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I've been reluctant to buy a new pair of wading boots since it's hit or miss online. Do they fit? Are they comfortable? Are they in my size? What is the return policy? Are they sized for women? If I order them and they are not right then what next?
Don't even get me started on waders.
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I have no problem buying online, and do so frequently. (For Simms waders, for example, I just buy the same size as my present/old pair, buy them freight and sale tax free, and not have to drive 40-50 miles to the closest Simms dealer to get them.)
I do not have a problem with Simms selling direct (I think you'll find a number of large sporting goods, and other companies, do the same), assuming they do not result in me having to pay more for their products than I am paying now. However, I am sorry to see that Simms intends to forbid their dealers from selling through online places like Ebay and Amazon, for example. As long as their dealers maintain the pricing stipulated by Simms, I don't see how those marketplaces are much different from a Simms dealer who maintains his own internet based catalog service.
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Let's remember what we're talking about here, for the most part Simms makes sized products, in various cuts and fashions that are to be worn by human beings that come in an untold number of sizes and shapes. It's not like they are producing a #12 standard dry fly hook sold in packages of 25 or 100.
Having been a fly retailer my momentary reaction to the policy change was negative, but then I thought to myself. We carried many lines and were also an independent Orvis dealer with an Orvis company store just about twelve easily traveled miles away from us. Yet we sold the heck out of Orvis products. In fact a lot of our customers who were shopping for wading togs would leave our shop with Simms waders, Orvis wading boots and a Patagonia vest, or some mix like that. It wasn't unusual for customers to go window shopping at the Orvis company store and find a product they liked that we didn't stock and ask us if we could get it for them. That store actually helped make hundreds of sales for us, because with all the brands we carried, we couldn't possibly carry everything that Orvis had to offer.
If the customers price remains relatively constant, they'll shop where they want, where they feel comfortable, liked, welcome, etc. I think that's doubly true where clothing and shoes are concerned. If there's no real cost difference to the customer, why chance having to return a pair of boots, a vest, a jacket or waders that don't fit right and have to pay freight twice, especially at Simms full retail prices. Now if they offered free freight both ways, maybe.
But then we've got to consider the customers need for the product and some sort of working time frame and what Simms states in their new policy about shipping and taxes. How many here would fool around with ordering boots or waders on-line, having to wait for them to arrive, then return them because they don't fit properly, then wait for the next pair to arrive. Then, if the second pair of boots or garment doesn't fit, shipping those back again and then waiting for a credit card reimbursement and having nothing to show for their time, but shipping charges.....this process could easily escalate with shipping to and fro, to a substantially higher than local retail fly shop price.
I highly doubt there is going to be some huge shift in Simms product purchasing habits by consumers simply because they can order a pair of boots on-line or via the telephone. They can do that now, with who knows how many on-line Simms dealers.
Case in point, a few months ago I went out and bought a pair of Simms Rivershed boots. The idea of trying to buy them on-line never entered into the picture, the fit is more important than any other single factor. In my opinion if the new in-house Simms store does anything, they'll likely sell a bunch of hats and tee shirts to stop in traffic on vacation.
That doesn't constitute lost sales to our local fly shops in my mind. Because people often buy those kinds of trinkets when they're traveling. Those are just memento's and keep sakes from family vacations & fishing trips. I'd bet a third of all the hats with our shop logo on them that we sold over the years, went home with visitors to our area and some of those I'm certain weren't even fly fishers, they just liked the hat and logo.
As far as not being able to dump inventory on the eBay or Amazon, strong retailers are resourceful retailers, if one door closes they'll find another.
By the way, the new policy is not chiseled into granite so that it may better withstand the ravages of time. Simms has reversed itself on matters of some importance before - recently even. I'll give you a hint - felt !
One way or another, they manage to keep the Simms brand name from stagnancy.
Thank you, Dave
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Does this mean I can't buy their stuff at Wal-Mart anymore? I have a pair of old Simms hippers that I really like but I also have some boating gear of theirs. I really don't understand the mentality of some of these companies. Used to be the more sales the merrier. Then again when I was a retail general manager corporate America used to care about the customer and the people selling their goods. Times change. sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst.