Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1528934
You've published in your Pulse Newsletter that the PDC will be free of charge to members through the balance of the year. How are you paying for it? We've explained to our members that the PDC investment is similar to launching a new store: a significant portion of cash reserves have been dedicated to the build out, with the understanding that it would be months before any revenue was generated. Of course this is a stress on cash flow, but the expenses were expected and budgeted. And we'll continue to manage the budget appropriately as we move toward generating revenue to support the PDC in 2025. What does the 2025 pay plan look like? Going forward, RIA membership will mean automatic PDC access. We originally projected a subscription model, based on retailer feedback, that would have a rate of $50-$60 per month. But I'm pleased to say that we are now aiming to charge substantially less than we first projected. I mentioned earlier that our data standardization process is more efficient than we had originally anticipated. So it looks like we'll be able to cover PDC expenses through modest increases in 2025 annual membership dues that translate to a substantially reduced cost. And of course this eliminates the need to subscribe. So it looks like you're still pretty bullish on the PDC delivering on the promise? Absolutely. It's taken far longer than we anticipated to move the PDC into a place where our members can confidently use it to manage their seasonal product data. But we remain committed. This is an exceptional member benefit that is literally groundbreaking. No other trade association in the sporting goods industry has anything like it, and none have attempted it. But we're building this for the long-term, and we appreciate our members' patience as we refine the platform. n SPECIAL REPORT runningindustry.org/pdc "Retailers can filter product searches easily and in multiple ways. They also like that it's easy to select, save, and edit seasonal collections, share them with colleagues, and export directly to templates for every major POS and third-party provider."