Specialty Sports Venture (SSV), the retail/rental arm of Vail Resorts Inc, took the fast lane to e-commerce last week by acquiring Outdoor Outlet, LLC. The Appleton, WI company owns and operates www.O2GearShop.com, a rapidly growing online retailer of outdoor and snowsports gear that drew more than two million total visits last year.


SSV operates 150 specialty stores that racked up $137.7 million in retail and rental sales during the nine months ended April 30.

 

Despite its size, however, the company has thus far sold no merchandise online. The 02GearShop.com deal provides SSV with a complete e-commerce and fulfillment operation that could be used to eventually launch branded e-commerce sites for SSVs brick-and-mortar stores, which operate under multiple banners in five western states. Conversely, SSVs financial strength and industry contacts will enable 02GearShop.com to greatly expand the number of brands and categories it offers and upgrade both its front- and back-end operations. Furthermore, Vail will also be able to promote the site through its luxury resort properties, which operate sophisticated CRM databases and a growing digital media operation. A year ago, Vail Resorts acquired Mountain News Corp., parent company of the OnTheSnow.com website, which draws 2.2 million monthly unique visitors by tracking snow conditions at more than 400 mountain resorts.


Its a huge opportunity, SSV COO Kat Jobanputra in a phone interview with Sports Executive Weekly while returning from a visit to O2GearShop.coms operations center in Wisconsin late Friday. Jobanputra said SSV was moving down the road toward building its own e-commerce platform after discussions with several top sites failed to yield a deal. But the company changed course after learning of 02GearShop.com.


We felt as though O2GearShop.com had the infrastructure, the call center, the service level and a great reputation in the industry with all the manufacturers, he told SEW. They needed to get assistance from a viable partner and we will be able to add capital to the site and make sure they remain competitive.


Jobanputra said Vail Resorts IT experts are already drawing up plans to upgrade O2GearShop.coms back-end servers. On the front-end, 02GearShop.com customers should notice a wider selection of brands and products this fall.


While the 02GearShop.com site offers many top brands, its selection Friday was spotty. In the sleeping pad category, for instance, it listed product from Mountain Hardwear but offered nothing from Therm-a-Rest. Jobaputra said it is among the fastest growing online dealers for The North Face and Patagonia.
Until last week, SSV had limited its e-commerce ventures to renting ski equipment on www.skirentals.com and www.rentskis.com. Both sites rent gear through both SSVs own shops and a network of third-party shops across the country. While both allow customers to reserve equipment online and pick it up at right-by-the-lift shops, Skirentals.com caters to more value oriented customers with package deals. Rentskis.com, meanwhile, offers a broader  selection of late model demos primarily through SSVs premier snowsports shops located on or near the slopes at Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Heavenly, Keystone and Vail.


SSV operates brick-and-mortar stores under the Any Mountain, Colorado Ski & Golf, Bicycle Village, Breeze Ski Rentals banners and a number of slope-side shops at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Aspen  and Telluride, among others.