Aqualung's stance on e commerce

[djanni]

I want a local Dive Shop where I can make friends, talk about gear, see it, touch it and feel it and try it out if I want to. I want a nice and convienient place to take my regs for service by a competent technician and be able to talk to him before and after. I want to buy stuff from them at the same price I can get it from Scubatoys.

Is that asking too much?

We need healthy walk-in Local Shops to do business with AND internet commerce is here to stay and growing.

It seems to me that Aqua-Lung, just like everyone else is caught in transition and trying to figure out how to move into the future. Not all the steps they take will be the right ones but it seems to me they're trying to find the right combinations for them and their dealer network. BTW - I'm not a big Aqua-Lung fan. I have none of their equipment. Okay a wetsuit, a retractor and a snorkle.

I'm pretty sure that if it were not for the local dive shop I used to frequent, I might not have ever purchased gear. Because I purchased gear I think I dive more than I would otherwise. Because I've dived more I've bought more equipment and I suppose the cycle with continue.

 

[The Chairman]

I want a local Dive Shop where I can make friends, talk about gear, see it, touch it and feel it and try it out if I want to. I want a nice and convienient place to take my regs for service by a competent technician and be able to talk to him before and after. I want to buy stuff from them at the same price I can get it from Scubatoys.

You could always move to Dallas!

 

[Scared Silly]

In the electronics industry manufacturers create there own "grey" market goods to sell to the mass merchandise chains like Sam's Club. They leave a few bells and whistles off the stuff they sell through stereo stores. Maybe the scuba industry should follow their lead.

Yeah, they should sell dive computers that give the depth and pressure in Torr (mmHg) and the bottom time in seconds.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I don't see why Aqualung CARES how much their shops sell the product for, as long as their shops have already paid for the product.
Why should Aqualung care if the shop is making $300 per reg set or $5 per reg set, as long as they've already been paid by the retailer for the regs?

If I were in this position as a dive shop, I would discontinue my relationship with Aqualung immediately and bring in other brands who would be more then happy to take their place.

 

[ducst4]

Leisure Pro (LP) is the genius in the entire Scuba Diving industry.

ScubaPro (SP) and Aqualung (AL) supply them directly. See previous posts from manufacturers like mdb@Apollo and large retailers like Larry@ScubaToys, Phil@DiveSportsOnline and Hollywood Divers on this never ending issue, yet SP and AL claims otherwise. Most large retailers seem to know this, yet, LP thrives. How in the world do they do it? One simply has to admire their business acumen. I just received their +200 page color catalogue and it is just amazing…

I hear LP make about +$10 million in sales per year. I estimate that Scuba Toys probably makes +- $2 million in sales per year. I may be wrong.

LP is an authorized dealer for many brands, and this fact is often unknown to divers.

Most internet divers check LP prices before purchasing elsewhere including their LDS. Many that whine about LP and claim they support their LDS or other retailers with an online facility still use LP prices as a benchmark.

Most internet retailers say they will match LP yet hate LP’s guts. Phil has been honest in saying that he “just wants an even playing field” by selling at market prices.

This internet sales thing sounds like the 90’s Main Street vs. Wal-Mart debate and how Wal-Mart is going to kill all small retailers. And here we are 15 years later and all is fine. One cannot beat market economics – it has a way of sorting out itself.

My LDS owner drives imports, shops at Wal-Mart and Home Depot instead of Main Street – Should I hold it against him?

You know, who gives a hoot. Do whatever makes you happy, but business is all about money.

FYI,
1. I have spoken to Phil before and he came across as very honest and courteous and offered me a killer deal on a computer (it’s not Suunto) which no one, even LP, can match.
2. I bought my SP regs and Aladdin computer from my LDS, but I pay in cash and he gives me a killer deal. I keep my mouth shut about the deals and don’t go tell every diver I know.
3. I have bought lights from Divers Direct – they have crazy deals if you subscribe to their web site.
4. Nowadays I don’t hassle about a few dollars with my LDS, though I don’t know how long his store will remain viable.

I am just an informed citizen who is not out to change the world. I will purchase wherever it may suit me and fulfills my needs.

We all know AL and SP – among the two largest dive manufacturers – are dicks. However, it’s just business to SP and AL and not personal. But do you want to get personal with them, or just be an informed and intelligent purchaser?

 

[redacted]

I don't see why Aqualung CARES how much their shops sell the product for, as long as their shops have already paid for the product.
Why should Aqualung care if the shop is making $300 per reg set or $5 per reg set, as long as they've already been paid by the retailer for the regs?

If I were in this position as a dive shop, I would discontinue my relationship with Aqualung immediately and bring in other brands who would be more then happy to take their place.

Because many of their shops are small and could not survive on such low profit margins. Yet AL sees a need for them to provide service and training. The model is slowly falling apart and they are trying to fortify it with band aide. In the process, they are letting the less dominant manufacturers get a head start on the future.

 

[Hoosier]

Quote:
YOU WILL NOT COMPETE WITH LEISURE PRO.
Yes.. You just make an advantage of LP one side and blame them the other side.

Leisure Pro (LP) is the genius in the entire Scuba Diving industry.

It is more than a genius. It has changed the actual consumer paying price on the scuba equipment.

There is always someone who can make profit no matter what market condtion has. Only losers keep complaining...

 

[djanni]

You could always move to Dallas!

I did once and yes, I could and someday I will again.

 

[friscuba]

Here's what's ironic... Wasn't Aqualung started from US Divers?

And how did US Divers get its start? by selling via mail-order-catalog. (because in the 1950's there weren't any dive stores hardly). So how is selling over the internet any different than mail order catalog? it's just an online catalog?

If this is true, here is Aqualungs "heritage" with it's foot stuck in its mouth.

This has probably been addressed already, sorry if it's a repeat. The original mai lorder caltalogs still priced things at essentially MSRP. Then they started dealing with stores that offered the goods for the same price. It's called volume... get people to sell your product for you. It was only in the last coulple of decades that you saw companies popping up that offered cut rate warehouse prices on the internet. Problem with the cut rate internet dealers is that they sell at a low markup that a traditional retailer cannot list at and remain in business. Keystone and better is traditional in the retail market, internet "retailers" do not keystone high ticket items and work on volumes a local dealer can never expect.

 

[friscuba]

The market will take care of all of this. If traditional "dive shops" are not adding any value to consumers, then they will be supplanted by a source of air fills, and some way to connect instructors with students.

Likewise, in the future divers will probably get the gear that they want, based on a whole host of information sources like ScubaBoard, rather than just buying whatever the shop stocks based on their instructor's recommendations. This arrangement never served the customer best, and if it gets replaced by some new way of delivering (1) training, (2) gear, and (3) service, then so be it. The notion that the "sport" of diving is dependent on small dive shops overcharging for gear seems pretty far fetched.

Not definitely true... I came from a town that went from two shops to zero in a few years. Nearest airfill went to an hour away. Instruction was available sporadically thereafter. I bet it's worse elsewhere.