Skiing Business

Amanda Markert
2012-02-21 15:41:08 | 871 views SHARE

Women make a bigger splash in the ski industry every year, but it takes a special retailer to tap into the woman’s mind and deliver the products and services she most desires in the right atmosphere. Willi’s Ski Shop in the Northeast, which won the Industry Award for Best Women’s Engagement, uses a dialed-in combination of marketing and feedback analysis to engage women customers.

Kjerstin Klein, Willi’s events coordinator and Bill Linkenheimer, the shop’s general manager, gave Skiing Business the rundown of their women-related programs.

Besides carrying women’s specific products, do you do anything else to increase your women’s engagement?
Willi’s Women’s Engagement program is extensive and all-encompassing. We started with the philosophy that relationships are the foundation of our success. By connecting with customers we are able to serve them better - we understand their needs and are able to fulfill them. Customers feel comfortable speaking up when they feel like they are listened to.

Last year we created Winter Divas—a forum for our female customers to speak up—a way to share the mountain and our ideas. This program has brought together women from all over our region and it has been a great way to connect and build strong relationships based on our love for snowsports. A dedicated Facebook page is used as a central source to communicate with the Winter Divas, promote events, and allow them to interact with one another.

The Winter Divas meet every Wednesday for about six to eight weeks. We schedule special guests for the women to learn from and/or provide feedback. In addition we schedule several special events including a season kick-off party and a special in-store shopping night. These events help the women enjoy the mountain lifestyle in exciting new ways. We partner with our local mountain and have a wonderful, reciprocal relationship where all involved benefit.
-Kjerstin Klein

What’s your strategy behind buying women-specific products?
We have used the growing strength of our relationships with our female clientele to help determine our product mix—not just our women-specific products but all of our products. From consumer statistics as well as conversations with our 300+ Winter Divas we have come to understand the purchasing power of the female consumer. She has a direct influence on over 90 percent of the purchasing decisions for the household, so her opinion counts.

We strive to help bring these opinions to the industry by operating as a focus group. Winter Divas participants test products, act as word-of-mouth product advocates and provide feedback to many companies in the industry. They enjoy this role because they recognize it as an important one. Their voice in the industry helps to keep product development focused on the needs of the average enthusiast, ensuring that there are exciting products for each type and level of skier.
-Kjerstin Klein

How do you display your women’s products?
Women’s products are merchandised throughout our store. Knowing that women account for half of our customers, we offer a vast amount and variety of women’s specific gear. While women’s apparel, skis and ski boots are obvious, we look for all sorts of things that would appeal to our female customers—from women-specific helmets to shorter ski bags with appealing fabrics and colors. Our buyers are always on the lookout for items that will appeal to and can be nicely merchandised for women. Women pay notice, pay attention to, and respond to displays, so women’s products are prominently featured in all parts of the store, including the ski and snowboard hardgoods areas.
-Bill Linkenheimer

Have you seen profits from women’s products increasing over the last few seasons? Why?
Sales of women’s products have been consistently increasing for a variety of reasons. It helps that suppliers are making a wider array of women’s-specific products and in more categories. More women’s-oriented accessories have also become available. In addition, women are becoming increasingly more willing to upgrade to better hardgoods equipment when the features and benefits are clearly explained.
-Bill Linkenheimer