Spring - InsideOutdoor Magazine

Editor’s Letter
Technology and Tent Stakes
“Challenges and opportunities:” those two words summarize the retail technology
landscape as succinctly as any two words can. And in many ways, they also
encapsulate the state of the outdoor industry.
With the former, the big challenges for specialty retailers involve taking the final
steps in the migration off of legacy systems and completing the long-coming shift
to “next-generation“ platforms, namely digital and Internet technologies. That final
leap will demand justifying new investments; retiring existing assets, some before
the end of their natural lives; and supporting some level of IT functionality at every
individual store front.
Indeed, the Internet has democratized technology, so it’s no longer just the CIOs
and IT staffs of large chains and high-dollar retailers that have to consider its implications.
Just about everyone in the more mainstream segments of retail will need
to leverage increasing levels of retail technology just to keep pace with the opex
reductions and boost to customer relationship management that will be enjoyed by
most contestants on the playing field. With that in mind, Inside Outdoor’s coverage
of retail technology is not limited to this special annual issue. Rather, examining the
ways that technology can help retailers operate more efficiently and touch customers
more creatively will be regular points of emphasis in every coming issue.
Likewise, outdoor is facing some shifts, as well. As in the tech sector, legacy
revenue streams are being pushed by new and emerging opportunities. Since the
Outdoor Industry Association began tracking participation rates in 1998, for instance,
the most popular outdoor activities -- camping, hiking, biking, canoeing -- have experienced
virtually no periods of sustained year-over-year growth. Yet outdoor retail sales
somehow have managed to grow at rates that exceed the annual growth rates of the
overall U.S. non-auto retail sector. That seems to suggest other sales drivers are at
play, and they are not hard to find: fitness, competitive events, trail running, climbing
gyms, sustainability, nutrition, Web services.
Still, the sagging participation rates of primary activities should not be taken lightly.
As far as we can see, getting current customers outside more often -- where
they discover new needs and wear out old gear -- remains the most reliable force
behind the sales of outdoor product. Some would suggest the outdoor lifestyle being
pushed further into the mainstream or “outdoor as fashion” are trends that can
make up for flat sales in core sports participation. We’re just not so sure relying on
what are essentially trend-driven movements is the best long-term business strategy
moving forward, particularly when the lifecycle of fashion and cultural trends seem to
grow shorter and shorter, while consumers seem to grow increasingly fickle. Fitness
enthusiasts, for their part, also can be rather fickle, with the endless litany of “new
and better ways” to get fit.
That’s certainly not to suggest that new opportunities shouldn’t be pursued and
embraced. Quite the contrary, and the outdoor industry can be commended on its
collective willingness and adaptability during the past several years when it comes to
discovering and integrating new sources of revenues and customers.
Rather, the point is that the outdoor industry cannot forget those customer bases
and legacy activities that reside deep within its foundation. “Rip and replace,” after
all, is even harder to do with customers than it is to do with technology platforms.
Martin Vilaboy
Editor-in-Chief
martin@bekapublishing.com
Percy Zamora
Art Director
outdoor@bekapublishing.com
Ernest Shiwanov
Editor at Large
ernest@bekapublishing.com
Editorial Contributors:
R.J. Anderson
Philip Josephson
Berge Kaprelian
Group Publisher
berge@bekapublishing.com
Jennifer Vilaboy
Production Director
jen@bekapublishing.com
Suzanne Urash
Ad Creative Designer
suzanne@cre8groupinc.com
Beka Publishing
Berge Kaprelian
President and CEO
Philip Josephson
General Counsel
Jim Bankes
Business Accounting
Corporate Headquarters
745 N. Gilbert Road
Suite 124, PMB 303
Gilbert, AZ 85234
Voice: 480.503.0770
Fax: 480.503.0990
Email: berge@bekapublishing.com
© 2008 Beka Publishing, All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in any form or
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MV
6 | InsideOutdoor | Spring 2008