STORES Magazine - February 2008 - (Page 50) NUTS AND BOLTS / E-MERCHANDISING Authentically Hip Search and merchandising solution helps evo stay connected with its customers BY FRED MINNICK vo is the sort of company yesterday’s businessmen might not appreciate — or even understand. On the “About Us” page at evogear.com there is a YouTubestyle video from company president Bryce “AKA Poster Child” Phillips and fun bios of other crewmembers with Polaroid snapshots displaying mohawks and “rad” hand signs of the kind you see in music videos. It’s as if their photos were taken in high school, when life was fun and the promise of youth was more important than balance sheets and cost analysis. e Then again, if evo’s employees were stiff, suit-wearing number crunchers, the company’s target audience probably wouldn’t give them the time of day. The approach “is a natural expression of who we are,” says director of e-commerce Nathan “Web Slinger” Decker. “It stems from one of our core values – authenticity. If we happen to come across as ‘hip’ or ‘youthful,’ it’s a clear reflection of who we are. I do think many of our customers strongly identify with our identity and this fuels our business and, hopefully, the sports we represent.” evo has a single store in Seattle; 90 percent of total sales come from the web — 65 percent from evogear.com, and the rest from eBay and the company’s call center. “We want to represent more The company’s audience — almost than just someplace to come entirely young and male – is looking for snowboards, skis and outdoor apto make a sale and get parel. And it’s willing to spend. Dura quick deal.” — Nathan Decker, evo ing the 2007 holiday season, evo’s top-selling items included a Burton T6 Snowboard for $799.95 and a Liquid Force Trip LTD Wakeboard + Alpha Boot 2007 for $349.90. During some weeks last year the company experienced triple-digit comparable-sales increases from the same periods in 2006. evo faces strong competition from bigger retailers like REI, Dick’s Sporting Goods and BackCountry.com, but Photo: Adam Moran 50 STORES / FEBRUARY 2008 Photo: © Jeff Curtes Photography 2006 WWW.STORES.ORG http://evogear.com http://evogear.com http://evogear.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.