Running Insight

Supporting Run Specialty (continued) "As long as customers have performance socks, they are a more educated consumer and that benefits us all," Feetures director of marketing Joe Gaither says. More than 115 run shops participated in Feetures' two-week Pair Up initiative in September 2016, many leveraging Feetures-supplied collateral like a circular "Got Socks?" shoebox sticker and incentives like a $1,000 store party to propel sock sales. Many stores, Gaither says, achieved a 1:1 sock-to- shoe sales ratio and one quadrupled the national average with a 2.49:1 ratio. "We want to stand out as a brand that supports run specialty. If their business grows, ours does, too," says Gaither, adding that the Pair Up program is now available to running specialty stores for any two weeks of the year. Training help While a number of brands partner with outside training companies to offer online training designed to heighten staff expertise, others have unveiled their own training programs to improve customer service and sales. In 2014, for example, Nathan debuted a retail education strategy designed to turn "accessories" into "essentials." The company began offering educational tools and sharing simple, disarming questions – "Do you feel dehydrated after a run?" or "Do you run at night?" – run specialty employees could ask customers to gain "a clearer picture of runners' needs and boost sales of margin-friendly accessories like hydration and visibility," Nathan marketing manager Greg Brantner says. Next spring, Brooks will take its shot at innovative store-level training when it launches its Run Signature app to key specialty retailers. The platform, Wilhelm says, will aim to help retailers enhance their fit processes. Monitoring distribution and MAP policies Schalow has watched some brands alter distribution and pull away from less-than-pristine channels, while others have extracted their product from Amazon and cracked down on outlets running afoul of MAP. "These are good moves for running specialty," Schalow says. "Online sales exposes distribution of products and brands are being more careful about being seen as someone who will sell to anyone." It's important to note, Schalow continues, that many brands are not as infatuated with e-commerce as retailers tend to think. After all, brands lose control of their pricing and the representation of their products on most third-party sites. "Brands have discovered there's a downside to the revenue that can be drawn from e-commerce," Schalow says. Other brands, meanwhile, are taking aim at distribution. In August, for instance, Diadora national sales manager Bryan Poerner told Running 74 runninginsight.com © 2017 Formula4media LLC. DATA-DRIVEN RELIABILITY 880v7 BLOWN RUBBER FOREFOOT NEOPRENE STRETCH TONGUE AND PERFORMANCE STRETCH LACE MIDSOLE 3D RESIN PRINT ENGINEERED MESH MOLDED SOCKLINER

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