Team Insight

Team dealers each have their own unique ways to incorporate technology into their busi- ness model, but they all follow the same policy — a brief online selling window, limited product selection and payment upfront. Here's a look at how four of them stay relevant by combining high tech with high touch. Picking Up the Pace at Universal Athletic Corey Goblirsch, regional sales manager for Universal Athletic in its Minneapolis, MN, ter- ritory, is no stranger to team stores. He began working with the OrderMyGear platform eight years ago and the pace of his sales has picked up with the pace of the online stores he sets up for his accounts. "I've seen an increase in sales, especially in apparel and uniforms," Goblirsch says. Order fulfillment keeps getting better and delivering the right goods on time has improved dramati- cally from the days of adding up order forms and collecting checks. "The system has become so easy to use that we've actually seen an increase in per order size over the years as well," Goblirsch says. Every exisitng and new account now gets targeted. "We figure they are all buying some sort of apparel, whether it's T-shirts, sweat- shirts, warm-ups or uniforms. There seems to be something that every customer we work with can use," he says. And it helps to showcase how Universal has helped many schools and teams raise funds as well. "Teams are always looking for ways to raise funds." Besides boosting sales, team dealers also benefit from cash flow — there's no waiting for POs and then weeks or months for payment. The turnkey online stores mean payment comes upfront. "It seems collecting money is always a headache and this is the one thing we sell that money is collected up front, so the benefit to cash flow has been great," Goblirsch says. Making it work takes some work, though. Goblirsch has learned that such stores require the right touch of products — just enough, but not too much. "We've seen online stores with 30-plus products that actually overwhelm the customer more than anything and we don't see the sales generated like you do on a sale of 12 to 15 products," he explains. "If you have a good offering but not too many options they seem to go well." Goblirsch also often bundles items to build sales. For example, an online store for a football team may have the player pack assortment on top, with equipment options such as helmets, shoulder pads, cleats and girdles listed. He'll add optional apparel at the end. "We will give the customer every opportunity to buy everything they need from one spot," he says. "This has helped build sales on stores where we are able to offer a variety of categories not just spirit wear." Better margins also provide a boost to team dealers, Goblirsch adds. "In most cases, the price of the item is important, but it isn't the deciding factor. They are pleased with the online service more than the lowest price in the market. Therefore, we are able to make a little more money on apparel items listed through our websites." Championing Online Stores What started out as a small business operating from the back of a car now emulates its name. Champion's Choice has grown and continues to do so — and online stores now drive much of its success. In fact, the Wilmington, MA-based team dealer now lays claim as the top team dealer in the country for Adidas. Since starting online stores about 10 years ago, Champion's Choice has increased its revenue numbers significantly by servicing teams and institutions throughout New England. "The acceptance rate has grown significantly since the inception among our partner institu- tions," says GM Dan Hughes. "People have become considerably more aware of the benefits and ease of ordering via the web versus old paper-based options." A former technology executive with AT&T, Hughes knew early on the value of the Internet when he joined Champion's Choice. Using TeamUniformOrders' platform, he has seen the benefits of accurate orders, improved cash flow, automated proofs of purchase and receipts, increased revenue and ease of fulfillment. Time has helped as people are more tech savvy. Champion's Choice finds partners that sign exclusive agreements to use its services. Account managers then work with each of the schools to determine what sites to set up. This generally starts with team apparel but quickly expands into other categories. Such focus and finding new avenues have helped the team dealer grow sales in double digits each year. Working with its partners definitely improves cash flow, Hughes notes. Equally important, the agreements with institutions open more doors. "They allow us to capture significantly more revenue across institutions versus just working with teams." Champion's Choice sets up web stores for player items not covered by the school, whether cleats or sweats, travel gear or sneakers. Those partners also want sites that sell fan wear or school wear, too. It even has a site to sell apparel to the maintenance team at MIT (now that's where you have to have your technology figured out!). It password protects the team items, with the coach providing a link through email to team members. Its fan and fundraising sites are not password protected and it promotes these through the school's and Champion's Choice's social media channels. The general institutional websites typically run three times annually and the team and specific fan sites run at the appro- priate time for the sport's season. Along the way, Champion's Choice has learned every store needs a timeframe. "Keeping up stores for too long of a period of time has proven fruitless and it limits your ability to fulfill every item because of inventory limitations." The magic window for ordering is one week. Plus, limiting items increases sales. "Too many items are also a hindrance. It becomes very con- fusing and keeps orders from being entered and processed in a short timeframe," Hughes notes. Addicted to Technology Sports Addix started opening online team stores back in 2008, but found the sites just didn't have the right look and feel and the back end of handling orders required way too much effort as well, says John Kargbo, executive VP and chief marketing officer for the Lowell, MI-based team dealer. All that changed in the fall of 2017 when Sports Addix switched to the TeamUniformOrders platform. "We were able to upload our entire product catalog," Kargbo says. And that's pretty exten- sive since Sports Addix not only designs team uniforms for sports from bowling to wrestling, it also cuts and sews those uniforms. Equally important, TUO processes all the orders — from entry to payment to shipment. Focusing on sales versus the technology has upped its game and sales increased 23 percent since they began using the TUO platform. In August 2017, Sports Addix had 12 teams open. Skip ahead a year and the team dealer had 161 stores operating last month. "If you get the right technology, everyone wants to use it. If it's simple and easy, everyone wants to use it," he explains. Consequently, Sports Addix runs stores for all the major and minor sports, along with spirit packs, fan wear and fundraising sites. teaminsightmag.com September 2018 / Team Insight 27 T he days of pen and paper may not be gone completely, but in 2018 they are certainly more short stories than long novels. So while some may lament the passing of the good old days of writing orders on the back of an envelope, today technology is undeniably helping team dealers automate everything from uniform designs to placing orders to paying suppliers. And leading the charge into the future are the now ubiquitous online team stores. Driven by technology, team dealers continue to survive and thrive by combining service with the convenience of setting up shop online for everything from spirit packs to uniforms, from fanwear to fundraisers, to outfit teams and their loyal following. FOUR TEAM DEALERS SHARE THEIR TECHNOLOGY SECRETS, WITH A FOCUS ON ONLINE STORES.

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