Shop Profile: The APO Store Tignes
We decided it was time on our weekly tour of European shops to stop off at APO‘s flagship store in Tignes, France. While they’re not an independently owned boardsports store, their marketing and business intelligence is top dollar and will benefit many of our retailer readers. Read on for their insight.
1. Please give a brief history of your store including when it was started, who started it, who the owners and key players are.
Snowide SAS launched its Tignes’s retail store in December 2011 and it’s the first APO store. We have plans to develop the shop and are also working with several keys partners including Picture, Vans and Deeluxe.
2. What percentage of your sales are from online business compared to your brick-and-mortar sales?
We actually don’t have any web sales through the shop as it’s a flagship store however the APO has it’s own online activity with Shopatron across Europe and North America.
3. What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?
The consumer still wants to engage with a brand at varying levels and we feel it is key that we continue develop the APO consumer experience whether it be in store or online. An online store will never replace a true store with its ambiance and physical human and product contact however online remains a key part of our distribution and our engagement with our consumers
4. What are five products you couldn’t live without right now?
Gerome Mathieu’s pro model snowboard, Sammy Carlson’s pro model skis, Dual Entry snowboard bindings, Deeluxe snowboard boots and the legendary Vans shoes.
5. What are your secrets for selling high-end products?
The consumer is always seeking quality for the best price. Instore we offer this along a personlised service ensuring that the quality of the product extends through to the customer experience in store and ultimately on snow. In addition our ski and snowboard products are available for to test prior to purchase.
6. Are new lines important to your product mix? Why or why not?
We will always challenge ourselves to ensure that we have the right product mix. This is key in ensuring that our consumers see a progression, buy into the brand and return to our store.
7. Did your store’s sales increase or decrease over last year? To what do you attribute your gain or loss in sales? What will you do to either maintain your growth or to reverse the decline?
We have been very pleased with the first six months sell through of our product given that we opened very late into the season last year. We did meet our initial budget forecast. With the learnings of last year we can see what brands worked for us and the success achieved around the X-Games.
8. What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?
It ‘s a place where you don’t have hundreds of brands, where the APO atmosphere is prominent and a good consumer shopping experience. APO is about creativity and fun so we are doing our best to portray that feeling.
9. How do you stay in touch with the wants and needs of your customers?
We are constantly looking at the lastest trends, referencing 3rd parties, attending the varying trade shows and conducting varying consumer research in regards to brand and products.
10. What trends do you see upcoming in snow? outerwear?
Buyers are now pushing more and more for quality products. There seems to a reluctance towards boards and skis made in China. A speedy return of camber boards.
11. Does your store sponsor athletes, competitions, etc? If so, what are the benefits to the store and to the boardsports community?
APO sponsors local riders associated with the store and is looking at other opportunities to build a community
12. If you could go back five years what would you do differently?
We would have invested in a store earlier in order to develop the consumer retail experience.
13. Being a boardsports store based in Tignes, what benefits have you seen the Winter X Games bring to resort?
The shop location is just a couple of hundred meters from the X-games spot meaning a high percentage of people attending the X Games visited the shop which meant we were really busy. Looking forward to next year.
14. How’s your summer been? And what are the plans for winter?
Summer has been kind of quiet. The shop is more specialised on the Freestyle side but Tignes is not really pushing the snowpark meaning we are losing riders to other resorts . We really hope the town will reinvest on the summer freestyle activity to get all the riders back on the glacier and in the town. We will have to re-visit our summer activity!
