Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 20

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Knock It Off?
Global online-shopping giant Alibaba threatens to undermine
legitimate brands and specialty retailers by offering ridiculously
low prices, often on counterfeit goods. But is the biggest retailer
on the planet going to ruin your business? by Aaron H. Bible
AS OF NOVEMBER 2017,THEWORLD'S LARGEST
outdoor retailer is not Walmart, Bass Pro
Shops, or REI, but Alibaba, the global
conglomerate of online marketplaces.
Transactions on the Chinese company's
sites totaled $248 billion in 2014, more
than eBay and Amazon.com combined. Its
three main sites-Alibaba.com, Taobao
(the Chinese eBay), and Tmall-draw hundreds of millions of customers and host millions more merchants and other businesses
in a kind of gray-market Kickstarter, opening up an audience of millions of international users with little restriction.
What's more, the online retailer became
one of the most valuable tech companies
in the world after raising $25 billion from
its U.S. IPO, the largest in U.S. history, in
September 2014. The Wall Street Journal reported that 80 percent of the Chinese online
shopping market is "dominated" by Alibaba
and its sister sites. Alibaba's business includes
an English-language portal that handles sales
from more than 240 countries. The situation
is complicated as North American brands feel
they must do business with Alibaba affiliates
out of necessity. For example, Tmall handles order fulfillment in China for dozens of
brands, including Arc'teryx.
The big draw for customers is that Alibaba
offers high-end products at ridiculously deep
discounts. Alibaba is also knockoff central.
Many brands, especially in the fashion world
(think team jerseys, sneakers, purses, sunglasses, jewelry) claim the site is rank with
counterfeits. Some in the outdoor industry,
including SylvanSport and Dahon, have been
actively fighting Alibaba swindlers for years.
"We were made aware by a consumer here
who found a product online, essentially

20 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Winter 2018

LOST IN TRANSLATION?
Aliaba is bane to the
fashion industry, but
seemingly benign to
most of the outdoor
industry, despite
blatant knockoffs.

an exact knockoff of our product, and they
were confused," said SylvanSport's Thomas
Dempsey. The company manufactures camping trailers-such as the Go, which retails for
$9,995-in Brevard, North Carolina, and
sells via a network of outdoor specialty and RV
dealers in the U.S. "We found they were selling
through Alibaba on a worldwide basis," added
Dempsey. "They even had all of our marketing
copy and videos of me up on their website."
For a short time, the Asian retailer essentially blacklisted the fake SylvanSport trailers
from the site-to no avail. "It's still up, and it
always crops back up," Dempsey said.
Alibaba struck a disturbing pose in 2014
when founder Jack Ma said, "The problem is
that the fake products today, they make better
quality, better prices than the real products,
the real names." He later recanted by saying
that he meant, "Chinese brands can some-

times be better quality than famous names."
In May of 2016, the nonprofit International
Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), which
battles the trade of counterfeit goods on behalf
of more than 250 global brands, defended
its decision to admit Alibaba as an associate
member even after Gucci America left the
IACC in protest. Under pressure from membership and accusations of unscrupulous
ethics amid IACC leadership, the coalition
then backed off plans to create a new General
Membership category to admit Alibaba, and
the company remains suspended.
"I don't want to lay the blame of this on
Alibaba," Dempsey added. "They're a marketplace and have a responsibility, but it's the
manufacturer who has stolen our product and
our technology. Similar stuff happens with
Google and Amazon every day."
In July 2016, Alibaba launched an online
IP Joint-Force System that allows more than
700 participating brands to streamline IP enforcement communication between Alibaba,
brands, and other rights holders. Alibaba
also previously launched the "Good Faith
Takedown" program in 2015 in order to expedite the notice-takedown process for brands
that submit counterfeit complaints.
Analytics have enabled the company to
proactively remove over 120 million infringing products out of more than a billion listed
across Alibaba Group's online marketplaces,
which, according to sources, is eight-times
the number of counterfeit products removed
based on takedown requests from brands.
Anti-counterfeit leadership has called
Alibaba's efforts "superficial," yet no one can
seem to agree just how many fakes populate
the online giant's various e-commerce sites.
A source that wished to remain unnamed
said the reason no one talks about Alibaba
is they don't want to admit, or for people to
know, that you can buy counterfeits at less
than half the price of the real goods. Problems
such as patterns and surplus boxes of goods
"disappearing" from factories come up, and
that's a subject as mysterious as the great Ali
Baba himself. Perhaps the fact that our protagonist was raised in a den by 40 thieves is
more telling than Ma could have ever known
when he selected the name. O.R.

Brian Stolte

THE PULSE


http://www.Amazon.com http://www.Alibaba.com

Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018

OUTDOOR RETAILER - WINTER 2017
CONTENTS
THE PULSE
HEADLINES
MERCHANDISING
MARKETING
BIG PICTURE
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
CASE STUDY
IDEAS
BENJI THRASHER
GUY TROMBLEY
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
RESEARCH
FAMILY TRADITION
ROUND TABLE
THE STAFF RULES!
BREAD+BUTTER
SKI-PACKAGE SECRETS
ATHLEISURE
COUNTER CULTURE
THE VIEW
HOW I GOT HERE
#REPLIFE
FROM THE ROAD
BACKSTORY
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - OUTDOOR RETAILER - WINTER 2017
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - Cover2
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 1
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 2
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 3
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - CONTENTS
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 5
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 6
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 7
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 8
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 9
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - THE PULSE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 11
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - HEADLINES
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 13
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - MERCHANDISING
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 15
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - MARKETING
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 17
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - BIG PICTURE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 19
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 21
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - CASE STUDY
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 23
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 24
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 25
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - IDEAS
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 27
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - BENJI THRASHER
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 29
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - GUY TROMBLEY
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 31
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 33
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - RESEARCH
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 35
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - FAMILY TRADITION
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 37
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 38
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 39
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 40
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 41
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 42
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - ROUND TABLE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 44
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 45
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 46
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 47
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - THE STAFF RULES!
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 49
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 50
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 51
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - BREAD+BUTTER
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 53
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - SKI-PACKAGE SECRETS
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 55
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - ATHLEISURE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 57
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - COUNTER CULTURE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 59
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - THE VIEW
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 61
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 62
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 63
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 64
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 65
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - HOW I GOT HERE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 67
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - #REPLIFE
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 69
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - FROM THE ROAD
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - 71
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - BACKSTORY
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - Cover3
Outdoor Retailer - Winter 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/2023Winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/2023summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/thedailyguidess23
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/dailySM2022_Day3
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/dailysm2022_Day2
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/dailySM2022_Day1
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/daily2022_Day3
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/daily2022_Day2
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/daily2022_Day1
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/daily2021_day3
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/daily2021_day2
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/daily2021_day1
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/outdoor-retailer-august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/outdoor-retailer-july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/outdoor-retailer-june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/may_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/outdoorretailer/april_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/march_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/february_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/january_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/december_2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_07302020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_07212020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2020summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_07072020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_06302020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_06232020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_06162020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_06092020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_06022020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_05272020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_05192020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nxtbook_bhtest/weeeekly_05052020__JJ
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_05122020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/theweekly_05052020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/postshow2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/daily2020_day3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/daily2020_day2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/daily2020_day1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/preshow2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2020winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/postshow_summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/day3_summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/day2_summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/day1_summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/preshow_summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2019summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/postshow2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/daily2019_day3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/daily2019_day2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/daily2019_day1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/preshow2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2019winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2018summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/outdoorretailer/2016winter
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com