In today’s world e-commerce is not only an option but it is a must in order to naturally evolve within any business. Almost all of our daily activities are done online and to include shopping and in the case of Burtons Snowboards, I feel as though it is very important to take this opportunity to evolve and expand. Since the companies creation in 1977 it has done nothing but evolve from a single employee (owner Jake Burton) business to being marketed in over 4300 stores. Burton has several sub brands which focus on certain niches and also carries multiple other products.
Snowboarding is an industry that is predominantly ruled buy a young generation especially those under age 34. The population is dominated by 73.1% under age 25 and 51.7% under age 17, and 74% of snowboarders are males. Burton has a majority share of the billion dollar industry at a whopping 30-40% which means that Burtons has a loyal solid following. With the age of snowboarders ranging from 12 to 34 these are all ages of today’s computer literate generation who have strong basic knowledge of computer use and online shopping. This represents Burton’s entire market and with online shopping being the primary means of shopping today its make even more sense to challenge the retailer and proceed. Some of Burtons target area where snowboarding is very popular include three U.S. states, areas in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia of which are all built up countries that have a prominent use of internet and online services. Thus the demographics appropriately match the mentality within the psychographics of the computer age which also matches the techno graphics of customers whom will shop using computers, tablets, cell phones, and various handheld devices for their shopping needs.
In other words Burton is the premier brand for snowboards and has the ability to create its own lane for business and make bold moves without worrying about much recourse. This is part of the reason that Burtons is more than ready to roll out its e-commerce branch and this is something that their largest retailer must know and realize is needed step to take. They surely will understand the backlash they will receive from customers if their serious about pulling Burtons products from their stores.
Though most of today’s shopping has moved to online it is undeniable that you cannot replace the feeling of actually touching a product to get a true feel for it. I’d propose a strategy stating that Burton carry out its e-commerce venture while keeping its products in all the stores of the retailer, but we can include them by
