Small Wonders
Selling accessories can be your shop's ticket to increased profits.
By Kevin Royes

So, you own a snowboard shop, huh? You've got a good selection of board brands, a few different boot brands, some clothing, and gloves. Yep, you're a snowboard shop, all right. And I'll bet all this stuff sells great - that's why you're in business.

But how are your accessories selling? Are they hanging back there behind your counter, or scattered underneath it? Are they helping pay your rent, phone, or dinner out a couple of nights a week? Probably not. As a matter of fact, if you're like most retailers, your entire accessory sales for the year

may only cover one weekend trip to the nearest mountain. For one person. By car. In the off season. Beer not included. Hardly worth much or your attention, right? Wrong!

I'm not trying to tell you accessories will make you rich. Far from it. However, there's a lot more money in selling accessories than you may realize - after all, they are among the few things in your store that you can mark up 100 percent. The key to raking in more dough is to simply change your attitude and see the possibilities. With a fresh attitude and an open mind, you'll shoot sales sky high. Here are a few hints:

1) Carefully choose the companies you carry.

Look for quality products with innovative designs. Sweet packaging that instills confidence, POP materials that catch the eye, and, of course, prices that make sense should be your prime requisites.

With boards, clothing, and boots, company image is key. You've probably sold a jacket that you knew wasn't the best value to a customer who simply "had to have it." Many customers shopping for a new board know the brand and model they want long before they call you for a price. They'll call every shop within 100 miles looking for the best deal (ignoring that the ten dollars they save on the board will cost them twenty dollars in gas).

Accessories are different, however. People buy accessories on impulse or as an add-on to bigger sales. Brand name, team riders, and being cool helps, but there's more you need to look for.

How does the company handle warranties? Can you reorder two or three times throughout the season? Before Christmas? Would you use these items yourself? This point needs to be emphasized. If you were a customer, would you buy this stuff? If not, don't waste your customer's time. Don't carry junk. It reflects poorly on you as a trusted source of snowboarding supplies.

2) Pay attention to the store's merchandising.

You want your accessories to walk to the cash register with as little help as possible. Get creative. Maybe you could display a screwdriver by your bindings. Grab some high-end after-market traction pads and use two-sided tape to temporarily stick these on a few of your boards. Put a boot and binding together and clip on an after-market leash. It's the little things that make your customers aware of your accessories as they browse the store.

A sure way to limit your accessories sales is to just hang them on a slat wall behind your counter and forget about them. A really cool specialty store displayed its accessories under a glass counter - on the bottom level. If anyone ever came to that store looking for a lock, they'd have to either get down on the floor or ask the staff to see the selection (if the staff could find the stuff). Accessories aren't selling too well for this shop, but bindings are selling like hotcakes. It has a great binding display.

Speaking of product displays, if your supplier offers any - get them. A good display is "the silent salesperson," as one retailer put it. Get that sales tool out where it has impact. Don't hang it behind your sales counter unless you have no other choice. With any of these methods, you have to concern yourself with theft. Be smart and limit your risk without limiting your sales. Do what's best in your particular situation.

3) Take advantage of add-on sales.

The easiest time to sell accessories is to add them onto a large purchase. Let's say you're ringing through a 600-dollar sale for a new board and bindings. Of course, you compliment your customers on their choice of products. You then suggest that if they have any concerns about their board being stolen, they may want to pick up a lock. Mention that they range from ten to 25 dollars and will give them great peace of mind.

"That's a great idea," they say. "My friend had his board stolen last year while going to the bathroom. I don't want that to happen to me." They thank you for your concern and pick the best lock you have for 25 dollars.

You note the bindings don't come with a leash: "Do you plan to ride at Big Air Mountain?"

"Why yes," they reply, "that's my favorite hill."

Recognize the opportunity and say: "Well, these particular bindings don't come with a leash, and that hill enforces the leash law like a cranky cop without a donut. I've got three good ones here you can choose from. As a matter of fact, this one is a lock leash. It works awesome and solves both your concerns for five dollars less than if you bought a separate leash lock."

What a hero.

There's no better time to suggest a sale than when the wallet is out. It takes a few extra seconds and will have your accessories moving like mad.

4) Give away accessories.

Giving something for free is a great way to sell more. How many times have you had customers sit on the fence about a big purchase. Six-hundred dollars is a lot of money, and you may feel you're losing the sale. Consider telling them, "If you're really interested, I can throw in a kick-ass binding tool and some wicked traction pads."

You take them to your well-displayed samples. They're stoked, and you've just closed the sale. At the counter you suggest a lock for twenty dollars (add-on sale) and they buy it. Not bad, and it only took 25 dollars' worth of product that cost youn $12.50. (Remember, accessories often have keystone - 100 percent - markup.) Leverage your small-ticket products to help secure more sales of the big stuff.

There you have it, some nifty tips on improving your accessory sales. No doubt you have some of your own ideas that already work great. But if you don't, get these to work this fall, and watch the numbers fly. Maybe you'll make enough to take a friend on that resort trip. Go over New Year's, stay for a week, and sip the premium beer. You've earned it.