Aqualung's stance on e commerce

[Cacia]

How did a great product like Suunto end up being controlled by AL?

Seems a very odd marriage. Everybody I know here buys them grey for half the price.

 

[mdb]

How did a great product like Suunto end up being controlled by AL?

Seems a very odd marriage. Everybody I know here buys them grey for half the price.

Catherine: In the US Suunto purchased Sea-Quest. Then AL purchased SQ. Suunto offers distribution rights to AL. Suunto is not "controlled" by AL.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

One of the issues I have with scuba board is they are a full time supporter of online stores. As far as I'm concerned it's the death of scuba. I'm grateful for companies such as aqua-lung and scubapro for their active support of brick and motar dive shops and I hope scubaboard does not do more damage than they have to their legion of discount dan shops.

Go ahead and flame away, matters not to me.

 

[mdb]

Go ahead and flame away, matters not to me.

You do not own a store. Of course it matters not to you.

 

[Cacia]

Go ahead and flame away, matters not to me.

We know that!

Do you really think this is a viable option though, Al? Why would it be the death be scuba?
(I thought Solomon bought Suunto...I have it all wrong)

 

[Wayward Son]

Seems to me that I've been hearing "mail order sales (and now internet) will be the death of scuba for what, 34 years now?

We bought dive gear via mail order in the early 1970's because there simply was no other option available to us living on an Air Force base in Turkey. And clearly our sources were selling mail order to a lot more than one military base over seas.

We were doing it in 1972. It's 2007 now, we're still buying via mail order, just the internet has replaced the paper catalog. Scuba seems very much alive to me. In fact, it seems far more alive now than it was then.

Go figure.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

We know that!

Do you really think this is a viable option though, Al? Why would it be the death be scuba?
(I thought Solomon bought Suunto...I have it all wrong)

Catherine dive shops are where people go to get trained. If they don't sell gear they close their doors. All you'd end up with is a couple of places with compressors and lots of instructors teaching off of their tailgates. No matter what scubaboard and it's advertisors will have you believe, we need real dive shops to florish.

 

[The Chairman]

One of the issues I have with scuba board is they are a full time supporter of online stores.

I fully disagree. We are a full time supporter of ALL THINGS Scuba. The brick and mortar stores are JUST as welcome as any e-tailer. Our focus is not sales, but information. I would like someone to show me any MAJOR manufacturer that does NOT have a web presence. By your estimation, they are their own worst enemy!

Go ahead and flame away, matters not to me.

Please. Martyrdom does not suit you.

 

[Cacia]

You might be right, but I don't know one good enough to make it a good situation for me.

I am sure there are some, I am better off with independants where I live.

Our focus is not sales, but information.

That has always been pretty clear to me. That makes your information worth more, in my book.

 

[The Chairman]

In the past, our industry pretty much gave training away in order to foster gear sales. They saw their instructor as THE word on what to buy. That paradigm has been altered by the new consumerism. Instructors, just like Al, find online communities a great place to actually make a difference in the diving habits of Joe Diver.

This is why we seperate the Market Places from the rest of the Forum. We have no rule about a dive shop identifying themselves, but you would be a fool to not do so. The users have made it PLAIN that they do not like to be deceived.