cantSUPenough said..
I think one of the questions we have to ask is, how come the international on-line stores are able to sell the same product for so much less? I am sure we have all seen the Australian tax at work - the same product selling for so much less overseas. From iTunes prices, to camping gear, to watersports products - everything is less expensive in the US - not just on-line, retail as well (I travel a lot). Once I would have argued that the shipping costs and import duties added to our prices, but if that were the case iTunes would have the same price and we would not be able to ship the single item here for less than we could buy it here from the company that bulk shipped the items.
I wonder if the SUP/surf industry does that? Is a Naish board, for example, the same price here as it is in the US? I don't know, I am just asking.
The second question we have to ask is, do the manufacturers of the products value the local store? If they did, they would not sell their products to the online retailers at a lower price (or even an equal price) to the local store. We all appreciate that the local store has higher costs than the on-line retailer. Their only sales advantage is that they may carry stock so they can fill the immediate need instead of waiting for the on-line order to arrive. So if Naish, Sunova, Fanatic, etc. valued the services of the local shop they would sell to them at a lower price so they could be successful.
Personally, I have a favorite local shop and I will always turn to them first. I want them to stay in business and I would feel guilty shopping there and buying elsewhere.
One last comment. The world is changing and everyone has to find their place in it. With on-line retail and other services, mega retailers (think Bunnings), robotics, and predictive analytics (computers being better decision makers than humans), so many people have to rethink their future. The plumber can get away with those prices because they have minimal competition and often the customer has a sense of urgency. I guess the local store owners have to do the same thing. What can they deliver that the customer can't get elsewhere?
Freight:
In the bike industry's case, the UK government currently subsidise all freight sent overseas from businesses such as Wiggle. Wiggle pay for the freight from them to the airport, the UK government from the airport to Aus.
Tax:
The UK Vat is much higher than our GST (20%) but as the current Australian laws are no GST added unless over $1000aud on imports, it's an easy loophole to get around. This is meant to change next FY however. Which will help Aus retailers a lot.
Costs:
The costs of doing business is so much higher in Oz than the USA. Rents, Wages, Taxes etc etc then also allowing currency fluctuation on costs. Also in places like like the USA most retail is without the middleman involved, wheras in Oz, self retail is only just beginning in sports/boys toys.
I see quite a bit of protection in the sup industry for retailers, eg. What Sunova offer. Even if you deal with Bert/Tino directly they offer a margin to the closest Sunova dealer to you. There also isn't many shops to cross shop the same brands . Eg. For bicycle - 27 Giant dealers in Melbourne alone. So consumers can shop at 10 Giant dealers in one afternoon to screw the shops over on price.
Wholesalers need margin to stay alive so reducing their margins may mean they close. Unless volume increases substantially from the reduction in margin.
I see the future being more enterprise based, eg. Why can't good shops here design their own range of boards, instead of simply importing what other shops do overseas? That way they control stock supply, pricing, reduce middle man costs etc etc.
