VAST SUP S/S 2025 PREVIEW

Retail Buyers Guide: SUP S/S 2025 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: VAST
Interviewee: Tom Lazarus, Sales Operations Manager

2024 was a balancing act: getting rid of the 2022/23 inventory and introducing fresh SKUs. Did it turn out as you wish it would?
Getting rid sound harsh. Only those who were massively over-purchasing needed to “Get Rid”. We had purchased well through 21/22 and 22/23 so were not overstocked and needing to discount heavily. This brought consistency for our retail partners and developed strong sales on new lines.

How do you foresee the future of the category? Turning into a legit sport for the masses or still mainly use as a leisure activity by occasional participants?
I think it can be both. The last few seasons has introduced the masses to the sport. A portion of these paddlers will enjoy the serene, chilled days on the water, once in a while, whilst overs will crave more, and develop in to the more advanced segments of the sport, whether that be touring, surfing etc. We work hard on ensuring that the boom during the covid period is not let wane and try and develop as many of the newer paddlers as we can in to more consistent watersports attendees.

How do your brand differentiate itself in the overcrowded “allround” segment? Pricing, technology, durability, wow factor?
A little bit of each. We are fairly priced but still offering the top line technologies. This in turn ensures we deliver on the durability and wow factor.

The second bestselling category would be “adventure SUPs”, which spreads from the touring boards to the fishing/multi-user/river models. Which are the trending segments within your brand?
We currently run a “Flare” touring model that we have designed specifically with Glide, speed and stability in mind as an introductory board to Adventure Sup. We have left it slightly wider than most touring boards to ensure stability for those not used to the touring paddling style, but shaped to ensure that glide can still come easily.

Inflatables: Which are your flagship models for SS25?
For SS25 we are giving our Aurora Allround options a strong refresh. With a number of brands moving to cheaper technologies we are hell bent on ensuring that those newer paddlers that generally purchase within this market segment, have full access to affordable high end technologies, and not supermarket equivalents.

What kind of support do you offer for retailers? (pre-orders sales terms, in-season restocking, dropshipping, in-store demos…)
We work hand in hand with our retailers to ensure each receives the support they need individually, whether that be us holding additional stocks on top of the preorders to help with in season purchasing, or offering in-store and on the water demos for our brand.

Key Products:

8 6 Astro Grey: