Exped USA said it will no longer permit dealers to sell Exped products through third-party (3P) vendors. The new policy, effective February 1, applies to both current and previous seasons (discontinued) merchandise.
Dealers may only sell Exped products through approved/official websites and/or physical locations. Third-party sites include, but are not limited to, Amazon.com, eBay.com and Walmart.com. Exped will not be pursuing a direct relationship with any third-party vendors at this time.
“Exped is a privately-owned company and we have the freedom and privilege to build meaningful, long-standing partnerships,” said Tracy Collins, director of sales, Exped USA. “We believe these partnerships and customer experiences are best served within the specialty retail channel. While many in the industry are focused on growing the 3P or direct marketplace business channel, Exped is choosing to focus our resources and strengthen our specialty retail partnerships through meaningful action. This is another example of Exped’s mindfulness and intentional approach to building industry-leading partnerships with our specialty retail community.”
Defining the policy as a “time-out,” the Exped USA sales team is focusing its distribution on specialty retail brick & mortar locations and specialty e-commerce partners.
Collins continued “We understand that third-party sites can provide additional revenue and traffic potential for many of our partners. However, this new policy will allow the Exped USA team and our retail partners to create meaningful and engaging shopping experiences for all customers. As distribution models and consumer behavior evolve, we will continue to evaluate and make decisions that are in the best interest of our brand and our dealer partners. This new policy is no exception, and we will monitor and assess its ongoing effectiveness to ensure it supports our dealer partners for the long term.”
Photo courtesy Exped
