Are Brand Websites Cannibalizing Sales at Wholesale Partners?

Eoin Comerford, the former CEO of outdoor retailer Moosejaw, has come up with a "Retailer Partnership Score" system that ranks 25 leading outdoor brands on whether their websites are supporting, or cannibalizing, sales from their wholesale partner doors.

The analysis comes as outdoor specialty stores, often credited with helping brands establish credibility with outdoor enthusiasts, increasingly feel they’re competing against brand websites that are often promotional.

Comerford, now a consultant after Walmart’s sale of Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods, wrote on LinkedIn, “There are a lot of different elements that go into being a good partner — everything from on-time delivery to co-op advertising policies — but I decided to focus on two areas that could be verified on the brands' websites: discount orientation and promotion of dealers as sellers of the brands' products.”

Under his scoring system:

• E-mail sign up offer: Many brands in the outdoor space offer up to 20% off if a consumer provides an e-mail. Under the scoring system, brands with no such discount receive the maximum 30 points, 10% off gets 10 points, 15% off gets 5 points, and 20% off is worth zero.
• Main sale message: Brands receive 20 points if the main home page message is not a sale message.
• Top navigation sale section: Brands receive 10 points if they don't have a sale section prominently displayed in their main navigation.
• Product display page (PDP) retailer promotion: Brands that show specific nearby retailers that have the item in stock receive 30 points. Providing a link to find nearby local dealers is worth 20 points.
• Top navigation dealer locator: Brands that include a link to their dealer locator in the top navigation receive 10 points.

Ranking as Tier 1 Brands (75-100 points) were Brooks Running, Oboz Footwear, Nemo Equipment, Yeti, and Salomon. Tier 2 Brands (50-74 points) included Arc'teryx, On, Big Agnes, EXPED, KÜHL, Clothing Company, Osprey Packs, Smartwool, Fjällräven, and Patagonia.

Many of the comments responding to the LinkedIn post explored the reasons that many branded sites were promotional (36% had a sales message on their main home page, and 46% had a sale section in their main navigation bar) rather than focused on product and messaging.

One reason cited for the e-mail sign up offer was that it helps brands build a customer mailing list — a critical tool for raising overall awareness and loyalty.

Some touted the value of a brand’s e-commerce site for clearance versus other methods, while noting that it often takes time to rebalance seasonal inventories to avoid heavy clearance. One commentator said they were okay with a periodic sale, especially if brands offer a chance for dealers to purchase aged inventory at a break before selling it at a discount through their website.

One commentator said “Intangible drivers like authentic culture, product innovation, and consumer connection outweigh these operating metrics,” ultimately elevating sales at third-party retailers.

Comerford believes the most critical aspect in retail partnership is “whether the brand is investing in top of the funnel brand advertising that drives overall demand (including to retail partners) vs. just focusing on bottom of the funnel where they compete on Google, etc. with their dealer.”