ActionWatch Retail Panel Reaches Critical Mass - Surpasses 100 Stores

ActionWatch Retail Panel Reaches Critical Mass - Surpasses 100 Stores

Loma Linda, CA – August 15, 2007 – The ActionWatch Retail Panel recently surpassed 100 stores actively participating in this action sports market research program. “This is an important milestone for ActionWatch,” states Cary Allington, co-founder. “Every participating retailer makes the program stronger, more useful to its members and more influential in the industry. The panel has been growing quickly in the past few months, and that trend is continuing as more retailers learn about the program.”

Most of the retailers participating in the ActionWatch Retail Panel are single-store operations, but the panel also includes some multi-store retailers such as Val Surf and Pharmacy Board Shops. The stores are spread throughout the U.S. and are diverse in size and volume, including shops under 1,000 square feet to stores over 10,000 square feet.

“The ActionWatch program’s success is important for the whole industry because, as has been shown in many other industries with similar programs, it provides very important information for both industry suppliers and retailers,” states Allington. “It exposes the health and trending of product categories and brands within the core specialty retail channel – the heart of the industry. It also provides the missing communication link between suppliers and the core specialty retailers as a group, which can dramatically increase the attention suppliers give retailers in this channel.”

ActionWatch is a sales and inventory tracking program specifically designed for the action sports industry. Modeled after similar programs that have existed for decades in other industries, it is a free service for participating industry retailers, who get access to a series of monthly reports that show top-selling brands and models as well as product category breakouts. The reports are made by combining data from all the participating retailers so that each member can see sales and inventory information representing the broader industry. This allows ActionWatch Retail Panel members to participate in a program that keeps their individual store data confidential, but gives them industry averages, a.k.a. benchmarks, to which they can compare their own stores.

Scott Grossman, ActionWatch Retail Relations Manager, notes that most retailers use the reports to get a better understanding of brand and product category performance outside of just their stores. “It gives them a broader perspective of the industry, which can help them make better, more informed decisions within their local environment. Some panel members have told me that they even use the ActionWatch information to help them negotiate with suppliers, since they had data that represented those brands in the broader market.”

Although the 100-store mark is an important milestone, Allington notes that they continue to seek more action sports retailers to join the program. There is no cost to retailers, but participants are required to be true action sports retailers and to use a computerized POS system to track sales and inventory. “We track data down to the model level, which can only be done with electronic reports created by a retailer’s POS system,” states Allington.

For information:  www.ActionWatchReports.com
Contact:  [email protected]