It's business in America. Times change and it's either update and compete or go out of business. Family farmers were put out of business by corporations, countless mom & pop retailers were put out of business by Wal-Mart, hardware stores were put out of business by Home Depot and Lowe's...heck, it's hard to find a restaurant these days that aren't part of some national chain. I'm also curious as to how many of the "40+ years" that you referenced did pro shops sell more than one ball to a customer? Back in the 50s, 60s, 70s and most of the 80s balls were not that complex and I imagine that your average league bowler bought one ball that lasted several years. Did Joe Pro-Shop owner really sell more balls then than he does now? Or did the advent of reactive resin balls that do not last create a boon for pro-shop owners resulting in much higher overall sales, thus attracting more ball companies and more competition?
Regardless, in order for bowling ball companies to follow your suggestion, all of them would have to agree to sell their products at a set price, with no single company breaking ranks. That's a very delicate line to balance because the federal government prevents collusion in price setting. (The Feds have done a bang-up job using this law to keep the oil companies in check...NOT!) All it would take to break this fragile balance is for one company to start getting beat by the competition by either bad luck or bad planning and they'll allow their balls to be sold at a lower price in order to survive until the next cycle. Some of the other companies will start slashing prices too, and the next thing you know all but the most popular balls are being sold for less than $140...some for even less than $100.
Bowling balls are not that complex of a product to produce, the only difference between most balls is a dash of this chemical here and a tweaking of that core there. Bowling ball manufacturing is mostly about marketing and price point strategies. Look at how Ebonite markets and sets the prices of its products now that they own more than half of the major ball companies. Study the different prices being set by Hammer versus Columbia versus Track versus Ebonite. They have every price point well covered and have developed a strategy to smother the competition while allowing each branch of the Ebonite division to make money.
If your business is dependant on ball sales for survival, and you are losing a good chunk of your business to on-line retailers, it's time to think about restructuring your business. If you're going make a living selling bowling balls, you had better be a cost-leader (move lots of inventory at the lowest price) or figure out a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Perhaps you should study how Ace Hardware is surviving in the midst of the home improvement mega-stores dominating the market. Ace recognizes that people have a very difficult time getting someone to help them at Home Depot and Lowe's, so they've focused their strategy on providing superior service. Some on-line retailers offer free drilling but I would imagine that the final fit must be rather generic. Figure out way to exploit that. Recruit the best bowler in your area to help market yourself. Give him steep discounts or free equipment in exchange for him lauding your services. He throws a three hundred and the first words out of his mouth are how a custom fit ball with the proper specs from your shop makes all the difference between good and great.
What are some of the other weaknesses of on-line retailers that you can exploit? Customers can't try out a ball on-line. Do you sponsor demo days with various ball companies? Ball companies can only market on-line. You have access to your customers while they are actually bowling. Is there a better time to sell? Are you at the local bowling center during league offering advice while your customers are actually bowling? If your shop is in the center itself, are you sitting in the shop waiting for the customer to come to you? Do you advertise in the local center? Are you doing anything to get more customers through your door?
What are you doing to market the sport locally to attract more customers? You know how people sponsor other people for $1 a mile on those walk-a-thons? You can do the same thing by creating bowl-a-thons for kids to raise money for stuff like band trips or adults to raise money for a local charity. Get the local radio celebs involved and try to con them into doing a remote from the center on the day of the event. Then once you have them in the door, market the hell out of your products and league bowling.
Are there any other weaknesses of the on-line retailers besides inferior products and service? If not, have you tried to figure out a way to join forces with the on-line retailers? Rather than shipping the ball directly to the customer, see if you can work out a deal where you're the local driller for that on-line retailer and they'll ship the ball to you to be drilled with a custom fit. This could either involve the on-line retailers charging for the drilling up front and paying you, or the customer paying you directly.
The last thing that I'll say is to confirm your conclusion that the ball companies do not care for the pro-shop owner. But if you think they ever did, you're just fooling yourself. Selling bowling balls is a business and the business of business is to make money, not friends. They'll love you while you're selling their products, but as soon as you're unable to move product they'll drop you like a bad habit.
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ILBT!
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Edited on 1/25/2009 9:23 AM
