Team Insight

Technology in all its forms is slowly reshaping the team sports space. By Tom Ryan SPECIAL REPORT TECHNOLOGY TECH FOR EVERYONE ... EVEN TEAM DEALERS T e chnology continues to move the team dealer space world well beyond its heritage built around hand-written, snail-mailed orders, but is still seen facing limits and presenting risks in the rela- tionship-driven business. On the positive side, online team stores have become an expectation from consumers and a major revenue source for most dealers over the last decade. A number of third-party upstarts from OrderMyGear, Chipply, Team Gear Flow, Team Uniform Orders and others have arrived to help dealers drive online growth. Sophisticated computerized and digitized design has also significantly upgraded many lettering departments, helping take full ad- vantage of latest sublimation techniques. With advanced POS and inventory systems as well as investments by vendors in their own B2B sites, access to information has never been easier, including up-to-the-minute inventory information and pricing. Tech provided by the team buying groups has noticeably sped up invoice payments. Still, many dealers still don't have an e-com- merce site and social media isn't a priority for most. Online fit technologies haven't seen much investment in the space, although Riddell has developed 3D-scanning app technology for customized football helmets and multiple footwear fit technologies are now available. Generally, team dealers appear comfortable letting the big boys like BSN Sports test and learn with its massive tech investments on the belief the team dealer business remains more analog than digital with customer relations still winning the sale. Here, seven team dealers discuss their technological transformations. At Kratz Sporting Goods, based in Clarksville, IN, its online team store has grown to account for about a quarter of the business. "That's a huge part of what we do with technology and it absolutely helps cash flow in our business because it's all paid up front," says owner Allen Krebs. "It's a little more work because it's all individual orders, so we're having to make adjustments." Kratz is in the process of upgrading its POS from a QuickBooks system that has been phased out. Online, Kratz has been investing in some social media and has an e-commerce site with some full-price sales available, although a primary benefit has been to liquidate footwear stock. Krebs says: "We used to sell older styles on Amazon, but they just were taking too big a portion of the profit with their fees." Kratz uses some simple analytic tools in forecasting and making buying decisions, evaluating prior-season sales and input from his sales team. Orders, however, are still oen taken by pen and paper and then loaded into the POS system. "We're just not big enough to have scanners out there scanning every tag and so much of what we do doesn't have tags 28 • Team Insight ~ September/October 2024 teaminsightmag.com

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