Aqualung's stance on e commerce

[PhilEllis]

This just in from an Aqualung dealer, who wishes to remain anonymous. Can YOU spot the difference between this and the one sent to the industry? Do you think it's significant?

YOU WILL NOTE COMPETE WITH LEISURE PRO.

I can't tell if that is a statement, a directive, or a mistake.................

It could have said "lets face it, you will not be able to compete with Leisure Pro"

It could have said "you will not be able to compete with Leisure Pro and maintain your current margins"

It could have said "we don't think it is wise to attempt to compete with Leisure Pro"

Instead "You will not compete with Leisure Pro"

Whatever it said, they didn't like the sound of it after the fact. So, it was removed from the version sent to Dive News Wire. Oh well.

Phil Ellis

 

[DiveSite]

........ which has not and will not create a level playing field for retailers as some have suggested. You will not compete with Leisure Pro.

Something doesn't smell right. That sentence about Leisure Pro makes no sense the way it sits. I'm not an AL dealer so I have no stake in this discussion but something just doesn't seem quite right. Just an observation.

 

[mike_s]

YOU WILL NOTE COMPETE WITH LEISURE PRO.

I can't tell if that is a statement, a directive, or a mistake.................

It could have said "lets face it, you will not be able to compete with Leisure Pro"

It could have said "you will not be able to compete with Leisure Pro and maintain your current margins"

It could have said "we don't think it is wise to attempt to compete with Leisure Pro"

Instead "You will not compete with Leisure Pro"

Whatever it said, they didn't like the sound of it after the fact. So, it was removed from the version sent to Dive News Wire. Oh well.

Phil Ellis

Or it could be that Liesure Pro is more powerfull with Aqualung than you think.....

It could be that Leisure Pro "made" Aqualung remove that statement. Afterall, Leisure Pro is Aqualungs biggest customer/dealer.

 

[PhilEllis]

Companies say all kinds of things, even in writing, but want to maintain the ability to say they didn't say them at all........

I had a recent situation where a scuba manufacturer has a published policy about what can and cannot be advertised. So, I put their policy statement on the bottom of each of my webpages for their products. They demanded that I remove the statement because it made them look bad! Hell, it was their own written policy. Not a private policy, their public policy!

When they say it, they think it sounds great. When I repeat it, they say it makes them look bad! Go figure.

Maybe AL thought about that sentence and decided that it made them look bad.....so they removed it.

Phil Ellis

 

[mdb]

It So the small shops are probably paying about 25% more for their merchandise than LP is paying.

Maybe; more like 30% +. The LDS who actually buys into "the party line" is playing on a pool table tilted way out of favor. The "inside" and "special' price is alive and well in the dive industry. The poor LDS rarely sees it.

 

[ams511]

Interesting that Aqualung makes a statement in the release sent to their dealers that "You will not compete with Leisure Pro".

I personally think that Liesure Pro is their perfect customer. Using them, Aqualung gets to move what, $1 million plus a year in product, and have no warranty responsibilites.

Seems like a sweet deal for Aqualung.

You are probably right, grey markets are a win-win for the manufacturer. They get increased sales from people that probably would not buy their wares at MSRP and then can refuse to honor their warranty. It is the LDS and consumer that gets the short end of the stick. I am waiting for the Taiwanese to start marketing their goods directly in the USA, then we will see some really great prices and perhaps an increase in the number of people entering Scuba being it will reduce the price it costs for people for people to enter the hobby.

 

[Wayward Son]

"We were the first with product serialization tracking, "

If they have it, they're obviously not using it or they could shut down LP yesterday from selling AL products.

 

[ams511]

In the electronics industry manufacturers create there own "grey" market goods to sell to the mass merchandise chains like Sam's Club. They leave a few bells and whistles off the stuff they sell through stereo stores. Maybe the scuba industry should follow their lead.

 

[*Floater*]

YOU WILL NOT COMPETE WITH LEISURE PRO.

Too bad, they already compete with Leisure Pro.

 

[DallasNewbie]

I don't see where it has to be either-or. We've been cranking along for decades with both mail order & the LDS. There are still plenty of LDS's around.

Exactly. We did our training and bought most of our gear from what to most of you in Scubaboard land is an online shop. We even get airfills there and try out gear in their pool! To us, it's simply the best stocked LDS around. And there are more than a couple around. And most of them suck. Oh, the people are nice enough and the customer service is fine, but the gear and the selection is rediculously sparse. I'll stop at the nearby LDS if I need some weights or a flashlight (in whatever color they decided to stock), but what if I don't want the one BCD that they are selling?

Someone will pipe up and say that there can't be a Scubatoys in every city, but I don't know why not. If there can be 20 LDS in a city like Dallas that doesn't have a mud hole worth diving in within 70 miles, why can't there be a large high volume LDS in every big city? IRL, you will go to the one close to you, and online they will find ways to differenciate themselves as well. No, there might not be 10,000 tiny, poorly stocked LDS's anymore, but (sorry for sounding callous) who besides the owners of those stores will be worse off? But there will be something else: You'll still be able to get air fills where you need them, because where there is a demand, someone will supply it. And the quality of training will undoubtably go up, since it won't be seen as a loss leader to get suckers in the door.

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