagram: 1 million accounts in just two months after its launch in 2010, and now the visual platform boasts over 150 million monthly active users. People and personalities are finding clever ways to express themselves, and brands are incorporating the platform into their outreach strategies. Retailers should take the time to make the right decisions about where to invest change, but we’re loving the images that are coming from Sweetwater Surf Shop in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. They’re doing an awesome job on Instagram and have cultivated a following through engagement, and have the rhythm, content, and variation that converts into sales. They’ve got this down pat. Retailers are building brand value through tangible, person-to-person relationships that begin and grow well before customers walk through the door. Creating a social presence for your business enhances...
