’Tis The Season
Implement sales strategies long before the holidays hit.

By Sharon Harrison

Becker Surf & Sport kicked off the season in Septmeber with a snowboard party. Photo: Tardiff

The business of snowboarding is uniquely trying: for more than half the year, retailers and manufacturers make plans to improve the sales of what amounts to a very short buying season. That fact that a couple of the biggest gift-giving holidays occur right in the middle of "snowboard-sales season" is a ripe opportunity for retailers. Don’t wait until your store is in the midst of the winter season to plan your holiday strategies—start as early as possible to maximize your sales.

Think snow in September.

The Wave in Roseville, California (just outside of Sacramento) takes the prize for holiday preparedness. Rather than bide time for a proper jingle-bell intro to the winter-holiday season, the shop beats just about any store to the punch with its huge end-of-September sale, which runs an entire weekend. But, you might be thinking, what’s the point of having a sale if the new shipment of snowboards isn’t even in yet?

"It’s a pre-buying sale," explains The Wave’s Billy Miller. "We get all the reps to come out, [shoppers can] preview the boards. There’s food—we set up, hang out, have fun. No one walks away with a board—they pre-pay, then come back later to pick them up."

The Wave becomes so busy once first snow hits, running a promotion of this scale during the actual season would prove nearly impossible. "We’re nonstop from first snow ’til springtime," says Miller. Having the pre-sale at the end of September serves two purposes: it generates early sales and interest, and the sale is at a convenient time for the store. Another fall pre-holidays promotion idea of The Wave’s is premiering a snowboarding video. Last year the store showed Easy Rider at the local drive-in theater to overwhelming positive response from viewers, and a theater in town has been used for the premieres as well.

Early planning pays off for quite a few stores. The start of the season is a good excuse for a snowboard swap at B.C. Surf & Sport in Boulder, Colorado. Manager Paul Kisicki says, "It gives us the chance to blow out old stuff, and it gives people a chance to see the new product." What’s a swap? Shoppers bring their old boards and softgoods, get a reference number from B.C., and make note of the price they want for the used goods. If they prefer to use the sale amount toward product at B.C., the shop takes a cut of ten percent; if they want cash, B.C.’s cut is 30 percent. Swap entrants are automatically entered in a drawing for product as well. In addition, reps bring their last-year’s sample boards to sell.

Thanksgiving is when shoppers’ thoughts turn much more seriously to both the start of the snow season and holiday gift-giving. Outhouse Skates in Covina, California has taken advantage of this for ten years with its annual Thanksgiving sale. "We send out 1,000 to 2,000 flyers for it," says Manager Ramsin. "We pretty much put everything on sale, and a lot of people come out."

If you really want their attention, throw a party.

Having a sale is great, but if you want to make a bigger impact on the snowboarders in your community and get your clientele wound up for the holidays, plan a party. Your shop should already have promotional and advertising costs built into its budget; see if you can afford the additional costs a party would incur, or use some of the money previously earmarked for advertising. Keep in mind that a shop party is good advertising. Edge Of The World in Banner Elk, North Carolina hosts an all-day snowboard party every November, with bands playing and skateboarders on the ramps behind the store. Pros as well as manufacturer reps attend. Everyone who shows up gets pizza and a party favor. Does all this sound expensive?

"Well," says Edge Owner Greg Barrow, "the party costs us about 2,400 dollars. Our mailing list is about 12,000 people, and we get maybe 1,000 people to show up. There’s only a thousand people in our whole town!" The Edge Of The World Party is such a big event in Banner Elk, the fire and police departments were already calling Barrow in July to find out the next party’s dates—it tends to clog up traffic in town pretty badly. Aljohn’s in Burnsville, Minnesota has an on-snow party, also held in November. The shop has its own snowboard park at nearby Buckhill, maintained by Aljohn’s. For the party, which serves as a season opener, snow is blown into the park. Flyers, radio spots, and in-store posters announce the festivities. Reps set up displays on-hill, and there’s at least one visiting pro—last year it was Brian Iguchi.

"For five dollars," says General Manager Scott Anderson, "you can ride all day, skate the ramp—there’s Sumo wrestling, three bands, and two DJs. It brings a lot of positive energy to the coming season."

Don’t forget Frosty The Snowman.

Even if your shop is already busy beyond belief, don’t sell yourself short on holiday spirit—it’s good for employee and customer morale as well as sales. But remember to be sensitive: because we are living in an increasingly multicultural society, make an effort to keep decorations nonreligious and nondenominational (unless, of course, you plan to include every religion).

How much decoration is enough? You should be able to find window painters who work for reasonable rates—possibly even an exchange of goods for services. The Wave has an artist who paints the store’s window every month year-round—the holiday scene is always spectacular. Says Miller: "Last winter we had Snowboard Universe in the window, and everyone was going nuts. That is until lawyers from Incredible Universe came and we had to take it down."

Brian Dunfey, owner of Power Play in Winter Park, Colorado says his store goes crazy with decorations. "We do the windows up—last year we had Santa getting big air."

Although the window is what Power Play normally uses to push new product, about two weeks before Christmas the store changes the display to a holiday theme. And the shop takes advantage of everything the manufacturers have to offer—namely, POP displays. "We use the POP displays and hang lights all over," says Dunfey.

Don’t wait until it’s too late to ask your manufacturer reps about POP displays! Inform the reps of what you’d like right from the season’s start, and remind them with follow-up calls if the displays fail to show up. Many shops say that manufacturers allow them to order custom rack shapes and sizes. Your shop should certainly have POP displays for best-selling brands, and you can incorporate them into your holiday displays.

In-store holiday merchandising is the perfect chance to pick up sales. If the expense can be kept down, stock gift boxes and tissue paper for holiday softgoods sales. Remember that people with little knowledge of snowboarding may be shopping for their favorite rider. Items that go well together can be sold as a package, increasing sales and helping those who’d have trouble with product compatibility. Try to make up gift packages in different price brackets to please everyone.

At The Boarding House in Vancouver, Canada, Manager Mike Praignell makes the most of the season: "We sell boots, boards, and bindings as a package deal—it really boosts sales."

When you purchase a board at Aljohn’s, the shop includes a free board bag—with Aljohn’s logo on it—for both goodwill and further shop promotion.

Edge Of The World goes all out with the holiday theme. Says Owner Barrow: "We put up Christmas lights and decorate the tree out front. I do little stuff inside like hang candy canes, and the Christmas cards we get I hang in the snowboard department."

Because the shop is at a resort, business actually increases after Christmas—people are on vacation and spending that holiday-gift money. At EOTW as well as elsewhere, it’s important to keep the holiday spirit flowing past December 25.

But can Santa sell snowboards?

For the most part, experienced snowboarders are a well-informed bunch. Long before the beginning of the snow season, riders are armed with the new buyer’s guides and stats on the upcoming season’s equipment. As a retailer, you may be convinced they already know what they’re going to buy, and where they’re going to buy it. Don’t sell yourself short: the steps your shop takes to promote sales make a huge difference.

If your shop isn’t currently known as the one that goes all out for holidays, change that. Be sure to start a mailing list, if you don’t already have one, to inform shoppers of sales and upcoming promotions. Track customers through sales, and ask those browsing to sign in and join the mailing list. Give your shop visual holiday appeal—the shopping season wears a lot of people down, and they’ll be happy to see your efforts in decorating. And never underestimate impulse and last-minute sales—be sure to stock plenty of inexpensive gift items and stocking stuffers.

Keep your shop looking festive right up to the holidays and until New Year’s. With careful planning, this could be the best winter your store ever had.