Neuvation’s January 3rd Newsletter (removed since posting) struck a chord. John Neugent was writing about the cycling industry and competition between local bike shops and online retailers, but the same issues are at play in the ski industry (incidentally, many bike shops double as ski shops).
Neugent is biased as his internet sales are much more robust and profitable compared to his brick and mortar sales. I come from the opposite retail perspective: a brick and mortar store with higher sales than our rapidly growing online store. Yet our vision regarding loss of business to online competitors is the same. Neugent writes:
“My job, either in my retail store or on the Internet is to give customers what they want while at the same time make a profit. Because of the Internet and more recently smart phones, our customers have fundamentally changed. Retailers who don’t change with the market will die.”
“The debate in the cycling industry should be how we can best provide those core services to our customers at a profit and not try to figure out ways to change their shopping habits.”
This is well put and on point. Customers want to utilize the internet to get the best deal. Consumers have developed shopping habits that include internet based comparison shopping. Local shops cannot change customers shopping habits, especially by brow beating them with guilt.
