ACCEPT TECHNOLOGY NOW!

So much lip service has been given in the past year about the need to adapt to the new reality of laptops, online ordering, uniform design programs and computerized inventory, but amazingly team dealers still remain behind the curve on the acceptance of technology. Because so few have ? and those that have are for the most part utilizing only a fraction of the power of technology ? there remains a huge opportunity to step into the technology age in the team business.

The number one reason would be to control ordering and inventory. Many vendors are offering 2-3% discounts for dealers who order online. If that's not enough reason, how about the simple fact that computerizing ordering and inventory will improve your margins?

The road to technology in the team business has not always been smooth, as Sports, Inc. CEO Dave Salvi will tell you. The buying group jumped into technology in a big way in the 1990s and, Salvi admits, it may have even been ahead of its time. Only now have both its dealer members and its vendors been adept enough to take advantage of the technology that is available.

"We've been ahead of the curve in technology and it was a little frustrating at first that everything wasn't proceeding as quickly as we had planned," Salvi says. That is all changing, as now about 30% of Sports, Inc. orders are now transmitted electronically, a number that will increase dramatically in 2004.

Another Sports, Inc. number is telling in terms of acceptance of technology. In 2001, its website was logging about 1000 unique daily visits from members a month. Last October, the number reached 41,075.

The biggest opportunity to use technology, says Bruno, is in purchasing, although he admits they use only a fraction of the capabilities of its SportzPak system. "We are starting to embrace technology, especially in ordering online," he says, giving particular praise for Russell's online ordering and uniform design capabilities.

With sales growing conservatively at both team and retail at Schuylkill Valley Sporting Goods, Pottstown, PA, the management focus the past year has been on improving margins through technology. CEO Randy Ruch says that the implementation of the SportzPak system helped increase margins by as much as 3% last year, allowing management and sales personnel to know where they stand not just in sales, but in margins as well.

"The dealer competition is so brisk in our area that the issue is to continue to sell and to improve margins," says CEO Randy Ruch. "We are still going after the sale as aggressively, but now it is equally important for the salespeople to make margins as well."

As a sales rep, Gary Niland has seen both sides of the technology debate and strongly believes the opportunity is there for dealers willing to take the next step. "The more progressive dealers that understand the importance of information and managing information have invested in technology and those that haven't, need to," he says.

Technology is all part of the buying process now, and most ADs they call on have laptops. "Purchases are being done by people who know technology," Niland says. "Certain dealers understand this and are taking advantage of it."