Synergy Skates Geared toward internet dealers!

[cobrAA 0]

JR-Well i'M okay with you...but i neve order skate from internet loll so if i try skate on...and decide to thinking about it...i don't feel like paying 20$ just because i try some...

by the way....when their like 1 or 2 guys in the store and nobody is here...what do you prefer??sit your ass on your chair for 3hours or help a costumer??(This summer, i whanted to try the new vector...i went to rousseau sports(famous in quebec)and she talk with me for about 30 minute and let me try the vector zg130-120 and the vector pro...she had a big smile and wasnt hangry at all...i tihnk she was annoying so it was a pleasure to help a costumer

and look if you save 50$ on internet you don't really save 50$ because you have to pay 50 or more for shipping!!! lol(well maybe not for your American...but for Canadians....you pay for shipping and border fees(i order a 30$ blade and pay 20$CND to get it shipped lolll)

what i whant to mean is....it getting insane....now you can't try item you will need to pay!!!i'M going to shop(for jeans and shirts) and i will come back with 1 jeans and 2 t shirt for 350$ because i try jeans i did not like (I know my i.e is maybe not the best but still!!!)COME ON....

[MDE3 0]

I really do feel sympathy for the LHS stores....as an example, one of our local PIAS stores who used to have the largest inventory of all the best inline equipment, no longer even stocks any inline skates....due to the internet....they go strictly used now.

With so many varieties of new equipment popping up every year or even sooner, it is almost impossible for a local store to stock even 10% of this variety. Hence customer's often cannot find the brand or the size locally and order online.

When retailers want to charge a "fee" for a 'fitting" I feel they are truly within their rights for the reasons' stated in the posts above.

There is so much competitive "brand marketing' out there now and accessible to all the players, that the old school philosophy of developing "hard brand loyalty" is pretty much obsolete(where a store is dedicated primarily to one brand).

Extremely diligent customer service from the manufacturer may help maintain this, but that does not mean the customer will purchase the items locally...in fact the public promotion by a manufacturer of their "great" customer service, may actually hurt the LHS's. Now the customer feels he can deal direct with the supplier and not need his local store any longer to interven on their behalf.

The manufacturers' internet practice of "blowing out" last years inventory, means that people will continue to take chances buying last year's high end models at heavy discounts, instead of going to their local retailer to get fitted for lower end contemporary models in the same price range. Meanwhile the LHS's may offer competitive pricing on current models, but trying to be competitive on obsolete models (which some LHS's may still have at full costs on the shelf) is killing these guys.

I personally think the retailers must get together in some collective association (if they aren't already) in an attempt to restructure the whole product marketing effort, or face oblivion...something which would seriously hurt the sport in the long run. Right now the independant LHS with more limited volume buying power, is in a real hole.

All that said, I think the way the retailers here on MSH conduct their business by being so on top of the equipment market is certainly one way to keep customers coming back...equipment junkies like nothing better than being able to talk to someone in "the know"...that personal touch still counts.

[Mikael21 0]

SyNergy Skates. You will skate faster?

Hmm do you skate faster whit an easier skate? Think twice? This skate is really light but do you think that you can feel the light weight? I dont think so, I´ll mabe have wrong but I think that the SyNergy will makes your brain feel better (you think your skates is light weight, but not your foots. The skate is so stiff so your foots couldn´t enlarge the skate.. :P

[Chadd 916]

If you're helping someone with skates for half an hour, that's time when you can't help any other customers. I know that I have lost sales because I was busy helping someone with skates, only to have that person walk out and buy them online for $15 less.

Some people are cheap and will do everything they can to save a buck or two. But you can't afford to lose other sales because someone wants to figure out their size for an online order.

[Accord 0]

Why don't shops adopt a new policy where the customer may only try on the skate if they are going to buy it from that dealer. Sign a contract or something, I don't know...

If a dealer tried that with me i'd walk right out the door and buy from somewhere else.

[MDE3 0]

I think a "fitting fee" is not an unfair concept, just difficult to apply.

This get's difficult for a lot of situations..kids trying on skates with their parents as a possible Christmas gift for example...but that may not be their only possibility as a gift. People who come into the store looking for a particular brand which is not stocked by the store...but might be interested in trying a competitive brand if the sales person is doing their job....in this case it is the store's initiative to have the customer try on the skate....how do you charge the customer? A customer legitimately wants to see if that particular brand shape fits their foot...but if it does not..do you still charge them?

[Chadd 916]

If you have to have an extra employee in the shop in case someone might want to come in and buy a pair of skates, you will lose more money than you make.

Let's say you are paying someone $10 an hour and all of your skates are about $300. On most brands a shop is lucky if they make a 33% profit or $100 on this skate. Over an 8 hour day you pay your extra employee $80 plus matching taxes and you make $100 if someone buys a pair of skates, that's less than $20 profit on that employee.

Obviously some days and times of year are better for business and multiple employees are needed, but there are a lot of times that would be bad for business. When there is the potential for selling more merchandise, you have 2-3 people in a small shop like mine, otherwise you go with one most of the time.

[Jim A 4]

A lot of times you just have to figure out the customer, we had someone last year who came in every week and tried on/looked at high end stuff..after 2 weeks..it wasn't worth the time to spend with him as it was just a field trip with the kids..say hello, make small talk but don't get involved..

also if you can't fit multiple people or handle multiple tasks..you shouldn't be working in an shop...even HG on their busiest day has 6-8 people working, and that includes 2 people and a tech up front..

MDE ..i believe a lot of shops get in over their head when they buy...it is possible to have a small shop and be productive and profitable...hell PIAS definitely doesn't lack buying power!!

you get the new stuff as it comes out..make short, small turns...jump on closeout stuff at the show..i'd rather be light in January then deluged with product..some shops try and outdo the gorilla's when they can..and they are just taking $ away from themselves..(ie..i have a lot of respect of JR..but if you're $70 on an S500 under MSRP and other shops aren't that low in your area..(is $70 less MAP?)..you are just taking $ out of the shops coffers..not that its yours,

90% of the time, if not more a LHS will be able to compete with the larger ones on new product, its their lack of buying prowess or inventory issues that cause them trouble when stuff goes closeout...of course .that is assuming they run a good shop in the first place..and aren't driving people away..

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

you get the new stuff as it comes out..make short, small turns...jump on closeout stuff at the show..i'd rather be light in January then deluged with product..some shops try and outdo the gorilla's when they can..and they are just taking $ away from themselves..(ie..i have a lot of respect of JR..but if you're $70 on an S500 under MSRP and other shops aren't that low in your area..(is $70 less MAP?)..you are just taking $ out of the shops coffers..not that its yours,

A nice discount from Mission enables us to do that.

Trust me, I agree with you guys. After a while, you can figure out who is really interested and who is not. Some people come in and really are interested - some will flat-out tell you they are going to buy them online. Rarely did I ever have to apply the fitting fee when it was in place because either I made the sale, knew the person or wowed them enough that they are were going to come back at a later date. It was just the ones who came in and had no intention of buying from you. So I take JimA's approach on that.

[MDE3 0]

MDE ..i believe a lot of shops get in over their head when they buy...it is possible to have a small shop and be productive and profitable...hell PIAS definitely doesn't lack buying power!!

I know they don't.... that was what made their situation a good example..even they are having trouble competing with the internet. Of course most PIAS tend to attract the price buyers anyway, so they are more likely to be competing in the mid end product price range, and thus more vulnerable to the mass marketing of obsolete models....they used to be one of the big buyers of that stuff(maybe still are but just stocking in not the local stores)

[Jim A 4]

well a PIAS is geared to run on used stuff..that's where they make their $..they ar supposed to make a 50% margin overall..and you only get that through buying used stuff at $.30 on the dollar and moving some stuff on consignment (33% credit)...they are told to just move the new stuff at 30-40% margins based on what the market bears..and if they wanted..could get SMU stuff as needed...

so if there's a backroom manager, as typically is the case and he sees tehm spending...250k on hockey for the year..and making 34% on it while having a third of it unturned...he's going to put it elsewhere..hell..i would..if i could make an extra 12% net on my sales by redirecting it..kind of like Branches getting out of hockey to focus more on the paddle side of things

[Accord 0]

I will always buy from one of my LHS' if their prices are reasonable. There is one LHS by me that has such incredibly ridiculous markups on their skates, a pair of CCM Pro Tacks is $430 from them, i've made it a point to let them know how disgusted I am with their prices. I don't mind paying an extra 15-20 bucks on a pair of skates in a local store rather than buying them online but an extra $130 markup from online prices is ridiculous, I can only imagine how many uninformed parents get sucked into paying those prices.

[Speed Demon 0]

What does PIAS mean?

Do you think that eventually we will see a day where hockey companies make stores that sell only their own merchandise? The purpose being that the potential customer comes in, tries on their skates, and then they can order them online? Take Easton for example: They open up a store where they sell all their stuff and they don't really care whether or not someone buys the skate they have been fitted for, since they figure that they will go and get it online. Of course this would take some tinkering but it is a possibility.

I think that in the future all buying will be done online.

[iron Ghost 0]

at the shop that I work at we have talked about a fitting fee for the same reasons mentioned above however, like JR said, we know that customers would get "violent" so we have yet to try it. I dont know if easton is targeting internet as their primary buyers or not with the synergy skate but I will say this........ INTERNET sites have their synergy skates already, where the hell are the retailers??? Ours havent been shipped yet!!

I have been skating on the synergy skates abd I will say this, They need heat moldability. I agree, most skates are comfy enough that they dont even need the heat molding process but the pads on the synergy skate are rigid and maybe even a little bit misplaced. They seem to be too high on the leg. I got huge cuts on the outside of each of my legs. aside from getting cut the skates are awesome, they skate really well. Im a big man and when I first skated on them I remember thinking to myself, "how is the average lil kid gonna be able to flex this boot and really get the max use of the coil technology"? I noticed that someone else made the same analysis. I think that they may be too stiff for anyone who weighs less than 185 lbs and hence pointless. Thoughts anyone???

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

That's the same thinking that all newspapers will be online and print versions would go away...not gonna happen...

PIAS = Play It Again Sports

[Chadd 916]

The company store didn't work for Gateway or a number of others. I could honestly see the big boys doing one or two concept stores in Toronto or Montreal. Pack it with just their gear and use it as a marketing tool as well as a sales tool. That would piss off a lot of dealers though.

[Jim A 4]

The sport isn't big enough for that...I see the current rage of Concept Shops put forth by BNH to continue..where soon enough instead of walking into the Skate section..you will have to visit each company's display..

[Chadd 916]

It's a huge commitment to ne a BNH concept shop. Only the largest stores could do that for everyone.

[Jim A 4]

I thought had put something in the earlier post about larger stores..oh well..

they are also doing it, or have done it at the Chelsea Piers location..what used to be a Blades shop..and there is very little room upstairs there..

i'd think they are rolling out different sizes and controls for that..but other companies can't be sitting around and not planning something similar..

[Hockeyman9621 0]

If you're helping someone with skates for half an hour, that's time when you can't help any other customers. I know that I have lost sales because I was busy helping someone with skates, only to have that person walk out and buy them online for $15 less.

Some people are cheap and will do everything they can to save a buck or two. But you can't afford to lose other sales because someone wants to figure out their size for an online order.

If you know they are going to buy the same skates online for cheaper, why not offer to match the internet price?(unless it's really cheap and you lose money off of it) A sale is better than no sale IMO.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

5 reasons why not to match internet:

1. You get the right size in the store

2. You get the skates right away

3. You get free heat molding

4. You don't pay shipping

5. You get to try different models to see which one fits your feet.

Buzz has a great line when customers ask him to match prices. I've used it too.

[Eazy_b97 1]

plus word of mouth for that can add up to be less profit. Spreading the word of someone matching internet prices can lead to "why am I getting screwed" comments.

[Buzz_LightBeer 973]

Charging $50 to bake skates bought elsewhere is outrageous and shows no customer service...and essentially tells people who aren't customers to avoid your store..

This scenario happened to me on friday Jim, what do you do here:

A kid comes in asking about Vapor XXX's, says he wants t obe the first to get them, and asks me to size him so he can order off the internet. I said, I am absolutely not going to HockeyMonkeys work for them, and he can go ahead and order his skates, and then he can come buy the right size from us when they dont fit. Why should we bother stocking top end items and fitting people, only to have them take their business to the internet? I have absolutely no problem saying to some one, "what?!? you mean Hockey Giant wont heat mold your skates for you?"

granted, we are a knowledgeable, competitively priced shop, and we do not take advantage of our customers, i think its essentially rude to go to the internet with out first asking the shop to match a price

[Buzz_LightBeer 973]

5 reasons why not to match internet:

1. You get the right size in the store

2. You get the skates right away

3. You get free heat molding

4. You don't pay shipping

5. You get to try different models to see which one fits your feet.

Buzz has a great line when customers ask him to match prices. I've used it too.

i love that scenario, lol:

-Will you guys match internet pricing?

=We'll try, sir, what have you found?

-Externo E-60's on Hockey Giant, $259.90

=We sell them for $299.90

-Can you match $259.90

=Sure, itll be $259.90 for the skates, $40 for heat molding, $8 for the first sharpening, and you can pick them up next tuesday...

-Next tuesday?!?! you have them right there!

=OH! you want overnight shipping? well shit thats an extra $35 for overnight delivery. so now youre at $345.00 for your $259.90 internet skates... Are you sure you wouldnt rather buy them here, and have them today?

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

MY MAN!

That shit is ill...I've used it, all props to Buzz...