Last week I pulled quite a bit of product off the website. It was old designs and pieces that I was tired of staring at, and tired of them staring back at me, mocking me.
So the inventory and product selection is now pretty slim, but there are new products coming. As Snoloha continues to grow through retailers, I have to remain sensitive and aware of the concerns that stores have when their vendors sell direct online. It’s a muddy area and arguments from both sides make sense.
For a young brand like Snoloha, it’s important to have an online presence in order to grow, tell the Snoloha story and connect with customers. At the same time, establishing retail partners is vital to the brands existence, and some retailers frown upon brands they carry in-store also selling direct online.
This careful balancing act is a main reason for a limited online product selection. I have to offer something for my customers who simply prefer to shop online, but also because Snoloha is still a very young and very small brand without the large retail distribution of bigger brands…online is often the only choice at this point. Of course, the goal is to change this so that it is available at more retailers, and we are working on doing just that.
Moving forward, the site will reflect the “staples” of the brand (the best selling items), along with online only products. Trade show season is well underway which means we should be adding new retailers for 2011 so hopefully Snoloha will be coming to a store near you.
That’s all, for now.
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