Online retail has been a looming threat for many brick-and-mortar retailers, ski and snowboard specialty shops among them. But a new service, Shopatron, can give specialists—including resort shops—a piece of the online action, just about instantly, with no cost to the shop.

Shopatron provides a simple way for consumers to shop online. Clicking on a “buy now” button on a supplier’s website (prices are generally MSRP) triggers an order, which is posted to shops within a certain radius of the customer. The shops can respond by letting the buyer know they have the goods, and the buyer completes the transaction by either picking up the product at the shop or having it sent to the home. Shopatron handles the transaction and sends payment to the retailer, minus the transaction cost (which is where Shopatron makes its money).

That sounds a lot like a win-win-win situation. The system delivers goods to consumers quickly, generates sales for retailers, and helps manufacturers direct customers to retailers.

Nearly 35 winter sports suppliers have signed on. Descente was the first ski industry supplier to partner with Shopatron, more than two years ago. Among the others: apparel suppliers Obermeyer and Nordica, Spy Optic, and glovers Hestra, Manzella, Gordini, Level, Swany, and Hotfingers. Hard goods suppliers include Salomon, Elan-Dalbello, Head, Armada and Line skis, and Flow snowboards.

The number of winter sport retailers using it is not precisely known. What is known is that some shops have seen a 10 percent increase in sales thanks to this new distribution channel.

And that’s the point. “We’ve looked at various solutions, and Shopatron looks like a nice solution for bringing inventories and customers and retailers together,” says Daryl Santos, president of Marker LTD. “It facilitates our relationship with the retail community.”


Why Shopatron?
Shopatron is quickly being adopted by many industries, not just winter sports. It has become a fixture in more than 30 markets, and services more than 450 retail shops.

A potential benefit for area shops is market intelligence. Shopatron posts its sales reports so that retailers can see what items have been selling. In this way, the service gives resort shops information on sales trends throughout the fall, before most area shops are even open.

“Resort operators get to see what’s selling from each of these industry brands. That helps them to optimize their purchases and fill-in inventory,” says Ed Stevens, Shopatron CEO. “Shopatron gives you a finger on the pulse of what’s selling in your market. That’s a really, really big benefit.”

Did we mention Shopatron is free to participating shops? Simply go to Shopatron.com and sign up for a free account. It takes about a day to set up a location, learn how to use the system, and get approved; you can start fulfilling orders within a day or so.

“The ski business is a specialty business with higher-ticket customers, so a higher percentage of shoppers do research online,” Stevens explains. “People often go to the manufacturer’s website to learn about products, so putting a store at that point makes sense. Customers can purchase an item on the spot, without taking business away from the local dealer.”

In-store pickup is a new feature this year, and it has the potential to jump-start online hard goods sales—which often require in-store service regardless of point of purchase. If no shop in a given area has the product in inventory, the supplier can ship to the store for in-store pickup in a few days. The decision regarding pickup vs. ship-to is determined in part by the purchaser’s choice and in part by the stocking situation.

Online sale/in-store pickup is fast becoming part of the retail scene at large. Walmart’s online sales fulfillment is 33 percent instore, Stevens says; Circuit City’s online sales are 50 percent in-store pickup. Shopatron gives smaller retailers that same convenience.


First-hand experience
Mostly, the industry’s experience has been positive, suppliers say. “Every retailer has the chance to fulfill an order if they want to,” notes Santos. “Some have dedicated staff to scan the site, see if there’s business there for them. We haven’t seen any real cross-territorial distribution issues.”

Volume has been small. “It’s not so much a volume discussion as it is another solution for retailers,” Santos says.

But that could change quickly. “Shopatron could provide an online medium for smaller retailers,” Santos notes. “It’s kind of no risk, and gets you into the e-tail world with a lot less investment than larger retailers, who often have separate e-commerce divisions.”

Matt Titus, marketing director for Dalbello/Elan, says that the addition of in-store pickup is a key development.

“E-commerce is happening, even for ski boots. The in-store pickup option has been the tipping point.” Elan Dalbello will roll out its program in the fall. “I don’t expect online sales to be huge, but it is growing,” he adds.

Nordica has had a limited number of high-end skis and boots in the program this year, along with its full apparel line. Next year, all hard goods will be offered online as well.

What about this year? “So far, it has gone smoothly,” says Wendy Reger, marketing manager. “It made a big difference for Nordica apparel,” perhaps because so many items are not widely distributed.

And that highlights a key benefit for consumers: Shopatron makes it relatively easy for them to find what they are looking for. “Shopatron monitors each order, makes sure they don’t sit,” Reger notes. The goal is to make sure that orders are fulfilled within 48 hours if possible, and within four days at the latest. If no shop within a given radius can fulfill the product within a day, the bid goes out to a wider region until someone has it—or until the process reveals that the item is completely out of stock.

Different suppliers have their own ways of dealing with out-of-stock situations. “Nordica will, if necessary, send inventory to dealers,” Reger says. Many other suppliers will do the same.

Are there any downsides to Shopatron? Perhaps, according to Bill Nichol, new vice president of Salomon. “The way the system works, it appears that the consumer is buying direct from the supplier,” he says. The consumer may be surprised to find that fulfillment is actually handled by a local dealer. If the sale is not handled properly, it can be an unpleasant customer service experience. The procedure can cause issues for ship-to sales in particular: does the shop have the proper packaging for shipping? “Pick up instore is a better option,” Nichol says. “That has pluses on the customer service end.”

Like others, Salomon is not seeing much volume online; Salomon customers use it mostly as a source for oddball or unusual items that aren’t widely found in stores. That being the case, about half of Salomon “sales” were actually for items that were unavailable.

But that’s a relatively minor issue. Even though volume may be low now, some existing winter sports e-tailers see Shopatron as competition. That might be the best evidence yet that this outlet could be a boon for smaller retailers.