Well, well................with regard to the SSI Press Release
As I have said in some previous posts............this is so wrong, on so many levels, I just don't know where to start. So, I will start from the beginning.
SSI has made THE fundamental mistake made by many retailers, business men, presidents of large corporations, and "industry giants" alike........they think THEY are in charge of how the consumer wishes to spend their money. They ignore that fact that THEIR OWN SSI RETAIL CENTERS will be increasingly selling training and equipment to the "kids of the baby boomer" generation. Remember, these are the kids that are leading Wal-Mart to consider the TERMINATION of the retail sale of DVD's, knowing that the upcoming generation would prefer to download the movies without fighting the crowds at the store. These are the kids that will VERY QUICKLY make the telephone company Yellow Pages extinct, preferring instead to look up telephone numbers on the internet. These are the kids that don't need SSI, PADI, IDEA, PDA, ADI, or even the EIEIO training agency to tell them what they should look for when they are searching for dive training or dive gear. They prefer to read from the MILLIONS and MILLIONS of websites, chat boards, and internet retailers to determine what they want, what they want to pay for it, and how they choose to receive it.
the SSI Press Release:
Fact 1: The Outdoor Industry Report and the Leisure Trends Report both agree that the majority of consumers "entering the sport" are going to the bricks and mortar for training, equipment and travel.
The Outdoor Industry Report and Leisure Trends HAS NO CLUE how many consumers "entering the sport" go to local stores or go to internet website for their information. Neither of those two organizations has any meaningful way of tracking online vs brick and mortar sales. So, any conclusions they make are guesses. Leisure Trends in particular makes no statement about consumer preferences with regard to online because they know the dangers of making conclusions without data. However, if you talk one on one with the principals at Leisure Trends about what their best EDUCATED guess is about the issue, they will tell you that THEY THINK that online distribution of scuba equipment and services is a freight train, bearing down at full speed, on those that choose only ONE method for distribution of these services.
the SSI Press Release:
Fact 2: A "click and mortar" world is highly competitive and expensive to maintain, thereby eroding margins..
No kidding. I am glad they finally realize that. What surprises me is they think that keeping "their stores" out of the competition stream will help them? With this kind of help, I guess success is assured. Like everyone else in this back-woods industry, they care about nothing but margins. The stores that listen to them will make a ton of money on each sale. The only problem is........they won't get many sales. Don't believe me? Just ask your local small-town scuba store how it's going these days.
the SSI Press Release:
Fact 3: To successfully compete, you need to stay true to the basic retail fundamentals build trust and create loyalty. This type of relationship can only be accomplished through personalized attention.
Well, they assume here that the ONLY way to build trust and create loyalty is to stand behind the counter and wait for someone to trip into the building, totally without any previous knowledge of what they want and why they want it......and "trust" the guy behind the counter. This "fact" is so convoluted, AND WRONG........I think I will just forego typing the other 5000 paragraphs I could type to refute it.
the SSI Press Release:
Fact 4: Attrition is at an all time high. Three top reasons people are dropping out of the sport:
1. Don't feel safe and confident
2. Don't own their own equipment
3. Don't want to dive locally E-commerce will not help to cure any of these problems..
First, there is no concrete evidence that diving attrition is at an all time high. Some think it might be, others wish it might be so they can explain their poor performance in the scuba retail business. I would also like to see the study that says that THESE THREE THINGS are the TOP TREE REASONS why people drop out of the sport.
the SSI Press Release:
Fact 5: Education is the beginning of every sale in a dive store and the single marketing arm to selling scuba equipment. Dive retailers make their living selling scuba equipment. E-commerce will only lead to more price shopping...
Not at all true. Out of every ten sales I make in a given day, about 9 of them simply want to purchase what they want to purchase. They don't need me, SSI, or anyone else to "educate them" so they can spend their money. As to it being the SINGLE MARKETING ARM TO SELLING SCUBA GEAR, where have they been for the past couple of years? They at least did get one thing correct in this "fact"........dive retailers do make their living selling scuba equipment. I hope this shockingly new realization doesn't cause mass heart failure out here among those of us that actually spend 85 HOURS A WEEK doing this. Of course, as soon as they get one sentence straight, they follow it up with a stupid one that washes away any benefit from the previous truth. E-commerce will only lead to more price shopping? Does e-commerce cause this? I always thought that consumers were the ones doing the price shopping. Let's face it.....if I had my way, I would double all of my prices. THEN I could make some money. But I don't get my way. You know why? Go back to my first paragraph and get the answer. CONSUMERS set the price of an item on the market! But I have an idea. Maybe they could get Presidents Nixon and Carter to FREEZE retail prices in the scuba industry at an absurdly high level. After all, it did wonders for the economy ( and the industries that were "frozen" for their own good) when they did it the first time. Maybe it will work again!
I have no issue with SSI. In fact, I don't know very much about the organization, except that they are a big certification agency. And that they promote the concept that retails sales is the name of the game for scuba training. I happen to agree with them on that. I have issue with ALL OF THOSE that continue to suggest and counsel their dealers to push that head deeper into the sand.....until their problems go away. This myth that "doing the same old thing over again will promote a better result next time" is killing retailers. I hate to see an organization that has standing like SSI promoting the concept.
Side Issue About Sticking to Your Guns and Your Philisophy: I understand that SSI stores are told to avoid discounting at all costs. I also understand that the owner of that agency has his own retail scuba stores where there is NO discounting for local customers. Apparently, this does not apply to customers from "out of town". About three years ago, one of my local customers found his way into their scuba shop while travelling. He asked about a SeaQuest Pro QD buoyance vest. He was quoted a price of $525.00.....the retail price of the item. When the sales clerk found out he was from "out of town" and would likely never visit the store again, he was offered a chance to purchase the BC for only $300. I guess "sticking to your guns" only applies to your "regular, loyal" customers. Anyway, thought this might be interesting.
Phil Ellis
