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Spring 2010 

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FEaTUrES 

14 THE FUTURE-PROOF SALES FLOOR 

It’s becoming increasingly common for consumers to walk into 

a physical storefront armed with more technological capabilities 

than the entire store and staff have at their disposal. These alwaysconnected, 

hyper-informed consumers are just one reason why the 

in-store experience needs an upgrade. 

By Martin Vilaboy 

24 THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY’S RFID EXPERIMENT 

radio frequency identification so far has been the victim of over-hype 

and high expectations, but one innovative outdoor company is 

breaking ground by providing outdoor dealers with an accessible 

entry point into this powerful supply chain management 

technology. 


4 | InsideOutdoor | Spring 2010 

14 

32 

C O N T E N T S 

DEparTmENTS 

Spring 2010 

28 HAPPY CAMPERS 

The bump in sales and participation experienced 

during last year’s camping season may be just the 

beginning. The continuing search for more affordable 

ways to spend summer vacations and a pent-up demand 

for outdoor experiences has camping primed 

for continued growth in 2010 and beyond. 


32 BARE ESSENTIALS 

Whether one views it as the latest fad or the future 

of running, minimalist footwear has taken steps 

that ultimately could impact the entire trail footwear 

category. We also take a close look at three minimalist 

models. 

By Ernest Shiwanov 

DaTa pOINTS 

8 NUMBERS WORTH NOTING 

matters of influence; park popularity; Twitter truths; 

Shifts in shrink 

GrEENSHEETS 

40 THE GREEN GLOSSARY 

Defining the movement 

6 Letter from the Editor 

12 rep News and moves 

45 Editorial Index 

46 advertiser Index

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Editor’s Letter 

Channel Crossing 

Have you ever wished you could Ctrl+Z your real life? maybe it’s just an indication 

of sitting at a pC too much, but sometimes when an ordinary task goes awry – say 

the box I’m fumbling with dumps its contents onto the garage floor, or the lid of the 

parmesan shaker pops off and dumps a mountain of white cheese on my plate of pasta 

– I get this momentary impulse to instantly undo what I just did by hitting Ctrl+Z, as if 

some type of virtual keyboard is floating in front of me at all times. 

Now, the point here isn’t to pitch an idea for another whacky adam Sandler project. 

rather, my confused desire to fix problems with a simple keystroke is analogous to the 

expectations growing among many of the shoppers entering your store, expectations 

that had better not be overlooked. 

First taking a step back, we’d all likely agree the rise of the Internet and online 

commerce, in particular, have fundamentally changed the game for all of us. Often, 

however, the most important changes aren’t always the ones most talked about. We hear 

lots of discussions about the ongoing battle between digital and brick-and-mortar channels 

and whether or not e-commerce eventually will account for 15 or 20 or 35 percent of overall 

retail sales, but there’s something much more disruptive taking place. 

most industry experts and commentators, by now, tend to agree that retail no 

longer can be defined in terms of virtual versus physical business models. When all is 

said and done, retailers that master multi-channel sales and capabilities, we are told, 

ultimately will be the strongest. That much seems pretty clear. 

almost inevitably a part of this move to mixed-model retailing, the once-distinct 

channels within the multi-channel environment in many ways are intersecting and 

blurring together, resulting in what’s come to be known as the “cross-channel” shopping 

experience. This cross-channel experience and its subsequent buying behavior, we’d 

argue, represent the greatest impacts that Web-based technologies will have on retail 

business models moving forward. more specifically, the increasing access to multichannel 

or cross-channel capabilities is quickly expanding and altering the expectations of 

shoppers no matter how or where they eventually make their purchases. 

put simply, consumers will want their shopping experiences to be precisely the 

way they want them no matter through which channel they are shopping at any given 

moment. The best aspects of the online or catalog experience, for example, will be 

expected on the sales floor, at least up to the point of what is technologically possible, 

and vice versa. 

Consumers who bring the online experience into a physical storefront by way of 

their smartphones can be seen as an early example of this potentially transformational 

trend. In this scenario, a spend-ready shopper who may be standing in the outerwear 

aisle of an outdoor shop still wants to search product reviews, check-out product 

specifications, comparison shop and even share images of a potential purchase with 

friends and family as if he is sitting at home in front of a laptop. Conversely, a retail 

Web site that offers 3D interactive images, virtual tours of hotel rooms or live chat 

with customer representatives all are examples of the physical store experience being 

adapted for online shopping. The growing popularity of “buy online, pick-up in store” is 

another example of such cross-channel expectations. 

as Jeremy Lockhorn, director of emerging media for razorfish, puts matters, 

e-commerce no longer stands for “electronic commerce” but instead it is short for 

“everywhere commerce.” That goes not only for the location of the actual shopper but 

also the location of the technology that enables a satisfying and enjoyable shopping 

experience. put another way, the online revolution may be less about developing killer 

e-commerce sites, Facebook presences or Twitter campaigns and more about adapting 

the in-store experience for the coming generations of online consumers. 

No doubt, the power is in the hands of the consumer, both in terms of enabling 

technology and in the ability, when they don’t get what they want, to take their business 

to one among the ever-growing list of competitive players fighting for their attention. 

and, make no mistake, once a shopper leaves your list of loyal customers, there’s 

no Ctrl+Z function to bring them back. –MV 


martin Vilaboy 

Editor-in-Chief 

martin@bekapublishing.com 

percy Zamora 

Art Director 

outdoor@bekapublishing.com 

Ernest Shiwanov 

Editor at Large 

ernest@bekapublishing.com 

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 

© 2010 Beka publishing, all rights reserved. 

reproduction in whole or in any form or 

medium without express written permission 

of Beka publishing, is prohibited. Inside 

Outdoor and the Inside Outdoor logo are 

trademarks of Beka publishing

Data Points 

Numbers worth NotiNg 

by Martin Vilaboy 

WHEN TO rECOmmEND 

Overwhelmingly, consumers report that product 

recommendations provide useful guidance when 

shopping, but the placement of recommendations also 

can have a significant impact on sales. The majority of 

Location of Recommendations that Prompted Purchase 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

20% 

10% 

0% 

58% 

Product Detail 

Source: ChoiceStream 

40% 

Category/Brand 

30% 

Sources active online of Shrink shoppers (those who spent more than 

$500 2009 online in the past 6 2008 months) indicate that they 

have bought something based on a retailer’s online 

product recommendation, Employee theft of 

68% 

but only 16 percent claim 

merchandise in stores 

to have purchased based on a recommendation in a 

shopping-related Customers email stealing 

62% 

(e.g., shipping confirmation). The 

merchandise 

52% 

majority of purchases were based on recommendations 

that appeared Employee on theft product of cash 

45% 

detail pages (58 percent) 

(voids, post-voids, deposits, etc) 

32% 

or Paper category/brand shrink (missed markdown, 

32% 

incorrect purchase order price, pages etc.) (40 percent).11515OLD 

31% 

FaSHIONED Organized crime INFLUENCE 

rings 

Despite the plethora of new ways to gather information, 

Register under-rings 

27% 

face-to-face interactions (sweethearting) with family and 22% friends remain 

the most influential factor over online purchasing. In 

18% 

Fraudulent returns 

fact, outside of the use of search engines, 25% the traditional 

methods for spreading product and promotional information 

-- namely, Source: RSR TV Research, and print December – continue 2009 to be most persuasive, 

even among online purchasers, suggests a survey by 

Opinion research and aranet. and while advice from 

friends and family tops the list, the use of social networking 

Cross-Channel Takes Over? 

sites to obtain such information is still in the nascent stage, 

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 

show the findings. 


Cart 

23% 23% 21% 

Promotional email 

Order Conf. 

28% 

30% 

Home Page 

16% 

Transaction email 

The future of online commerce 

lies more with cross-channel 

or “merged” channel capabilities. 43% 43% 6% 

80% 

Influences on Online Buying Decisions 

% Very 

Influence 

Influenced 

(4 or 5 out of 5) 

Personal advice from friends or family members 59% 

TV news or other broadcasts 40% 

Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Ask.com 39% 

Ads seen on TV 36% 

Articles seen in newspapers or magazines 33% 

Ads seen in newspapers or magazines 31% 

Articles seen online 28% 

Radio news or other broadcasts 25% 

Direct mail 24% 

Ads heard on the radio 20% 

Emails received from retailers or manufacturers 20% 

Ads seen online 19% 

Messages or posts on social media such as Facebook, 

Twitter, LinkedIn, or MySpace 

18% 

Billboards 15% 

Source: ARAnet, February 2010 

parK IT 

Leisure travel overall may have dipped with the economy, 

but folks still found the time and money to visit our nation’s 

national park system. In 2009, national parks hosted 10 

million more visitors than in 2008, a 3.9 percent increase 

that marked the fifth busiest year ever for the National park 

System, according to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. 

Top 10 Most Visited National Parks, 2009 

Park Unit Visitors 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 9,491,437 

Grand Canyon National Park 4,348,068 

Yosemite National Park 3,737,472 

Yellowstone National Park 3,295,187 

Olympic National Park 3,276,459 

Rocky Mountain National Park 2,822,325 

Zion National Park 2,735,402 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park 2,589,288 

Grand Teton National Park 2,580,081 

Acadia National Park 2,227,698 

Source: U.S. Department of Interior 

4% 

6% 

U.S. M 

35-53 

37% 

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Data Points 

The 285 million people that visited a national park or other 

unit of the National park System in 2009 was just shy of the 

all-time visitation record of 287.2 million in 1987. Great Smoky 

mountain National park continued its reign as the most 

visited national park in 2009, attracting 9.4 million visitors, 

while the Blue ridge parkway was the most visited unit of 

the system with nearly 16 million visitors. 

THE TrUTH aBOUT TWITTEr 

Despite the seemingly ubiquitous use of Twitter and its 

astronomical growth during the last few years, a new study 

from Barracuda Labs of more than 19 million accounts finds 

that most users of the microblogging startup aren’t very 

active. Starting with the assumption that an active user 

has at least 10 followers, follows at least 10 people and has 

tweeted at least 10 times, only 21 percent of Twitter users 

can be considered active. In terms of tweets, a whopping 

73 of Twitter users have tweeted less than 10 times, while 

34 percent hadn’t tweeted even once. Barracuda also found 

growth over time to be consistent with previous studies. 

While Twitter accounts grew like wildfire in early 2009, growth 

slowed to 0.34 percent month over month in December of 

2009. Going back to 2008, the report estimates growth to be 

just 0.31 percent. On the other hand, even small amounts of 

growth and active user percentages mean something when 

you’re talking about tens of millions of overall accounts. 

SHrINK SHIFT 

Likely related to soured economic conditions and rising 

employment rates, retailers reported some significant 

changes over previous years when asked about the top 

three sources of shrink, show findings from rSr research. 

Consumer theft of merchandise appears to be up, while 

employee theft of merchandise dropped decidedly. On the 

other hand, employee theft of cash or cash equivalents was 

more of a factor last year than in previous surveys. 

Source: ChoiceStream 

Sources of Shrink 

2009 2008 

Employee theft of 


Customers stealing 

merchandise 

Employee theft of cash 

(voids, post-voids, deposits, etc) 

Paper shrink (missed markdown, 

incorrect purchase order price, etc.) 

Organized crime rings 

Register under-rings 

(sweethearting) 

Fraudulent returns 

Source: RSR Research, December 2009 

E-COmmErCE 

rEFrESH 

Web Site Design Priorities among U.S. Online Retailers by Business 

Model, % of Respondents 


Storebased 

Catalog Web-only 

Brand Strongly Agree 

Manufacturer 

Total 

Agree Even back Neutral in the summer Disagree of 2009, Strongly Internet Disagree 

retailers were preparing for a turnaround, 

Better organized and updated 

home, category and product pages 

Better search engine optimization 

Clearer navigation 

Speedier and more intuitive site 

search 

40.6% 

50% 

39.1% 

31.3% 

35% 

45% 

25% 

33.3% 

42.5% 

36.4% 

29.4% 

28.1% 

63.5% 43.7% show findings from Internet retailer and 

The future of online commerce Vovici. The increasingly consumer-centric focus 

38.5% lies more with 40.2% cross-channel 

or “merged” channel capabilities. of online shopping 43% sites has a full two-thirds 43% of 

40.4% 31.7% retailer respondents planning a site redesign 

30.8% 30% in 2010. among those sites that will refresh 

Faster checkout 31.3% 30% 25.9% 28.8% 28.3% their looks, better organization and updating 

More community features 

Bigger and clearer images 

Other 

28.1% 

31.3% 

3.1% 

18.3% 

28.3% 

5% 

26.8% 

22.4% 

12.3% 

38.5% 

28.8% 

11.5% 

of home, category and product pages are top 

27.8% 

priorities, followed by better search engine 

25.6% 

Online commerce optimization. will The ultimate goal is to help 

never be 9.8% more than 10-15% 7% 14% 21% 30% 

of overall retail sales. the consumer who demands a seamless 

Source: Internet Retailer, Vovici, Fall 2009 

shopping experience, suggest the findings 

and, in turn, help the bottom line. 


uct Detail 

ory/Brand 

otional email 

32% 

32% 

28% 

31% 

30% 

27% 

22% 

18% 

25% 

Source: Retail Systems Research 

SLOW rOaD TO rECOVEry 

45% 

52% 

62% 

68% 

While the financial markets may be improving, consumers 

are showing little faith that an economic rebound is around 

the corner. On the contrary, consumer outlook may be 

getting Retailers increasingly Prioritize bleak. Tools according and Technologies to Nielsen figures, to Drive more 

than Customer 90 percent Satisfaction of households in Stores still believe the recession is 

continuing, while those who believe a recovery is coming is 

down High to 21 Priority percent from Medium 24 percent Priority in a previous Low Priority Nielsen 

survey. at the same time, 77.2 percent of americans 

responding Customer-facing to a new tools BIG research survey said they have little 

to no confidence and technologies that the government’s 51% economic 34% policies 14% will 

help lower unemployment, a key indicator of future spending. 

“Consumers are telling us they have accepted this 

recession,” said James russo, vice president global 

consumer Employee-facing insight at tools Nielsen. 41% “They have accepted 49% this 10% 

and technologies 

new normal, and that’s a very critical component from a 

behavioral standpoint.” 

Mobile tools for 

store managers 

r Conf. 

15% 21% 64% 

e Page 

action email 

80%

ep moves aNd News 

With the start of the New year, many 

sales reps and agencies were deservedly 

signaled out for their contributions to the 

successes of the brands they dutifully 

represent out on the road. 

Buck Knives, for one, recently 

named Gadbois Agency, headed by 

Pierre Gadbois, as its 2009 Sales 

representative agency of the year. The 

agency, headquartered in Laval, Quebec, 

St. paul, serves Buck dealers in the 

Eastern Canadian provinces. Despite 

serving the smallest of Buck’s sales 

territories, the Gadbois sales team grew 

at more than 300 percent in 2009. 

Individual Sales representative 

of the year award was presented 

to Deb Garvick of the Tackett 

Brothers Agency, which covers 

11 states. Garvick, headquartered in 

Independence, mo., who has a rich 

history with Buck, was cited for “her 

efforts, attitude and willingness to ‘get it 

done,’ and for territory growth at every 


distribution channel in a difficult retail 

environment.” 

meanwhile, at Chaos Headwear, 

rep of the year honors are based on 

set sales criteria, such as most new 

accounts, more pre-season orders 

and re-orders, co-brands, branding 

and merchandising, and competition 

was tight, including a tie for third 

place. Taking top honors this year 

was Sam Adams of Western 

Sales Marketing, which represents 

Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada 

and montana for the company. 

awarded with a plaque and a monetary 

bonus, adams said “merchandising” 

made the difference this year. adams 

sold more racks this year to more 

retailers, allowing the brand to have 

a stronger presence in key accounts, 

said Chaos. 

adams narrowly passed veteran 

Chaos representative Marty Roth 

for second. roth has been with Chaos 

for more than five years, representing 

the brand in key resorts and retailers in 

New England. In a third place tie were 

the Accessory Gals, Sherry Krum 

and Chris Parsons for the East Coastmid 

atlantic territory and Best and 

Associates in the rocky mountain 

region. accessory Gals is new to the 

Chaos roster for 2009, while Best and 

associates had taken the rep of the year 

title for the previous two years. 

Up in Seattle, at Cascade Designs, 

the 2009 rep agency of the year was 

awarded to Canada West Sports 

Agencies LTD of Calgary, alberta. 

Canada West Sports agencies, including 

Doug Gudwer, Kori Russell and 

Chris Leeder, has been representing 

Cascade Designs’ brands for more than 

19 years. The award recognizes their 

performance providing exceptional 

service to Cascade Designs’ retailers in 

alberta, manitoba and Saskatchewan. 

as a result of their attention to detail

and can-do attitude, the majority of 

their dealer base grew sales of Cascade 

Designs’ products in 2009 in the face of a 

difficult economic year, says the company. 

and over at Big Agnes, its annual 

Sales rep of the year award recently was 

bestowed upon Bert Hopp of Hopp 

Outdoors. Hopp represents Big agnes 

in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and michigan. 

In 2009, Hopp lead all Big agnes sales 

territories in terms of highest growth 

percentage, pre-season participation and 

future commitments. He also procured 

the most new dealer bookings for 2010. 

MountainSource announced 

the addition of Bruce Gordon to its 

growing sales team. Gordon, who most 

recently served as director of sales for 

Chrome Industries, will oversee the 

mountainSource territory of Colorado’s 

Front range, Wyoming and Western 

Nebraska, in addition to supporting 

team strategies and initiatives 

throughout mountainSource’s growing 

communications platform. 

Native Eyewear has launched in 

the Canadian marketplace and expanded 

its North american sales force as part 

of its 2010 strategic growth initiatives. 

The eyewear company has doubled 

its presence in the South through a 

partnership with Baratti Marketing; 

increased its California, Nevada, and 

arizona outreach with the Blue Sky 

Group; and has expanded efforts into 

the Southeast and New England through 

its partnership with regional leader, The 

Don Coffey Company. Native also 

unrolled its first Canadian sales program 

in partnership with Guelph Brand 

Strategies. 

Hincapie Sportswear has 

hired Chris Gould as retail sales 

representatives for the brand in Las 

Vegas, Nev.; arizona; New mexico and 

El paso, Texas. Effective immediately, 

Gould will represent Hincapie for retail 

cycling apparel and accessory sales to 

independent bicycle dealers and sell 

Hincapie custom cycling clothing to 

clubs and teams in his territory. 

Footwear brand Cushe announced 

that Demian Kloer and his agency, Sol 

Adventures, will lead Western sales 

territories for the company. a former 

executive and founding member at prana, 

Kloer will be leading sales in Central and 

Southern California, as well as arizona. 

Crazy Creek Products announced 

that Steve Schneider of Schneider 

Sales Associates has joined the Crazy 

Creek sales team. Schneider will be 

representing Crazy Creek with dealers 

in the New England area including 

Connecticut, maine, massachusetts, 

New Hampshire, rhode Island and 

Vermont. Schneider has been servicing 

the specialty outdoor, travel and ski 

markets for the past 20 years and 

can be contacted at 802-985-9162 or 

repsnortheast@aol.com. 

Bringing more than 20 years of 

experience in the outdoor market, 

Adventure Sport Marketing is now 

representing the midwest territory for 

Jetboil. managed by Larry Hanson and 

his associate Tim Harwood, adventure 

Sport also represents Eagle Creek, 

princeton Tec, Suunto, Obox, red Feather 

Snowshoes and more. For Jetboil, 

they will be focusing on the states of 

minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, 

Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and the Upper 

peninsula of michigan. 

Spring 2010 | InsideOutdoor | 13

The FuTure-ProoF 

Floor 

TECHNOLOGy SET TO FaCILITaTE a rEVIVaL OF 

THE IN-STOrE ExpErIENCE 


Retail IT executives certainly have had 

lots to keep them up at night during 

the past several years. Just as they 

began to settle into the finer details 

of e-commerce enablement, along 

came super-cyber security attacks, social media 


applications, updated PCI compliance and mobile 

platforms, to name just a few things. 

Indeed, it’s easy to understand why the majority 

of retail technology resources and investments of late 

have gone toward keeping up with the ever-evolving 

world of online commerce (including, more recently,

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Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 



or “merged” channel capabilities. 

Online commerce will 

never be more than 10-15% 

of overall retail sales. 


offering a new promotion,” argues Greg 

Belkin, research analyst for Aberdeen 

the world of mobile commerce). But the 

managers of retail servers and systems 

are about to become intimately more Group’s retail practice. 

Retailers Prioritize Tools and Technologies to Drive 

familiar with the old-fashioned brick- 

Customer Satisfaction in Stores 

and-mortar business. 

That’s High because Priority physical Medium retail Priority store 

fronts are in a state of flux, suggest 

Low Priority 

recent surveys of retailers by Aberdeen 

Customer-facing tools 

Group, with and 64 technologies percent of store-level 51% 

managers reporting less than 80 percent 

customer satisfaction rate in stores and 

nearly three-quarters of retail executives 

34% 14% 

lamenting Employee-facing that store tools teams are grappling 

41% 

to run the business and technologies with inadequate 

sales and service insight. 

In other words, the physical, instore 

experience needs an upgrade, 

49% 10% 

suggesting Mobile that we tools are for about to see a 

store managers 15% 21% 

shift in some IT spending from mostly 

digital assets to the brick-and-mortar 

64% 

sales floor. 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 

“Close to 60 percent of our overall 


IT budget for 2010 has been allocated 

toward reviving the store experience,” 

said the vice president of POS and merchandising 

for a tier-one apparel retailer 

responding to an Aberdeen survey. 

Make no mistake, this technology 

injection will usher in a new age of 

cross-channel retailing, stepping up 

the game for all mixed-model retailers. 

And whether it’s by choice or not, every across channels and media 

Retailers in North America Who Have Order Online/Pick 

retailer Up In-Store now competes Capabilities, in that multi- August 2009 (% of respondents) 

channel environment. 

“Gone No, but are we the plan days to implement where by these the end of 2010 

organizations can expect high levels of 

36.6% 

customer engagement simply by open- 

No, and we have no plans to implement this functionality 

ing a store, providing new product or Source: Retail Systems Research 

17.1% 

43% 

22% 

Yes, we offer in-store pickup from in-store inventory or by shipping 


4% 

43% 6% 6% 

7% 14% 21% 30% 27% 

With consumers scrutinizing spending 

while trying to boost their individual 

savings rate, retailers understand that 

each and every customer interaction becomes 

increasingly more important. And 

macro-economic conditions are just part 

of the story. Ultimately, the mainstreaming 

of online commerce means an ultrainformed 

and price-conscious consumer, 

in many cases, no longer needs to make 

the effort to go to a physical location. 

So when potential customers do visit a 

brick-and-mortar location, the customer 

experience had better be maximized. 

Technology Enablers in In-Store Marketing Efforts Today 

Signs of the growing pressure can be 

seen in sales per square foot numbers 

at American malls. By the end of 2009, 

the average sales per square foot had 

fallen to $401, down from a peak of 

$454 in 2007 and effectively wiping out 

five years of progress in this metric, 

show figures from Green Street Advisors. 

For some retailers, the decline has 

been even steeper. Between 1999 and 

2009, sales per square foot at Gap, the 

country’s largest apparel retailer, fell 40 

percent to $329, says Green Street. 

All the while, as customers gradually 

increase their product and promotions 

search, product attribute comparisons 

and purchases on the Web and through 

call-centers, “the expectations that a retailer 

will deliver the Web and call center 

sales and service standards in stores 

and across all other channels of sales, 

service and operations are mounting 

every day,” says Sahir Anand, research 

director at Aberdeen. 

In turn, we can expect to see technologies 

developed and deployed that 

seek to upgrade the customer experience 

surrounding the ease of researching, 

comparing, ordering and paying for 

goods and services in stores, as well as 

the post-sale experience, says Anand. At 

the same time, we are likely to see more 

attention paid to digital signage, interactive 

kiosks and systems that monitor 

and measure consumers’ navigation 

flow through stores and the effectiveness 

Major Role 

Ability to create targeted or personalized offers to shoppers 26% 69% 

Tools to better track in-store execution 33% 60% 

Tools to measure customer response to in-store marketing 32% 58% 

Loyalty program the helps identify shoppers and track purchase history 36% 58% 

Tools to optimize messaging offered to customers in stores 25% 56% 

Promotion planning tools to better coordinate across organizations 31% 53% 

Single content management system to enable common information assets 

28% 51% 

Technology to reach shoppers during the in-store shopping process 13% 47% 

Technology to reach shoppers as they enter the store 21% 35% 

Mobile technologies to reach consumers on their mobile phones while in stores 19% 24% 

Very 

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Employee theft of 


62% 

68% 

Customers stealing 

of in-store marketing, as studies merchandise have 

shown how the amount of time a shop- 

Employee theft of cash 

per spends (voids, in a store post-voids, directly deposits, correlates etc) 

52% 

Technology Enablers Deployed for an Automated and Connected 

45% Store Experience 

32% 

with the frequency Paper shrink of (missed visits markdown, and the total 

amount incorrect spent per purchase visit. order price, etc.) 

32% 

28% 

Best-in-Class 

Retailers* 

Average 

Performers* 

Laggards* 

Organized crime rings 

THE NEW Register under-rings 

(sweethearting) 

DEaLErSHIp 

Web-based 31% point-of-service applications 

Workforce 30% management applications 

Store 27% performance dashboard 

22% 

Store loyalty programs 

60 

44 

40 

40 

23 

33 

27 

18 

19 

23 

13 

13 

A sign of the coming Fraudulent shift returns can be 

seen in General Motors’ new “Test 

Drive Studio” retail experiment. De- 


signed with a laid back, hip attitude, 

complete with cafés and Wi-Fi access, 

GM’s new semi-permanent or perma- 

18% 

Self-service employee kiosks 30 

25% 

Mobile handheld computers 30 

*Based on set of standard key performance indicators 

Source: Aberdeen Group 

22 

23 

17 

17 

nent brick-and-mortar Cross-Channel Takes facilities Over? seek services, alliances and branded entertain- while at the same time finding ways to 

to redefine the often nerve-racking 

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral 

automobile shopping experience 

ment at the company. 

Disagree Strongly Disagree 

The “un-dealership” program will 

continue to delight the customer. 

As is often the case, new technolo- 

by transfixing online research and run on a pilot basis in Miami, Los Angies represent the primary means to 

comparison shopping behavior to a geles, Philadelphia and Chicago, and if these ends. 


physical location. Unlike traditional successful, the studio program will be 4% 


or “merged” channel capabilities. 43% 

43% 

dealerships, GM’s Test Drive Studios expanded, says Tihanyi. 

6% 6% GETTING pErSONaL 

reportedly will have minimal brand- Along with such changes in shop- Among the primary drivers behind 

ing and no hovering, high-pressure ping behavior, mixed-model retail- the push toward in-store IT investment 

salespeople. Studio visitors will be ers also are coming to realize that is a desire among retailers to personal- 

able to test out both GM’s Chevrolet the physical storefront is the most ize the shopping experience, suggest 

models along with competitors’ mod- 

Online commerce will 

els in never each be segment more than in 10-15% which 7% Chevy 14% 

of overall retail sales. 

vehicles compete. 

expensive and often lowest-margin 

channel 21% to operate, 30% say analysts at 27% 

RSR Research, due to the costs of real 

several retailer surveys. That could 

include technologies that upgrade instore 

merchandising, pricing, promo- 

“If you take Malibu as an example, estate, physical infrastructure, inventions and the overall ease of the buying 

we will also have vehicles like Camry, tory distribution and labor to support and post-sale experience. Not only can 

Accord, Ford Fusion or Taurus, so you it. This new awareness, coupled with a more tailored experience increase up- 

get a really Source: good Retail cluster Systems Research of vehicles to recessionary spending, has forced sell/cross-sell, impulse purchases and 

experience at your own pace,” says Steve retail executives to look for ways to add-ons, thereby maximizing spend of 

Tihanyi, general director for marketing reduce operating and labor expenses, the fewer and fewer customers that find 

it necessary to come to a store, but cross 

channel shoppers who are exposed to 

Retailers Prioritize Tools and Technologies to Drive 

Customer Satisfaction in Stores 

the “unfussiness and coolness” of the 

Web shopping experience “are expect- 

High Priority Medium Priority Low Priority 

ing more personalized experiences in 

stores,” Anand warns. 

Retailers asked about enablers to 

Customer-facing tools 

and technologies 51% 34% 14% 

improve in-store marketing efforts, for 

example, repeatedly place the ability to 

“create targeted and personalized offers 

for shoppers” at the top of the list, show 

retailer surveys by RSR Research. All the 

Employee-facing tools 

and technologies 41% 49% 10% 

while, only about a quarter of retailers 

claim to have such tools in place, suggesting 

that it will be a priority of investment 

moving forward. 

Mobile tools for 

store managers 15% 21% 64% 

Similarly, retailers surveyed by RSR 

are bullish on technologies that help 

identify shoppers and track purchase 

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 

history, measure customer response 

to in-store marketing and optimize 


messaging offered to customers as they 


80%

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enter the store. The general sentiment 

festering in the foreground is that 

targeted promotions and offerings are 

far more effective than scattershot approaches 

in the mass media. 

In the long term, this need to personalize 

will bring about the development 

of futuristic technologies such as 

face recognition of customers as they 

walk through the door or even personal 

virtual shopping assistants. In the 

shorter term, IT staffs will be charged 

with deploying business intelligence 

and predictive analysis software that is 

capable of compiling and digesting massive 

amounts of customer demographic, 

psychographic, preferences and purchase 

history information. 

So far, one of the more under-utilized 

tools for gathering and acting upon 

such customer data are customer loyalty 

programs. Up to this point, it’s common 

for retailers to gather just fundamental 

demographic information and transaction 

histories through loyalty programs, 

suggest findings from the CMO Council, 

while only about a third capture personal 


or product preferences from program 

members. Even when data is being collected, 

program members “overwhelmingly 

felt program membership lacked 

a level of personalization or individual 

message delivery that they craved,” says 

Sandra Zoratti, vice president of global 

solution marketing for InfoPrint Solutions 

and a CMO Council advisory board 

member. And, in case you’re wondering, 

a form letter or email with a person’s 

name pasted on the top is not viewed by 

consumers as tailored communications. 

Indeed, while the majority of 

members say they are at least somewhat 

satisfied with loyalty or rewards 

program memberships, nearly one in 

five respondents had never received a 

personalized communication that was 

based on their individual preferences 

or behaviors, show the CMO Council’s 

findings, while an overwhelming majority, 

73 percent, admitted to being the 

recipient of promotions for products or 

services they already owned. 

Topping the list of complaints about 

loyalty and rewards programs were a 

lack of personalized attention (named 

by 24 percent of consumers), rewards 

that lacked substance (24 percent), not 

enough individualized communications 

(23 percent) and too much spam email 

and junk mail (21 percent). 

Even more alarming, more than half 

of program members (54 percent) said 

they are considering discontinuing their 

participation due to the barrage of irrelevant 

messaging, low-valued rewards 

and impersonal engagements, say CMO 

Council researchers. 

These results are not lost on retail and 

brand marketers, who place capabilities 

that personalize interactions and target 

messages, increase the relevancy of communications 

and gather more insight 

and intelligence for better customer 

handling all among the top five ways 

to generate a greater ROI from club 

members. That means, along with basic 

demographic and purchase history data, 

we can expect to see mechanisms put 

into place that amass information on 

brand loyalty and attachment, personal 

and product preferences and satisfaction 

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levels, suggests the findings from the 

CMO Council. 

Of course, achieving the necessary 

visibility means any and all customer 

information will need to be seamlessly 

accessible across channels, tying data 

from the point of sale to customer provided 

information to online activity, 

including purchase history as well as 

wish lists and even browsing history. 

Quite simply, retailers are beginning 

to understand that the back office silos 

dividing e-commerce from brick-andmortar 

from call center and catalog 

operations must be torn down so data 

and communications can cross channels 

right along with consumer shopping 

behavior. 

Of course, it’s not uncommon for 

the different elements supporting these 

distinct retail operations to have been 

designed and developed independently 

of each other, often outsourced 

to separate third-party entities. In such 

cases, “POS vendors represent the 

most natural integrators,” says Mendy 

Mendelsohn, CEO of 3GVision, a 

“Transparency is a must; it’s a consumer 

expectation,” says Lockhorn. 

“Don’t provide it and you will lose trust.” 

provider of solutions that allow mobile 

phones to scan barcodes. Many POS 

solution providers, he says, already are 

moving to facilitate transactions across 

all channels. 

HaND TO 

HaND COmBaT 

Anyone who doubts the impending 

need to integrate all channels simply 

can look in the palm of their hand. More 

than any other technology or socioeconomic 

development, the mobile phone is 

rapidly reshaping the sales floor, and it’s 

one area where retailers’ technological 

capabilities run the risk of falling behind 

that of the average consumer. 

Possibly the greatest personalization 

tool on the planet, the smartphone (connected, 

of course, to a 3G or coming 4G 

wireless network) effectively represents 

an on-the-go subscriber databank that 

seamlessly interoperates with Facebook 

profiles, Twitter searches, price 

comparison services and even online 

directories of favorite restaurants. 

Moving forward, we can be sure that 

applications will be developed that 

will scour the smart devices, as well as 

the user’s activities, to find clues as to 

what a willing consumer likes, what 


Best-in-Class Differentiating Enablers for Fulfilling In-Store Cross-Channel Customer Affinity 

they search for, where and when they 

prefer to purchase and how much they 

tend to pay. The upshot is a competitive 

market in which a consumer is pinged 

with a highly specific and personalized 

promotional offer – one that also considers 

geography, season and even time 

of day – directly to her palm whenever 

she comes anywhere near a particular 

store location. 

And that’s just a small part of the 

impact mobility will have on the instore 

experience. Consider a teenage 

girl shopping for a new prom dress, 

for example. It’s not uncommon today, 

says Jeremy Lockhorn, director of 

emerging media for Razorfish, for a 

young dress shopper to click a picture 

of a dress with a camera phone while 

still in a store and immediately post 

the image to a Facebook or Flickr account 

for friends and family members 

to view and share their opinion on – all 

in real time. So all of a sudden, that 

retailer must consider things such as 

lighting and the quality of the image 

so Mom back home has a favorable 

view of the dress. 

Granted, in the interest of tempering 

the hype, it should be noted that fully 

capable smartphones still only account 

for about a third of all handsets cur- 

rently in use. But smartphone sales are 

skyrocketing, with a further boost soon 

to come as smart devices shatter the 

$100 price point. According to Nielsen 

estimates, it’s possible that as many as 

half of the consumers walking into any 

given store will be armed with a fully 

featured smartphone by the middle of 

next year. 

As more and more customers come 

through the door enabled with mobile 

Internet access, many retailers will be 

forced to alter all-too-common policies 

of not allowing access to store employees. 

For no other reason, retailers can 

not accept a scenario in which customers 

have access to more resources, 

Customer Sales Channel Preferences Impacting Store Experience, 

% of Retailers 

Rapidly changing shopping preferences based on price and value 40% 

Evolving sales channel purchase behaviors 40% 

Customers less tolerant of long transaction times 21% 

Inadequate product knowledge for store employees 16% 


Best-in-Class 

Retailers* 

information and capabilities than the 

staff members who are supposed to be 

serving them. 

“Transparency is a must; it’s a 

consumer expectation,” says Lockhorn. 

“Don’t provide it and you will 

lose trust.” 

This new reality not only will lead 

to investments in smarter tools for sales 

staffers, but retailers also would be wise 

to fully embrace the in-store Internet 

experience. Rather than disallowing 

the use of camera phones on the sales 

floor or blocking in-store access, as some 

retailers have done, a storewide Wi-Fi 

Average 

Performers* 

Access to Web and catalog product availability and information within store 50% 31% 29% 

Ability to place Web and catalog orders in the stores 44% 36% 14% 

Customized store promotion offers on customer’s mobile phones 33% 19% 8% 

*Based on set of standard key performance indicators 



Laggards* 

service, for example, would at least allow 

a retailer to monitor the online activity 

of customers. 

Down the road, camera phones 

also will one day act as self-service 

checkout devices, one that not only 

allows customers to avoid standing 

in line but that also can present offers 

on a pair of socks or some waterproofing 

treatment as the customer scans 

the barcode to purchase a new pair of 

leather hiking boots. 

Certainly, we are still a few years 

away from fully connected and automated 

stores dominating Main Street 

and advanced m-commerce applications 

achieving mainstream penetration. 

On the other hand, best-in-class 

retailers – or those that outperform the 

pack in a standard set of key performance 

indicators – aren’t standing by 

and waiting. 

Rather, as much as 50 percent of 

leading retailers now provide access to 

Web and catalog product and information 

within stores, while 44 percent offer 

the ability to place orders through those 

channels within their physical storefronts, 

show Aberdeen figures. A third of 

best-in-class retailers already customize 

store promotional offers on customers’ 

mobile phones. 

“E-commerce no longer simply 

means ‘electronic commerce’,” says 

Lockhorn, “it’s now moving to ‘everywhere 

commerce.’” 

Like never before, consumers are 

informed, empowered and connected, 

and they have no shortage of choices 

within a hyper-competitive marketplace. 

As a result, consumers increasingly will 

expect more value from a storefront than 

a convenient physical presence and a 

familiar brand, and for many of them, 

the future is now.

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An 

ouT-oF-STock 

SoluTion 

THE OUTDOOr 

INDUSTry’S rFID 

ExpErImENT 

Before completely writing off the impact 

RFID ultimately will have on retail supply 

chains, first keep in mind how it took 

30 years for the barcode to reach mainstream 

penetration, says Brian Kilcourse, 

managing partner of Retail Systems Research. What’s 

more, if a small group of courageous retailers such as 

Ralph’s and Giant Foods hadn’t taken the bold step 

to invest up to $200,000 per store in a new machine 

known as the electronic cash register, “we might not 

have achieved the level of acceptance we now take 

for granted with the barcode,” says Kilcourse. 

When radio frequency identification failed to 

live up to sales-pitch promises of bringing about 

transformational change, detractors declared it as 

another example of a technology looking for a solution. 

More likely at issue is the fact that businesses 



prefer to achieve their transformational changes in 

incremental amounts. 

In other words, before it could alter the course 

of supply chain management and delivery tracking, 

RFID, like most emerging technology platforms and 

protocols, first needed time to take incremental baby 

steps, proving a few business cases along the way. 

And while some high-profile pilots and attempts to 

establish standards by brands such as Wal-Mart and 

Target failed to make a big splash, RFID quietly has 

achieved widespread use and provided successful 

return within numerous industries and applications, 

including access control, automobile immobilization, 

baggage handling and electronic toll collection. 

Among the “modernizing” applications that are 

expected to show the strongest growth between now 

and 2014 are cargo tracking and security, animal ID,

eal-time location systems, ticketing and 

item-level tagging in fashion apparel and 

retail, says Michael Liard, practice director 

for ABI Research. And now, one of those 

incremental steps is being taken by a small 

but forward-thinking outdoor company. 

For Sole, a provider of custom footbeds, 

sport sandals and performance socks, the 

problem that needed a solution was one 

of the worst problems a store or brand 

can have: out-of-stock circumstances at 

its dealers. What scenario could be worse, 

particularly for impulse items such as customizable 

insoles, than having a customer 

perched in front of a display, wallet open, 

but the display doesn’t have the right size? 

“Carrying a full size run in four or 

five SKUs is a lot of insoles, so it’s easy to 

have an out-of-stock situation,” says Ken- 

dra Stritch, hardware developer for Sole. 

Even one of Sole’s small to mid-sized 

accounts, says Stritch, must manage 

more than 200 insoles on the wall at any 

given time. Confident that inventory 

optimization was an area ripe for system 

innovation, as well as a universal challenge 

for both manufacturers and retailers, 

alike, Sole’s tech team was charged 

with coming up with a solution. RFID, 

it turned out, “is very well suited for the 

type of inventory management we are 

doing,” says Stritch. 

When Sole’s management team 

couldn’t find a third-party solution it 

liked, “we built the RFID system ourselves,” 

said company president Mike 

Baker, upon announcement of the pilot 

program last fall. “We think this will be 

a game-changer for our business and 

potentially throughout the industry.” 

Indeed, the type of RFID-based 

item-level tagging, tracking and autoreplenishment 

capabilities built into the 

Sole platform are virtually unheard of 

among brands its size. Even for much 

larger brands and retailers, grasping the 

RFID “holy grail” of item-level, real-time 

inventory management has been challenging, 

if not elusive. 

Currently in the beta testing stage 

with a handful of select retail partners, 

Sole’s solution actually is quite elegant 

in its simplicity, when considering the 

technology involved. For starters, each 

product’s package is tagged with a microchip 

encoded with product and order 

details (at this point, only Sole’s footbeds 


are included in the beta, but plans are 

to incorporate sandals down the road). 

Hardware installed on a free-standing 

point-of-purchase display then reads the 

tags and transmits necessary data back 

to Sole’s retailer Web portal. 

When a footbed is purchased and 

subsequently leaves the store, the system 

automatically gets updated, allowing 

dealers to manage stock by the second 

rather than by the day, week or month. 

Through the online inventory management 

software, dealers can see exactly 

what they have in stock, what they need 

to order and whether new product is on 

the way, all in real time. The retailer Web 

site also allows Sole dealers to manage 

and approve orders, track shipping, pay 

bills and access marketing materials. 

Streamlining matters even further, the 

RFID solution can be set up to automatically 

order replacement stock whenever 

an item is sold or inventory reaches 

a certain level. In the beta testing, for 

example, the system typically sends 

out an alert notice once a store hits 30 

percent of its ideal stock. At that point, 

serious traction gear 


the specific size of the specific SKU that 

is below 30 percent is flagged in the 

system, and as soon as there is enough 

product flagged to fill a box (a measure 

taken to minimize shipping fees), the 

order is shipped out. 

Of course, nothing happens without 

the approval of the individual dealers, 

who decide what their ideal inventories 

should look like and can control when 

and how many items of each size are 

delivered. Special orders and on-the-fly 

adjustments also would have to be initiated 

by the dealer through the system. 

Still, some may be reticent to hand 

over control to a vendor’s automation 

software. “There are always questions 

over how accurate it is,” says Stritch, but 

she is confident the data from the pilot 

will prove things out. 

“We’ll alleviate those fears by being able 

to say, ‘we have this much testing, and we 

haven’t had any problems,’” she says. 

So far, for example, Sole has been 

getting 100 percent reads on its tags, 

says Stritch, “so we don’t have any 

concerns there.” 

And while Sole’s motivation behind 

the program ultimately is to increase 

sales, the objective isn’t to ship unwanted 

or unneeded orders just for the sake 

of sneaking more dollars though the 

door, Stritch reassures. 

As it turns out, it’s actually the system’s 

auto-replenishment capabilities 

that are proving to be one of the most 

appealing aspects of the program for the 

participating dealers. 

“We are finding that the buyers are 

most interested in the decreased time 

they are going to have to spend counting 

inventory and placing the orders,” says 

Stritch. “Some of our top accounts have 

to place orders on a very regular basis, 

every week or couple of weeks.” 

Down the road, it’s likely another key 

benefit of the program will emerge for 

Sole, its retail partners and the outdoor 

industry in general. And it’s arguably 

the most interesting and far-reaching upside 

of the experiment. 

Having worked in the beta stage with 

one Calgary-based retailer for more than 

four months now, Sole has found itself 

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with “a large amount of data from that 

store,” says Stritch, out of which the 

company is starting to be able to recognize 

patterns and analyze trends. 

Stritch readily admits that “we don’t 

even know yet what we will be able 

to know,” but the data has been very 

interesting to examine, she says. Sole can 

see, for example, when a footbed walked 

away from a display and when that 

exact footbed came back. The system can 

show if a customer walked around with 

an item for a half hour and then decided 

to return it to the rack, or if the footbed 

was left at the check-out counter and 

then returned to the display by an employee 

after the shop closed for the day. 

Such information may be minimally 

beneficial to insole sales, but consider 

this type of tracking on a piece of apparel. 

“You would know how many 

times a black shirt went to the dressing 

room and came back,” says Stritch. 

Eventually, Sole plans to provide 

reporting on the data to its sales reps 

and retailers, as well as suggestions on 

inventory assortments and volumes that 

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will maximize sell-through and inventory 

efficiencies. 

To be a part of the RFID beta testing, 

or to join the program once it goes live, 

retailers only must be willing to stay fully 

stocked. There are no volume or dollar 

commitments, and the RFID-enabled 

free-standing POP display and all other 

ancillary customer premises equipment 

are provided free of charge. Size of a 

shop, likewise, is not a determining factor. 

No store is too small to be considered, 

says Stritch, and smaller shops with large 

potential for growth are particularly appealing 

candidates for inclusion. 

In many ways, custom footbeds could 

be precisely the type of product category 

that is ideal for an item-level, auto-replenishment 

application of RFID technology. 

For starters, the entire assortment of 

sizes and models typically can be hung 

together on one relatively small display, 

requiring just a bubble or circle of connectivity. 

Secondly, product generally doesn’t 

change much season to season, and it’s 

not impacted by trends in fashion, culture 

or the weather, so retailers don’t have to 

be worried about getting stuck with stock 

or insoles ending up on a closeout list. At 

the same time, footbeds, like all footwear, 

require the manual management of lots 

of different sizes even when stocking just 

a handful of SKUs. 

Conversely, attempts by major chains 

to improve perpetual inventory across an 

entire store or streamline warehouse and 

distribution operations across an entire organization 

simply may have been setting 

these RFID applications up for failure. 

“Wal-Mart tried it but cancelled the program,” 

says Stritch, “but a lot of that comes 

down to understanding the technology and 

what they were trying to get out of it.” 

Sole’s RFID application certainly is 

small and somewhat limited, by comparison, 

described even as niche, but the 

company arguably has a firm understanding 

of what the technology can do 

and how it can be applied to solve its 

problem. And it’s clearly not a problem 

that is unique to Sole. 

Retailers interested in participating in 

Sole’s RFID program, should contact the 

company at 403-204-0907. 

Outdoor Accessories 

for a better outdoor experience. 


Happy 

Campers 

CampING marKET prImED FOr 

CONTINUED GrOWTH 

Strange as it may sound, the economic 

recession may have been exactly what the 

camping market needed. Before camping’s 

thriftiness captured everyone’s attention last 

year, participation numbers we’re in a downward 

slump, illustrated in both consumer response surveys 

and National Park visits. 



In California alone, for example, about half of 

residents said they had camped at developed sites in 

2002, according to the California State Parks Planning 

Division. The percentage dropped to 39 percent in 

2008. The mean number of days California residents 

participated in camping also dropped, from 11.2 

in 2002 to 6.9 in 2008. Indeed, since the late 1990s,

Top 20 Recreational Activities 

California Residents Would Like to 

Participate in More Often 

Activity % Yes 

Walking for fitness or pleasure 45.6% 

Camping in developed sites with facilities 45% 

Bicycling on paved surfaces 44.7% 

Day hiking on trails 44.1% 

Picnicking in picnic areas 41.9% 

Beach activities 41.7% 

Visiting outdoor nature museums, zoos, 

gardens or arboretums 

41.4% 

Visiting historical or cultural sites 39.9% 

Attending outdoor cultural events 39% 

Off-highway vehicle use 37.3% 

Driving for pleasure, sightseeing, drive 

through natural scenery 

36.8% 

Swimming in pool 36.4% 

Wildlife viewing, bird watching, viewing 

natural scenery 

32.4% 

Outdoor photography 28.4% 

Swimming in freshwater lakes, rivers, streams 28.2% 

Jogging/running for exercise 27.3% 

Fishing – freshwater 23.1% 

Using open turf areas 22.7% 

Backpacking 20.9% 

Paddle sports 

Source: California State Parks Planning Division 

20.4% 

participation rates in both camping and 

backpacking have been flat to negative, 

show figures from the Outdoor Industry 

Foundation. 

Then, after starting to gain some 

momentum in the second half of 2008, 

all of sudden in 2009, at a time when leisure 

travel was dipping and disposable 

spending all but froze over, tent camping 

visits at the 360 sites run by U.S. 

National Parks Service hit its highest 

level since 2003, up to 3.184 million. The 

6.24 percent rise in tent camping visits 

outpaced the 4.3 percent lift in overall 

visits last year. 

Backcountry permits, meanwhile, 

were flat, showing a modest .78 percent 

growth, but even the increase of 

just 14,051 to 1.8 million also pushed 

backcountry permits to its highest level 

since 2003. 

Last year, incidentally, also marked 

the first time since 2000 that total 

recreational visits to NPS sites exceeding 

280 million. Overall recreational 

visits were up 3.9 percent year over 

year, with growth reportedly strongest 

along national seashores, particular in 

Florida and Mississippi, and nearby 

major metro areas, such as Washington 

D.C and New York City. Overall, 

visits rose at 63 percent of the 361 

sites and declined in only 12 states, 

including the remote destinations 

of Alaska and Hawaii, as well as in 

Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

Maryland and Minnesota. 

The resurgence in camping was 

evident at specialty stores, as well. After 

several months of declines in dollars 

and units, tent sales through specialty 

Setting a 

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stores started to show life by the middle 

of last year, according to Outdoor Industry 

Association figures. In June of 2009, 

for example, the entire tent category grew 

by 14 percent in dollars year over year, 

exceeding tent sales through specialty 

stores in both June of 2007 and 2006, as 

well. The growth continued through the 

summer, with backpacking tents showing 

healthy year-over-year gains in July 

and August, despite overall drops in total 

dollars sales at specialty in both months. 

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Camping and Recreational Visits to NPS Sites by Year 

Year 

Tent 

Campers 

While it’s possible the boost in tent 

sales in 2009 was simply the result of a 

natural “replacement cycle,” it should 

be noted that last summer also was peppered 

with news of increases in the sales 

of synthetic sleeping bags, dehydrated 

foods, camp cookware and miscellaneous 

camping accessories, show OIA 

figures, despite the gloomy total retail 

sales results reported across specialty, 

chain store and online channels throughout 

the summer. 

Better news still, there are reasons to 

believe that camping will enjoy another 

positive showing this summer. Indications 

even can be found to suggest all 

forms of camping participation face 

a potential for real organic growth in 

the coming years, and every industry 

veteran knows that genuine growth in 

participation can be quite rare among 

legacy activities. 

Consider, first of all, that as recently 

as 1992, the National Parks Systems 

hosted 4.4 million tent campers, suggesting 

the potential, at least, for up to 

33 percent growth beyond the 3.2 million 

tent camping visitors NPS hosted 

last year. 

Even more encouraging, a new 

study of Californian’s perceptions 

Backcountry 

Campers 

Total Rec Visits 

2009 3,184,255 1,860,162 285,579,941 

2008 2,956,761 1,797,912 274,852,949 

2007 3,003,270 1,704,059 275,581,547 

2006 2,882,297 1,659,484 272,623,980 

2005 2,974,269 1,668,558 273,488,751 

2004 3,128,014 1,725,309 276,908,337 

2003 3,302,637 1,816,088 266,099,641 

2002 3,357,513 1,906,473 277,299,880 

2001 3,326,852 2,032,886 279,873,926 

2000 3,395,816 1,935,276 285,891,275 

1999 3,544,605 1,968,930 287,130,879 

1998 3,457,825 2,056,747 286,762,265 

1997 3,589,246 2,169,296 275,236,335 

1996 3,680,310 2,124,793 265,796,163 

1995 3,866,306 2,189,727 269,564,307 

1994 4,240,237 2,363,827 268,636,169 

1993 4,102,758 2,406,697 273,120,925 

1992 

Source: NPS Stats 

4,382,824 2,162,130 274,694,549 

of outdoor recreation by the state’s 

park planning division uncovered an 

“unmet latent demand” for camping in 

developed sites. When residents were 

asked which outdoor recreation-based 

activities they wanted to participate in 

more often, nearly half of respondents 

(45 percent) selected “camping in a 

developed site with facilities.” Inching 

out “biking on paved roads” and “day 

hiking on trails,” camping was tied 

at the top of a list of several dozen 

choices with “walking for fitness or 

pleasure.” What’s more, 21 percent of 

respondents expressed a desire to go 

backpacking more often. 

So why aren’t folks fulfilling their 

desires to gaze into a roaring campfire 

and wake up in the wild? There’s really 

only one issue at play, and while it’s a 

tough wall to climb, at least contestants 

have one clear point to attack. 

It’s not uncommon in surveys to 

see two or even three reasons equally 

represented when consumers answer 

back as to what keeps them from an 

activity or purchase. Usually, lack of 

time, lack of money and lack of interest 

each account for about 20 percent 

or so of response rates. But when it 

comes to more recreating outdoors,

money and interest don’t appear to be 

significant deterrents to large portions 

of the population. 

If California is any indication (one 

could argue California is a cultural 

indicator for the rest of the county, 

and others could say it’s an anomaly; 

both would be right), residents cite 

time-related constraints decidedly over 

all other barriers. Working too much 

and too busy/less time together were 

the top barriers to participation for 35 

percent of respondents. “Aging,” at 18 

percent, was the only other response 

hitting double digits. 

Reasons surrounding cost, inconvenience, 

interest, access to parks, environmental 

quality and fuel prices, to 

name just a few, were offered up as the 

top barrier just 2 percent to 0.2 percent 

of the time. 

Among kids and teens, a group 

sometimes portrayed as too extreme 

and connected for the unplugged and 

often slow hours experienced when 

temporarily living outdoors, the barriers 

are even lower. 

About 41 percent of California’s 

youth also express a desire to spend 

more nights under the stars. That’s 

higher than intentions to do more 

snowmobiling, mountain biking or 

even skateboarding. In 2002, a mere 3.7 

percent of California youth wanted to 

spend more time backpacking. In 2008, 

the figure jumped to 37.3 percent. 

The number one reason kids 13 to 

17 say they did not go camping before 

the age of 14 was “no reason” at all, 

which was named as the primary barrier 

almost three times as much as lack of 

interest and nearly five times as much as 

family/friends. Cost and lack of the necessary 

skills were both low on the list. 

Whether the target market is young 

or old, camping brands and organizations 

looking for growth would do 

well by finding ways to reach potential 

participants when they are right outside 

their home base. Every year, millions of 

Americas are visiting state, federal and 

local lands to walk, picnic, swim in outdoor 

settings, drive scenic routes, hike, 

visit outdoor museums and gardens, hit 

the beach or spend the day at an outdoor 

event. Many of them aren’t camping. 

Among Californians, about 39 percent 

of respondent said to have spent at 

least one night at a developed campsite 

in 2008. About 10 percent went backpacking. 

At that same time, nearly eight 

out of 10 residents visited “natural and 

undeveloped areas,” defined as “large 

areas in natural or nearly natural conditions, 

with few developments,” such as 

“forests, deserts, mountains, wetlands 

and seashores.” 

Think of it this way, every year, the 

National Park Service hosts somewhere 

around 280 million visitors to its many 

sites. Tent campers currently account for 

about 1.2 to 1.3 million of those visitors. 

That sure sounds like fertile ground 

for at least some modest growth. And 

what better time to spread the messages 

of the very low recurring costs and the 

bonding opportunity camping presents 

for families and friends than the very 

moment when consumers are in the mind 

space and environment to consider future 

friends or family gatherings? 


Bare 

essentials 

pUTTING THE mINImaLIST mOVEmENT 

TO THE TEST 

by Ernest Shiwanov 


It’s been a long time since we 

have heard anything new 

from the running shoe industry. 

So the buzz surrounding 

the latest craze in running 

footwear has been embraced 

by recession-strapped athletic 

shoe retailers and manufacturers alike. By 

now, minimalist, barefoot or natural running 

have firmly established a new niche on the 

walls of most specialty running shops. 

Still, is this category really new, or is it just a 

way to bring more consumers to the stores? What 

makes it different from conventional running 

shoes? In other words, what is so new and great 

about it? 

Actually, the minimalist footwear idea is not 

a new concept. For those who think this concept 

was started by Nike’s Free, they have forgotten 

that barefoot or natural running has been 

with us since the first time humans ran for their 

lives. Even Nike has been quietly working on 

the concept with 1980s iterations such as the 

(continued on page 35)

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The Last Word 

The DNA equivalent in a shoe is its last. As defined 

by Melvyn Cheskin in his book, The Complete 

Handbook of Athletic Footwear, the last is “a 

three-dimensional form based upon the shape 

and movement of the foot. The last, therefore, 

determines the shape, size and dimensions of the shoe.” 

Cheskin lists 52 definitions that identify various parts of the last. 

Most of us have never heard any of these terms, but together they 

establish length, width, height, heel pocket, arches, toe box height 

and width at the ball of the foot. 

Despite the overwhelming importance of a good last design, 

lasts often are shaped to help ease shoe construction and thereby 

reduce costs. That is unfortunate because the farther away the 

shape of the last is to your own foot, the more hotspots, blisters 

and fatigue you will encounter. 

Over the years, manufacturers have tried to incorporate 

anatomical proportions to their lasts with limited but 

encouraging results. As new technology has enabled threedimensional 

scanning of feet, more accurate foot-conforming 

lasts have been developed. Yet the corporate will to use 

the refined lasts has been overshadowed by the industry’s 

preoccupation with shoe cosmetics and the bottom line. 

Enter TrekSta and ECCO. Knowing the inherent stability and 

shock-absorbing advantages of the anatomically designed last, both 

companies have created shoes around them. Let’s look at those 

advantages and see how two different companies with two different 

products achieve similar results. 

The ECCO BIOM’s anatomical last, as featured in the minimalist 

footwear focus, was built upon a database of approximately 2,500 

men’s and women’s feet. Dr. Peter Brueggemann and the University 

of Cologne lead the BIOM project. 

Clearly visible is the rounded heel inside the shoe. A rounded 

heel has two effects: 

1. During footstrike, the shock-absorbing fat pad naturally 

occurring under the heel bone is contained more effectively. A 

non-rounded traditional last allows the fat pad to be displaced 

into the heel’s margins, reducing the 

body’s impact protection. 

2. Since there is less 

displacement of the body’s fat 

pad away from under the 

heel, the rounded heel 

ECCO’s BIOM is offered in “A” models for competitive runners 

(pictured) and “B” models for the fitness-focused runner. 


The advantages are apparent even to the eye when comparing TrekSta’s 

anatomically correct last (left) side-by-side with a traditional last 

has less motion. With the non-rounded traditional last, there is 

less motion control. 

The upper, mid and outsole were designed to integrate with the 

new last. According to David Helter of ECCO, the BIOM concept 

was developed to allow the foot to move in as normal or natural 

a path as if it were replicating barefoot running. What’s more, “the 

sole of BIOM is produced to be very flexible and have maximum 

torsion,” he says. “This is done by simply mirroring or mimicking the 

joints and angles in the foot’s bones.” 

Not too dissimilar from ECCO, TrekSta’s parallel 

universe started with a database of 20,000 feet. 

After creating the new anatomical last, TrekSta 

came up with a new way of construction 

in order to reinforce the effectiveness 

of the anatomical last. They 

developed NestFIT, a way 

to combine the upper, 

insole, midsole and outsole 

without compromising the last’s 

conformation to the foot shape. TrekSta’s Evolution features the 

company’s NestFIT system and 

Removing the insole and running 

its IceLock embedded sole that 

your hand inside the TrekSta provides traction in any condition. 

Evolution model, for example, you 

can feel the contours of the last as reflected in the contours of the 

nested midsole. Looking at the insole, you can see the same effort 

went into properly nesting it within the shoe’s midsole. The end 

result of this aggressively anatomical last is a shoe that looks and 

feels like part of your foot. You can see the asymmetrical, foot-like 

last shape. You can feel the shoe supporting your metatarsal heads, 

long arch and heel like no other on the market. Throw in an exclusive 

electrostatically aligned anti-slip micro-glass filament IceLock tread 

(think micro glass crampons on your feet) and the Zero Gravity EVA 

midsole, and you have an all-season xtrainer like no other. 

Still, the foundation of these two shoes is what makes their 

stories so compelling: better shock absorption, more motion control, 

lighter weight and more strength — all by simply copying the foot 

to design a last. With the increased awareness of the anatomical 

last’s benefits and improved manufacturing techniques, there is 

every reason for this to be the next emerging trend in the industry. 

Hopefully the industry will sit up and take notice. 

Nature’s simplicity, once again, belies the unnecessary 

complexities of our modern world. – E.S.

Air Huarache, Sock Racer and the Rift. 

Simply put, a minimalist approach to 

a running shoe is a foot covering that 

offers the barest protection in terms 

of underfoot and upper componentry. 

Good examples of minimalist running 

footwear are racing flats, which are 

race-specific running shoes. Simple 

physics tells us if you lower the weight 

and consequently the force required to 

move the shoe over distance, you are 

going to work less. 

Additionally, biomechanical force 

platform studies have clearly shown 

as the speed of the runner increases, 

so does the impact of the foot on the 

ground. If you have any shock-absorbing 

material under the foot, some 

of those impact forces are going to be 

dissipated, slowing down the runner. 

So for footwear designers, turning a 

running shoe into a racing flat was an 

exercise in minimalisms – keep the 

shoe light so the athlete works less and 

keep the shock-absorbing sole components 

hard, thin or both, so most of the 

energy expended by the runner is going 

toward forward motion. 

By contrast, most present day running 

shoes have evolved from simple, 

firm, single-density foam rubber midsole 

wedges with non-reinforced uppers 

to plastic iron maidens. These shoes are 

festooned with cosmetically overlaid 

uppers, multi-density midsoles, various 

midsole plates, bridges, platforms 

and external heel counters. Even though 

some of these features came about 

through careful peer-review biomechanical 

studies, the end results are the same. 

At the very least, you end up with shoes 

that flex less, weigh more and empty 

your wallet faster. 

To be sure, there are people that benefit 

from some of the features built into 

the typical shoe. For the most part, as 

alleged by many of the natural runners, 

those assets are liabilities. 

To run properly, the naturalistas 

believe most of your weight should 

be, upon touchdown (what biomechanists 

refer to as the initial point of 

contact during the gait cycle, or footfall), 

over your foot’s midfoot area 

slightly forward of your hips. Herein 

lies the key to this running technique. 

This stance has your weight ahead of 

you and your feet behind you. In essence, 

you are keeping up with your 

mass in order to not fall on your face. 

In contrast, the traditional heel strike 

has the runner in the backseat, feet 

landing out in front, momentarily ap- 

In contrast, the traditional heel strike 

has the runner in the backseat, 

feet landing out in front, momentarily 

applying the brakes every time her 

foot hits the pavement. 

plying the brakes every time her foot 

hits the pavement. 

Another consequence of the natural 

running posture is the muscles of your 

core and legs play a major role in footto-ground 

impact, stability, propulsion 

and energy return. Since the body is 

doing most of the shock absorption 

through the core and leg muscles, the 

minimalist shoe’s midsole is not as 

chunky as a traditional one. Therefore, 

since the midsole is thinner, the flexibility 

is better, and the whole package 

ends up being lighter in weight. With 

the muscles of the core and legs taking 

on a more active role in the gait cycle, 

all the muscles involved become stronger, 

better able to adapt to the vagaries 

of the running environment. 

That adaptation keeps the lower 

leg and foot more stable and less 

prone to injury. It also paves the way 

to a more synergistic stride as the 

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elastic components of your muscles 

and connective tissue work more effectively 

at driving you off your toes, 

returning stored energy from your 

landing. In examining traditional 

footwear designs, thick, multi-density, 

less flexible midsoles and midsole 

plates and stiff heel counters isolate 

the foot from ground impact forces 

and the foot’s ability to push off at the 

toes. Under those conditions, the foot, 

over time, gets out-of-shape and less 

able to adapt to changing conditions, 

opening the door to injuries. 

So is minimalist running really new 

or just a marketer’s reality? That is not 

to suggest the new light shed on this old 

subject is not welcome. For too long, the 

athletic footwear industry has shoehorned 

a one-solution-fits-all approach 

to the running community. It took innovators 

like Newton Running, Vibram 

and ECCO to fuel this revived interest in 

running form and function. 

Is this old idea makeover with new, 

up-to-date materials for everyone? 

Lighter weight, increased strength, 

more flexibility, enhanced stability and 

greater energy return make for compelling 

reasons to consider minimalist 

running. However, like any other 

activity, adopting the technique requires 

a commitment to your body’s learning 

curve. It is a major paradigm shift from 

the traditional heel strike. You will have 

to listen to your body, constantly make 

are you 

looking 

at tHis? 

so are your 

Customers 

ContaCt 

Berge at 

berge@ 

bekapublishing.com 

for advertising 

information. 

subtle adjustments, slowly increase your 

distance and intensity and even consult 

a coach if you are not improving. If you 

survive the learning curve, minimalist 

running will make you stronger. And as 

our coaches love to remind us, a stronger 

athlete is a better athlete. 

THrEE mINImaLIST 

mODELS 

For those of us underserved by the 

running industry’s product torpidity, 

this revitalization of the less-is-more 

ethos has been a blessing. Finally, there 

is product for us to consider outside 

of racing flats. In the current state-ofthe-movement, 

no shoes have made a 

greater impact than those by Newton 

Newton Running Neutral Racer 

Running and Vibram (Five Fingers). As 

a former competitive runner involved in 

footwear product development for many 

years, I wanted to see what this noise 

was about. 

Therefore, for this focus, I gave Newton 

Running’s Neutral Racer, ECCO’s 

BIOM B and K-Swiss’ K-Ona a roll. Since 

I have been almost exclusively a midfoot 

striker throughout my running life, I 

was able to perform this task without a 

learning curve. Still, I read the brand’s 

collateral (or, in the case of Newton, 

watched the DVD) on how to run. After 

more than 600 miles/999 kilometers of 

road and trail running, I am happy to 

report, the long wait to legitimize this 

category is over. 

NEWTON rUNNING 

NEUTraL raCEr 

A couple of years ago, after being 

email bombed by all my triathlete 

friends and their friends for an 

opinion about this 

shoe, I decided to 

go to the source. 

Danny Abshire, 

co-founder and 

chief technical 

officer of 

Newton Running, 

in a mere five months 

of the April 2007 launch has 

created a phenom of a buzz generator. 


It seemed the whole running cloud 

was talking about Newton’s shoe 

construction, biomechanics and its 

$175 price. 

While meeting at a materials and 

design trade show in Portland Ore., Abshire 

explained his shoe was purposebuilt 

for midfoot/forefoot running. So 

much so, the entire line had no substantial 

heel area in terms of support, 

traditional height and the usual hard 

rubber armor. The salient feature created 

to deliver mid and forefoot protection 

not found in thin midsoled shoes is 

Newton’s Action/Reaction Technology. 

It is a module, partially encapsulated 

under the mid-and forefoot of the shoe. 

Looking at the exposed portion of the 

A cutaway shot of a Newton shoe shows the 

complexity of simplicity 

module covered by the outsole, four 

piano key-looking lugs comprise the 

business end of the Action/Reaction 

Technology. Landing on the lugs during 

foot strike depresses the lugs into 

a void behind them. An elastic membrane, 

to which the lugs are attached, 

allow a certain amount of deformation 

into the void. Then, like a trampoline, it 

reverses direction, returning the stored 

energy to the toe off, the last part of the 

gait cycle. 

Even without the Action/Reaction 

Technology, by virtue of the shoe’s 

construction, the transition to the toe 

off feels like you are running down a 

ramp. If you have ever run in a track 

spike, you will notice the similar low 

heel and the above-mentioned aggressive 

transition, beckoning your inner 

speed merchant. However, if you are 

a person looking for a shoe to safely 

transition you away from a heel strike, 


Newton Running offers a range of 

shoes accommodating most foot types. 

Albeit expensive, if Newton’s price of 

admission to the midfoot striker’s club 

means less chance of injury, it’s worth 

every penny. 

ECCO BIOm B 

ECCO’s vertical manufacturing has 

thrown its know-how into making a 

totally new running shoe embodying 

the “small is beautiful” philosophy. 

BIOM’s uppers, outsole, last (the 

form the shoe is constructed on) and 

environmental considerations speak to 

the very nature of minimalism. When 

I asked David Helter, ECCO Performance 

Division’s general sales manager, 

about the genesis of BIOM, 

he said creating the barefoot 

experience “was truly the inspiration 

for the BIOM concept. 

“Right from the company’s 

inception,” said Helter, “EC- 

CO’s philosophy regarding 

footwear making was to produce 

shoes so the foot would 

control the shoe versus the 

shoe control the foot. So BIOM 

was part of our original DNA.” 

Guided by that sentiment, 

BIOM’s 

foundation begins 

with a new last. 

ECCO’s biomechanical 

team scanned 

2,500 men’s and 

women’s feet to 

ensure the whole 

foot was taken 

into consideration. 

The end 

result was a new 

anatomical last and 

not just a rounded heel 

as others have claimed an anatomical 

last to be. When combined with a 

synergistic upper, mid and outsole, 

the shoe mimics the bare foot in torsional 

flexibility along the path the foot 

tracks during foot strike. 

When running in the BIOM B, you 

immediately will notice two attributes. 

One is the shock-absorbing characteristic 

of BIOM’s polyurethane (PU) 

midsole. Polyurethane, unlike ethylene 

vinyl acetate (EVA), the dominant mid- 

ECCO’s new BIOM anatomical last includes a 

curved rearfoot heel. 2,500 scans of feet were 

made to design this last, which enhances the 

use of the foot’s shock absorbing fat pad, 

connective tissue and bones for better shock 

absorption and stability. 

sole material in the athletic shoe industry, 

has a less bouncy or compliant feel. 

Polyurethane’s advantage over EVA is 

its long life owed to its greater resistance 

to gradual compression. Helter 

says in tests, PU will give the runner 50 

to 100 percent more miles. In this case, 

ECCO’s product developers saw the 

advantage of PU over EVA especially 

in the second trait you will notice 

running in BIOM B: the low 

profile. The thin PU midsole 

provides enhanced 

flexibility associated 

with the barefoot 

ECCO BIOM B 

mantra but with more feedback over 

the isolated sensation of EVA. 

All things considered, BIOM B and its 

fast pace cousin, BIOM A, are best suited 

toward accomplished midfoot runners. 

If this doesn’t sound like you, then the 

BIOM C would be the best shoe in the 

BIOM line for new converts transitioning 

to the minimalist way.

K-SWISS K-ONa 

K-Swiss has continued to 

do what it has traditionally 

done best. That is, focus on 

its sport-specific footwear 

and its attendant user base. 

In the last three years since 

K-Swiss decided to expand 

into the running category, 

the brand has showcased 

its commitment in various 

ways. Besides sponsoring a stable 

of professional triathletes, K-Swiss 

has bet on co-branding with Ironman 

triathlons and running events such as 

the Los Angeles Marathon. Still, true 

to K-Swiss, it’s product performance 

that has been doing the talking. 

Just a couple of 

millimeters of Superfoam 

in the midsole and insole’s 

forefoot made the shoe 

lighter and lower, yet it 

retains the shock protection 

of conventional midsole 

proportions. 

Mark Sheehan, director of performance 

footwear, says K-Swiss started 

its product development process by 

trying to resolve some of the issues encountered 

by runners. In that process, 

its designers discovered Superfoam, 

a non-EVA thermoplastic elastomer 

shock barrier. Superfoam does not go 

through EVA’s characteristic compression/rebound 

cycle. Instead, Superfoam 

helps block the fatiguing harmonics, 

or mini-shock waves traveling 

up the foot, to the ankle, to the knee, 

etc. This proven concept is similar to 

what some racing skis or tools contain 

to keep high-frequency shock waves 

from prematurely wearing down the 

skier or worker. Just a couple of millimeters 

of Superfoam in the midsole 

and insole’s forefoot made the shoe 

lighter and lower, yet it retains the 

shock protection of conventional 

K-Swiss K-Ona 

midsole proportions. As a result, even 

K-Swiss’ most supportive running 

shoe weighs 12.5 ounces/354 grams, 

a weight comparable to most average 

support running shoes. 

It appears Sheehan’s developers are 

onto something. Even before running 

in the 9.0 ounce/255 gram K-Ona, 

you will notice even the shoe laces got 

some love. The lace’s profile is similar 

to a peapod with little lumps evenly 

spaced along its length. When tightening 

these laces, the lumps securely 

lock your knots together. You will also 

Your Shoes 

Our Traction 

Redefine Winter 

notice the upper is constructed with a 

very open air-mesh, and the toe box 

is thoroughly perforated 

along with 

the insole and the 

outsole. This strategic 

ventilation, or 

Flow Cool System, 

keeps the shoe light 

by giving a place for 

moisture to escape. 

K-Ona’s initial running 

impressions evoke a legacy of traditional 

lightweight trainers or racing 

flats. This low-profiled shoe is within 

the minimalist world order, yet the 

K-Ona’s conventional feel would not 

rebuff the midfoot newbie. Nevertheless, 

for those who want to make the 

transition to light, low and midfoot 

less drastic and more familiar, check 

out the rest of the K-Swiss running 

line. They proffer enough intermediary 

choices to help most any runner 

make the seamless shift to the minimalist 

movement. 

kahtoola.com • (866) 330-8030 

Spring 2010 | InsideOutdoor | 39 

Photo: John Burcham

Green Glossary 

The Green Glossary 

by Ernest Shiwanov 

Buzz words like sustainability, compostable and cradleto-grave 

are regularly bandied about by authorities and spinmeisters. 

many use terms interchangeably or incorrectly. So 

Inside Outdoor decided to parse the greenwash lexicon and 

take a stab at a short glossary of definitions. The following 

definitions are as organic as the topics they address. They are 

more operative than definitive, with the underlying subtext 

being about the discourse that we hope to continue. Indeed, 

these definitions are “alive,” and we expect them to evolve as 

new standards are set, technologies are developed and our 

industry grapples with the “sustainability” (see below) of our 

businesses. a la Wikipedia, we welcome anyone who would 

like to add, change or modify definitions to submit their insight 

to ernest@bekapublishing.com. The Green Glossary will 

continue to appear in future issues of IO. 

3P (PEOPLE, PLANET, PROFIT) 

See Triple Bottom Line 

BIODEGRADABLE 

aerobic decomposition of a organic matter through the 

action of microorganisms or aerobes. There are no standards 

for eco-toxicity or length of time before degrading to biomass 

and, in some cases, eco-toxins. 

BLUESIGN STANDARD 

Launched in 2000 as an initiative by albers Group/Schoeller 

Technologies aG, among others, the bluesign standard is 

a certification scheme for textile ecology. Using OECD’s 

(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) 

test methods for determining the various ecotoxicological 

data needed for the standard, it strengthened its global 

marketing and technical reach when 50% of bluesign was 

purchased by Société Générale de Surveillance in 2008. SGS’s 

business model is built around ocean-going cargo inspection, 

raw material testing and testing of products from exporting 

companies or governments worldwide. 

CAP AND TRADE 

See Emissions Trading. 

CARBON NEUTRAL OR CARBON OFFSET 

To offset or neutralize net greenhouse gas emissions. This 

can be achieved by planting trees, using renewable energy, 

energy conservation and emissions trading. Critics contend 

there is no definitive evidence that carbon offsets work since 

there are no models or standards that clearly demonstrate 

the equilibrium. 


(CARBON) SEqUESTRATION 

See Uptake 

COMPOSTABLE 

The biodegradability of an organic material, mostly 

to biomass, water and carbon dioxide. Compostable 

environments include industrial settings and common 

garden or open space locations. all standards agree on a 

six-month period for the organic matter to degrade. most 

standards support these tests: 

• Does it biodegrade to carbon dioxide, water, biomass at the 

rate paper biodegrades? 

• Does the material disintegrate leaving no distinguishable or 

visible residue? 

• Are there any eco-toxic materials left, and can the remaining 

biomass support plant growth? 

american Society for Testing and materials (aSTm) D6400- 

99 says to be considered compostable, materials must undergo 

degradation by biological processes during composting to yield 

carbon dioxide (CO2), water, inorganic compounds and biomass 

at a rate consistent with other compostable materials, leaving 

no visible, distinguishable or toxic residue. 

The EN (European Committee for Standardization or Comité 

Européen de Normalisation) standard is even more specific. 

EN13432 states that a material is deemed compostable if it will 

breakdown to the extent of at least 90 percent to H2O and CO2 

and biomass within six months. 

There are other standards as well with DIN V49000 from 

the German Institute for Standardization being the strictest in 

the allowance of heavy metals. many might be familiar with 

DIN standards for their safe release ski bindings. 

CRADLE-TO-CRADLE 

The life cycle of a product from manufacture to re-manufacture. 

CRADLE-TO-GATE 

The life cycle of a product or process from manufacture 

to end user. also known as environmental product 

declarations (EpD). 

CRADLE-TO-GRAvE 

The life cycle of a product from manufacture to end-of-use 

disposal (see table on page 41). 

DEGRADABLE 

a material that undergoes chemical change and a loss of 

original characteristics due to environmental conditions. There 

are no requirements for time, process or toxicity for this method.

EMISSIONS TRADING (CAP AND TRADE) 

a practice in which businesses are given an emissions 

cap, in the form of credits, that allows them to pollute up 

to a maximum credit level. Businesses that exceed their 

cap must purchase (or trade) credits from a company that 

has not exceeded its cap or from trading platforms such as 

the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCx), the European Climate 

Exchange (ECx) and/or montreal Climate Exchange (mCex). 

problems with the Cap and Trade concept include where to 

set the initial levels of the caps, retiring old credits, resetting 

caps and regulatory/compliance standards. 

ENvIRONMENTAL PRODUCT 

DECLARATIONS (EPD) 

The life cycle of a product from manufacture to end user. 

also know as cradle-to-gate. 

GATE-TO-GRAvE 

The life cycle of a product from the end user to end- 

of-use disposal. 

GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIvE (GRI) 

The Global reporting Initiative, based in amsterdam the 

Netherlands, is a registered, not-for-profit organization. It is funded 

by donations from all over the world including the Bill and 

melinda Gates Foundation, the International Finance Corporation 

(IFC) and the Organizational Stakeholders. 

Considered the de facto world standard 

in sustainable development reporting, the 

GrI uses a global network of stakeholders 

to form a consensus-based process in 

shaping and revising its accounting structure. 

GrI encourages reviewing of the 

report outcomes by third-party assurance 

providers. However, there is no mechanism 

in place requiring these audits. 

LEED GREEN BUILDING 

RATING SYSTEM 

Leadership in Energy and Environ- 

mental Design (LEED) is a certification 

rating system for structures designed and 

built with the goal of water efficiency, 

good indoor air quality, energy savings 

and an overall reduction in its carbon 

footprint. LEED is an open source tool 

created by a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, the 

US Green Building Council (USGBC). The 

USGBC, headquartered in Washington 

D.C., finances its activities by conducting 

educational programs for builders, 

designers, suppliers and operators, 

selling publications, accepting donations 

and sponsoring conferences. This allows 

the USGBC to revise LEED and conduct 

research. Third-party verification to 

assure compliance on commercial and 

institutional projects as of 2008 has gone to the Green Building 

Certification Institute (GBCI). regardless of the LEED project, all 

must undergo third-party verification in order to receive LEED 

ratings of certified, silver, gold and platinum. 

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) 

a comprehensive environmental assessment of the 

impact of a product or process, from inception to the end 

of its “life.” The assessment includes transportation of raw 

materials to the manufacturer, manufacturing of materials, 

transportation of materials to the product manufacturer, 

manufacturing of product, transportation of product to end 

users, impact of product by end user including disposal of 

product at its end of life. 

The assessment has been used as a tool to evaluate a 

product’s or company’s eco-performance, which in turn can be 

used to improve it. 

There are three different methods used in lifecycle analysis: 

1. process or bottom-up LCa using ISO 14040-2006 and 14044- 

2006 protocols; 

2. economic input output or EIO-LCa; and 

3. hybrid LCa, a combination of process LCa with economic 

input output LCa. 

LCas are used as a tool to evaluate a product or company’s 

eco-performance, which in turn can be used to improve it. 


LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT (LCM) 

an integrated approach to sustainable production and 

consumption through the management of a product’s or 

process’ life cycle. 

LIFE CYCLE ENERGY ANALYSIS (LCEA) 

The total life cycle energy input. Criticism in utilizing LCEas 

include the argument that different energy sources have 

different potential value (exergy). additionally, critics contend 

that LCEas’ energy currency cannot supplant economic 

currency as the determinant in business. 

MONTEBELLO AGREEMENT (SEE REACH) 

The Security and prosperity partnership (Spp) also is 

known as the montebello agreement, so named for the 

city in Quebec where the summit was held. The Spp Web 

site states that this is a Bush administration, White Houseled 

initiative to increase security and economic prosperity 

in North america. part of this voluntary framework is to 

establish risk characterization by 2012 of over 9,000 chemical 

substances produced in the U.S. in quantities over 25,000 

pounds per year. By 2020, Canada, mexico and the U.S. will 

“strive to achieve…inventories of all chemical substances 

in commerce.” many view the montebello agreement as a 

North american reaction to rEaCH, the European Union’s 

registration, Evaluation, authorization and restriction of 

Chemicals, which went into EU law last June. 

OEkO-TEX 

International association for research and Testing in 

the Field of Textile Ecology or Oeko-Tex, was established in 

SPI Resin Identification Code 

Recycling No. Abbreviation Polymer Name Uses 

1 PETE or PET Polyethylene Terephthalate 

2 HDPE High-Density Polyethylene 

1993 by the austrian Textile research Institute, the German 

Hohenstein research Institute and the Swiss Textile Testing 

Institute Testex. Today it has evolved into a group of 14 test 

institutes throughout Europe and Japan. Its certification 

programs, Oeko-Tex 100, Oeko-Tex 100plus and Oeko-Tex 

1000 focuses on what they term the four parts of textile 

ecology: production, human, performance and disposal 

ecology. Verification of Oeko-Tex 100, 100plus and 1000 

submissions are achieved through the ISO 14000 suite of 

environmental protocols, ISO laboratory testing protocols, 

DIN EN, and IEC standards. Oeko-Tex’s standards also exceed 

the current best practices as defined by the EU’s rEaCH (see 

rEaCH). The testing institutes forward their results to the 

Oeko-Tex Secretariat, which evaluates the applications, issues 

certificates to passing applications and tests for compliance 

during the issued period. 

ORGANIC 

In textile technology, organic refers to standards ensuring 

sustainable practices during all phases of fiber production. 

Beginning with every aspect of cultivation under the National 

Organic program (NOp) guidelines, post-harvest wet 

processes such as dying and bleaching, textile fabrication, 

manufacturing of goods, transportation, worker environment, 

labeling/compliance, packaging, exportation and importation 

are comprehensively addressed. 

presently, there are no processing standards for organic 

fibers from the U.S. federal government beyond cultivation 

ending with the consumer. 

For standards related to organic food, please see: http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexIE.htm. 

Recycled to produce polyester fibres, thermoformed sheet, strapping, soft 

drink bottles. 

Recycled to become various bottles, grocery bags, recycling bins, agricultural 

pipe, base cups, car stops, playground equipment and plastic lumber. 

3 PVC or V Polyvinyl Chloride Recycled to become pipe, fencing and non-food bottles. 

4 LDPE Low-Density Polyethylene 

Recycled to become plastic bags, various containers, dispensing bottles, wash 

bottles, tubing and various molded laboratory equipment. 

5 PP Polypropylene Recycled into auto parts and industrial fibers. 

6 PS Polystyrene 

7 OTHER 

Source: The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. 


Other plastics, including acrylic, 

polycarbonate, polylactic acid, 

nylon and fiberglass. 

Recycled into a wide range of products including office accessories, cafeteria 

trays, toys, video cassettes and cases, insulation board and expanded 

polystyrene products (e.g. styrofoam). 

PLA or Polylactic acid plastics at 100% content are compostable in a 

biologically active environment in 180 days.

4.625 in. 

OXO-BIODEGRADATION 

a two-step process that begins with degradation by 

oxidation, followed by biodegradation. 

a variation of this developed for polymers, such as 

polyethylene, add a degradability component during the material’s 

manufacturing. The added component allows the polymer to 

thermo- (heat), photo- (light) or hydro- (water) degrade within 90 

days in a commercial composting environment. 

It is purported that in non-commercial composting 

environments, the biodegradation will take place but at a much 

slower rate. 

THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE 

The EEB (European Environmental Bureau 1999) defines 

the precautionary principle as follows: 

2.1 The precautionary principle justifies early action to prevent 

harm and an unacceptable impact to the environment and 

human health in the face of scientific uncertainty 

2.2 precaution places the burden of proof on the proponents 

of the activity. 

2.3 precaution applies the substitution principle, seeking safer 

alternatives to potentially harmful activities, including the 

assessment of needs. 

2.4 precaution requires public participation in decision-making. 

REACH (SEE MONTEBELLO AGREEMENT) 

6.875 in. 

registration, Evaluation, authorization and restriction of 

Chemicals (rEaCH) 

The European Union’s rEaCH EC 1907/2006 regulation was 

established on December 18, 2006 and became law on June 

1, 2007. The regulation’s intent “should ensure a high level of 

protection of human health and the environment as well as the 

free movement of substances, on their own, in preparations and 

in articles, while enhancing competitiveness and innovation. This 

regulation should also promote the development of alternative 

methods for the assessment of hazards of substances.” 

This law is the most comprehensive legislation ever 

completed regulating all chemical substances. a full 401 

pages of this 849 page document are 10 appendices that 

mostly call out carcinogens, mutagens and substances toxic 

to reproduction. The rest of the document outlines and defines 

the requirements of compliance. 

rEaCH will affect chemical industries worldwide by 

requiring testing and registration with the European Chemicals 

agency on any imported chemical substance over 1,000 kg in 

weight. Chemical substances manufactured in the European 

Union are subject to the same regulation. 

RECYCLING 

The U.S. Department of Energy defines recycling as “the 

process of converting materials that are no longer useful as designed 

or intended into a new product.” 

RENEWABLE ENERGY 

The U.S. Department of Energy defines renewable energy as 

“energy derived from resources that are regenerative or for all 

practical purposes cannot be depleted. 

The government wears many hats. We put them all in one place. 

Looking for one place to get fast answers to your questions about government benefi ts and services? From Social 

Security benefi ts to government jobs to tips on cutting energy costs, USA.gov has you covered. It’s your offi cial 

source for all federal, state and local government information. Now that’s something you can hang your hat on. 


A public service message from the U.S. General Services Administration.

“Types of renewable energy resources include moving water 

(hydro, tidal and wave power), thermal gradients in ocean water, 

biomass, geothermal energy, solar energy and wind energy. 

“municipal solid waste (mSW) is also considered to be a 

renewable energy resource.” 

RESERvOIR 

The Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change defines 

reservoir as: “a component of the climate system, other than 

the atmosphere, which has the capacity to store, accumulate 

or release a substance of concern, for example, carbon, a 

greenhouse gas or a precursor. Oceans, soils and forests are 

examples of reservoirs of carbon. pool is an equivalent term 

(note that the definition of pool often includes the atmosphere). 

The absolute quantity of the substance of concern held within 

a reservoir at a specified time is called stock.” For example, 

uptake or (carbon) sequestration, adds greenhouse gases to 

rainforests (reservoir) and their soils (reservoir). 

RoHS 

an acronym for restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 

(the lead-free directive). 

although not a law, the European Union passed this directive 

in 2006, limiting the use of six materials in any part of 

electronic and electrical products. The six materials limited 

by roHS are: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium 

(chromium VI or Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls (pBB) and 

polybrominated diphenyl ether (pBDE). pBB and pBDE are 

flame retardants used in some plastics. 

EDITORIAL INDEX 

3GVision 21 

Aberdeen Group 16, 18, 22 

ABI Research 25 

Accessory Gals 12 

Adventure Sport Marketing 13 

Asian Institute of Technology 41 

Ask.com 8 

ASTM 40 

Austrian Textile Research Institute 42 

Barracuda Labs 10 

Barvatti Marketing 13 

Best and Associates 12 

Big Agnes 13 

BIG Research 10 

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 41 

Bing 8 

Blue Sky Group 13 

bluesign 40 

Buck Knives 12 

Calif. State Park Planning Div. 28, 29 

Canada West Sports Agency 12 

Cascade Designs 12 

Chaos 12 

Chevrolet 18 

Chicago Climate Exchange 41 

ChoiceStream 8 

Chrome Industries 13 

CMO Council 18, 20, 21 

Crazy Creek Products 13 

Cushe 13 

Eagle Creek 13 

ECCO 34, 37, 38 

EPA 46 

European Climate Exchange 41 

European Committee for Standardization 40 

Facebook 8, 21, 22 

Flickr 22 

Ford 18 

Gadbois Agency 12 

General Motors 18 

German Hohenstein Institute 42 

German Institute for Standardization 40 

Google 8 

Green Street Advisors 16 

Guelph Brand Strategies 13 

Hincapie Sportswear 13 

Hopp Outdoors 13 

InfoPrint Solutions 20 

Similar standards have been adopted in China, Japan, Korea 

and California. The U.S. federal government currently has no 

plans to adopt a similar directive. 

SINk 

“any process, activity or mechanism that removes a 

greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or 

aerosol from the atmosphere” is considered a sink, according to 

sources at the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change. a sink 

removes a greenhouse gas, for example, from the atmosphere, 

then by uptake or (carbon) sequestration, the greenhouse gas is 

added to a reservoir (see reservoir and Uptake/Sequestration). 

STAkEHOLDER(S) 

The online Business Directory describes this as, 

“person, group or organization that has direct or indirect 

stake in an organization because it can affect or be affected 

by the organization’s actions, objectives and policies. Key 

stakeholders in a business organization include creditors, 

customers, directors, employees, government (and its 

agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions and the 

community from which the business draws its resources. 

although stake-holding is usually self-legitimizing (those 

who judge themselves to be stakeholders are de facto so), 

all stakeholders are not equal and different stakeholders are 

entitled to different considerations. For example, a firm’s 

customers are entitled to fair trading practices but they 

are not entitled to the same consideration as the 

firm’s employees.” 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 45 

International Assn. of Research and Testing 42 

Internet Retailer 10 

Ironman 39 

Jetboil 13 

K-Swiss 37, 38, 39 

LinkedIn 8 

Montreal Climate Exchange 41 

MountainSource 13 

MySpace 8 

Native Eyewear 13 

Newton Running 37, 38 

Nielsen 10, 22 

Nike 32 

NPS 8, 10, 28, 29, 30 

Obox 13 

OECD 40 

Oeko-Tek 42 

Opinion Research 8 

Outdoor Industry Association 29, 30 

Outdoor Industry Foundation 29 

prAna 13 

Princeton Tec 13 

Razorfish 22 

Red Feather Snowshoes 13 

RSR Research 10, 16, 18, 

Schneider Sales Associates 13 

SGS 40 

Sol Adventure 13 

Sole 26, 27 

Suunto 13 

Tackett Brothers Agency 12 

The Dan Coffey Company 13 

The Society of Plastics Industry 42 

TrekSta 34 

Twitter 8, 10, 21 

U.S Department of Labor 8 

U.S. Department of Energy 44 

University of Cologne 34 

USGBC 41 

Vibram 37 

Vocici 10 

Western Sales Marketing 12 

Wikipedia 40 

Yahoo 8 


SUSTAINABLE DEvELOPMENT 

Economic, social (political) and environmental development 

that is harmonized for the good of all interests. 

many, including the United Nations, use the definition from 

the Brundtland report Our Common Future that “sustainable 

development is development that meets the needs of the present 

without compromising the ability of future generations to 

meet their own needs.” 

Others contend that this is not an operational definition and 

that the concept is best defined as “a socio-ecological process 

characterized by ideal-seeking behavior on the part of its human 

component,” which is adapted from the work of russell ackoff 

and Fred Emery, among others. 

Nevertheless, there are some that consider the phrase a 

greenwash oxymoron. To many, the concept of growth and depleting 

non-renewable resources are mutually exclusive. 

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE (TBL OR 3BL) 

The addition of social and environmental metrics within full 

cost financial reporting. In 1994 John Elkington coins the phrase 

and in his 1997 book, Cannibals with Forks, he elucidates this 

concept. “The idea behind the TBL idea was that business and 

investors should measure their performance against a new set 

of metrics – capturing economic, social and environmental value 

added – or destroyed – during the processes of wealth creation.” 

Ad index 

32north (www.32north.com) 15, 26 

Alphatan International (www.precision-pak.com) 37 

ASF Group (www.asfgroup.com) 17 

Body Glide (www.bodyglide.com) 21 

Cam Commerce (www.camcommerce.com) 12 

Cocoon by Design Salt (www.designsalt.com) 30 

Coghlan’s (www.coghlans.com) 27 

Cordura (www.cordura.com) 3 

Corporate Ladders (www.corporateladders.com) 36 

Cre8 Group (www.Cre8groupinc.com) 33 

Durapeg (www.durapeg.com) 30 

ECCO (www.ecco.com) 9 

Flatterware (www.flatterware.com) 35 

Glacik (www.stonemansports.com) 31 

Granger’s (www.implus.com) 5 

Kahtoola (www.kahtoola.com) 39 

Kiva Designs (www.kivadesigns.com) 25 

Law Office of Philip Josephson (www.josephson-law.com) 43 

Mad Water (www.madwater.com) 31 

O-Grills (www.ogrills.com) 13 

OutDoor Europe (www.european-outdoor.com) 19 

Outdoor Retailer (www.outdoorretailer.com) 23 

Outlast (www.outlast.com) 47 

Overboard (www.ROCgearWholesale.com) 20 

Polartec (www.polartec.com) Back cover 

Spenco (www.spenco.com) 11 

Talic (www.talic.com) 13 

Teflon (www.teflon.com/fabricprotector) 7 

Terramar (www.terramarsports.com) 2 

Treksta (www.trekstausa.com) 29 


He also authored the term 3p for people, planet profit. 

UPTAkE (SEqUESTRATION) 

“The addition of a substance of concern to a reservoir. 

The uptake of carbon containing substances, in particular 

carbon dioxide, is often called carbon sequestration,” says the 

Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change. most trees and 

certain crops such as potatoes, rice and soybeans, uptake more 

CO2 than other plants and crops. 

vOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND (vOC) 

VOCs as they relate to environmental concerns refer 

to compounds with high vapor pressures (a vapor at room 

temperature and pressure) that can be potentially harmful 

and therefore regulated. VOCs occur naturally but can also 

be synthesized. In recent years, the roll of VOCs in new 

home or building construction and their contribution to sick 

building syndrome has heighten awareness of indoor air 

quality. The Environmental protection agency maintains a list 

of regulated VOCs. 

ZERO WASTE 

an approach to the cradle-to-cradle concept that includes reduction 

of product or process waste and consumption, plus advancing 

the notion of reuse, repair or return to the environment. 

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