Outdoor Insight

T his past February, Walmart acquired Moosejaw and its 10 brick-and-mortar stores, along with Moosejaw's impressive web and e-commerce pres- ence. Moosejaw will continue to operate its site and stores and will be run as a standalone and complementary brand to Walmart's other e-commerce sites. Eoin Comerford, CEO of Moosejaw Mountaineer- ing, GM of Walmart Outdoor E-commerce, dishes to us on the relationship between Moosejaw, the long-time outdoor specialty stalwart, and its new owner, Walmart. Give us an update on Moosejaw since it was acquired by Walmart for $51 million at the begin- ning of the year. "Certainly, access to additional resources, re-investing the savings and synergies we've had from being part of Walmart contracts for shipping and the like, have helped to drive us to one of our best sales quarters in a lot of years." Discuss the changes to your brick-and-mortar strategy versus e-commerce/online. "E-commerce is approaching 90 percent of business, north of 85 percent now. Stores are doing great — 10 in total, seven in Michigan, one in Chicago, one in KC, one in Boulder. All remains the same. We will be opportunistic in looking at other potential stores as they arise. Last fall, we opened up a pop-up store in Grand Rapids that has turned into a full- fledged store with a permanent remodel." How does your strategy differ from that of Gander, Bass Pro or Cabela's? "We're on the backpacking side of outdoor versus hunt/fish as they are. They have been affected most severely by the drop-off in firearms sales, which we don't participate in at all. Also, given our mix of online versus brick-and-mortar, the climate hasn't impacted us like the rest of the industry with the fall-off in brick-and-mortar traffic. Actually, our brick-and-mortar traffic is up, supported by the online-first approach. We have pretty small footprints — 4000-square feet. Our stores operate nicely and profitably and act as a bit of a brand showroom with an endless aisle approach. Even if we don't have the particular tent or hiking boots or climbing shoes you want, we will order them for you to try-on in-store or ship them directly to your home for free." How have Moosejaw's vendor relationships been going since the Walmart acquisition? "We talked with some vendors before the deal closed and all of them after the close. We're still the same Moosejaw committed to the highest level of vendor relationships and integrity. We will honor their wishes as to how they want to be marketed. For example, if a brand/company is interested or excited about being on Walmart.com or Jet.com, we will absolutely work with them to make that happen. But, if it's not where they want to go, that's fine too. No pressure, No blanket approach. Case by case. In some cases, vendors will say, 'Yes, we abso- lutely want to be everywhere.' Others will say, 'No, thank you.' There is a blend. Some say, 'Let's start on Jet.com and see how that goes.' Or, 'Let's put this assortment on Jet.com and this edited assortment on Walmart.com.' There are lots of different ways to approach it. To the degree a brand does or doesn't want to be represented in those channels, I have the final say. We haven't lost a brand in the transition. We have successfully launched a number of brands on Jet. com and are in the process of launching a few for Walmart.com. It's a brand by brand discussion. There are lots of different ways to go. Brands are starting to wrap their heads around all of these different opportuni- ties. It's a rapidly changing landscape. Even with what's going on with Amazon today, brands are a lot more open to these discussions than they were a year ago, or even two years ago. Part of the reason is the slowdown in brick-and- mortar retail and the ensuing bankruptcies in sporting goods and outdoor, which is partially due to the migration online. Brands are savvy enough to real- ize that they need to go where their customers are if they are going to maintain their brand volume." How does Walmart/Moosejaw compare with the way Amazon does business? "We've certainly taken a different approach with the brands than Amazon. Basically, Amazon gives the companies no insight into how their brands are being sold, or by whom or for how much. We've taken a totally opposite approach. The brands can actually have access to a brand portal on Jet.com where they can see what retailers are selling their brand and whether they are discounting it. Retailers/companies can set whether the brand should be MAP-protected. Brands can see which retailers are MAP-protecting their products and which are not— it gives them an oversight or insight into how their products are being sold. And if they are seeing something they don't like, they can talk to us — a trusted partner. For example, 'I'm seeing this dealer I have never heard of selling my product at 50-off, what's going on?' We can look into the situation and help them, which is com- pletely counter to the way Amazon works with retailers." What future marketing plans are there for the Moosejaw brand? "I don't quite think we'll get to the Duluth (Trading Co.) level but, yes, we would like to invest more in branding, more retail brand- ing campaigns. Prior to the acquisition, we were very bottom line-focused as we needed to be as more of an independent retailer. Most of our ad dollars went to bottom-of- the-funnel-marketing, capturing customers who had already decided what they were going to buy and were just looking for the best place to buy it. Very focused on ROI with the ad spend. Now, with being part of Walmart, the savings from the synergies we can look into investing in the top of the funnel — more brand-based advertising, more advertising around the Moosejaw brand. This is not something we really had done much of before." Will the Walmart ownership of Moosejaw be evident in your branding? "You're never going to see a "Moosejaw by Walmart" or a "Jet by Walmart." They are strongest if they populate a different space in the consumer spectrum. Jet.com — higher-end, urban customers; Moosejaw — premium, specialty outdoor customers. Each will continue to have its own identity and be an independent online brand." O s /UTDOOR )NSIGHT s *ULY outdoorinsightmag.com Q/A MOOSEJAW WALMART EXPLAINED "Our stores operate nicely and profitably and act as a bit of a brand showroom with an endless aisle approach."

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