evlPanda said..
^ all that said I prefer to call up SurfFX and talk to a human.

Hello, windsurfing Dept. please
Hello
Hello. I want a thingy, about this big.
Ah, we have thingies... let me just check... we have this big and this big, and we have the new thingies in too.
The new thingies?
People are really liking the new thingies, and they're the same price.
Ok sweet - a new thingy
OK, what's the delivery address... and credit card... done.

[arrives next day]

It's like artificial intelligence.

I've worked in ERP for 15 years and sometimes I reckon a piece of paper works better for information. Machines are cold and autistic.

An email is even better.

Buying a wetsuit online, that's funny. The one thing than needs to fit properly to work, and you would chance buying the wrong size and then the hassles of return/replace. You're right that you can buy them everywhere, and that is what most people would do.
As for "sophistication", it's the lowest common denominator at play. Why spend the 10's of thousands required when none of the other retailers are?
if your are making ends meet, then why spend more. I think most people would not realise the time and effort involved to keep a sophisticated website up to date, ensure the security of the host and now face the real threat that a hack could cost you your business if you don't store personal details and credit card numbers securley. Most small business owners are not tech savvy enough to to be across all of this and run their business at the same time.
I would also say they may have been burnt in the past by dodgy IT companies/or have the feeling of being burnt because they were not sure what they wanted and it cost a small fortune. IT people are good at this.
The market is limited, there is no reason to shoot for the moon. With retail prices for new gear set to rise, investing heavily in a new website will be a low priority.

It's illegal to store credit card information. No one does it. Refer to PCI DSS policy. So security is a flawed argument. Also, it's been said numerous times that setting up a website isn't costly or difficult

Just over 4 years ago I walked into Surf FX because I decided I wanted to take up windsurfing. The guys didnt know me from a bar of soap. They set me up with my first rig a short time later and the rest is history. Their website isnt too bad and has a reasonably up to date list of stock and all the manufacturers have their own websites with all the info about why their boards etc are the best. Plenty of info for the customer to read through between the two.
Who cares. I would rather walk into the shop and talk crap with the guys and look at and touch the new gear, which more often than not leads to a sale I have done this on MANY occasions. So much so that now I am happy to consider these guys my friends. They even organise weekends where customers are invited go away camping on the beach with windsurfers, suppers and kiters and have an awesome time. This obviously didn't come about because I went in and got ripped off or because the guys are wankers. It came about because of the time spent with me as a muppet when I knew nothing and being great to deal with.
I would take that any day over some fancy online point of sale where you save a whole 10% over retail. If you build a relationship with any shop and buy your gear from them whenever possible you are just about guaranteed to get a 10% discount off retail and just maybe a fraction more on some items.
I know what I would prefer.

N1GEL said..
It's illegal to store credit card information. No one does it. Refer to PCI DSS policy. So security is a flawed argument. Also, it's been said numerous times that setting up a website isn't costly or difficult

PCI DSS is a "expected" for compliance not illegal. So your argument is flawed. Alot of small business would not be aware of it and who knows where their personal details are stored.
yes, you should be compliant and there are big penalties if you have a breach and are no compliant. This does not mean you can't do your own thing.
setting up an "noddy" website with a host that supplies a template with default metadata that does a great job advertising for the host is easy.
the argument is that these sites need to be sophisticated, and this is NOT cheap and simple.

^^^ I do the opposite too - the downside of online info. If I wanted to buy a cheap item on ebay I'd look at the sizing charts, like Surfstitch having too much info helps me buy from a cheaper online retailer.

^^^ OK so Laurie needs to let each shop have an online store on this site, for a fee of course say triple the normal site sponsor costs ....... save on the web costs for the shops though .... everybody's happy.

Interesting discussion, we will be migrating part of the business over to ONLINE for sure over the coming months. At the same time I think that even though shops do not have full blown online shopping capabilities, a lot of the sales are being done via internet inquiries and interstate. Buyers should benefit from the supply of the various brands in Australia. The industry itself will adapt automatically. It's fair to say that the internet is a game changer - one may see that as a threat but it's also an opportunity!

I think it is going to cost a lot more than $49 a month......interesting they don't put all the pricing. You need to read the fine print.

"Pricing is for one licence of JCurve Accounts. Advanced features will incur additional fees payable upfront annually in advance. "

It's the same old story ... I remember when desktop publishing software first became widely available... the common feedback you got from small business was "why would I pay a designer when I can buy the software for $100 and do it myself". Needless to say the results were all over the shop.
Then it was photography and video production.... "my nephew is pretty good with his digital camera. I'll just get him to do the photos for free..."
And then my all time favorite, "my mother used to do the parents newsletter at my school back in the 90s. I'll get her to give feedback on the business web application."Yes services like Shopify have brought the cost of running an online stored down significantly but it still doesn't solve the problem stock management, managing the content on the site, user training etc. As with any IT system it's usually not the startup cost that are the problem it's the ongoing running.
In the case of a Windsurf store just think of things like do you digitally manage the stock of every last screw? If not where do you draw the line. How do you communicate to your staff where that line is drawn? I am not saying it's not doable but it does require a lot of time. Given most shops are small businesses where the owner still works the floor there is often no time to even get the basics of running a business done let alone implementing a new way of doing business.

So from the store owners point you really need to get a return of investment ie can I shift more product or will people simply use my site to shop for the cheapest product on offer?

I assumed on the low side. It was just to identify that (as per usual) the cost of the tech is only the tip of the iceberg. Also did now want to give the game away ;)
I love the “It’s the digital economy era, it’s all ‘as a service’ man. Low cost and no risk. Just bung it in the cloud.”. If I had a dollar for every time this has been proven wrong…
Talk to those who suffered an Office 365/Google Docs outage recently and see how the bosses feel.

If you have specific role (sales guy) with generic tasks (sales) and you are willing to change your business practices and change the risk profile of your business then there are efficiencies of scale in the cloud. They scale well if you are big.

As for JCurve.
So it’s actually a repackaged offering from the US. The T’s & C’s put all the onus on the customer. If JCurve has a problem, you have little redress. Being US based, any outage windows will usually affect Australian business during opening hours.Service level agreement has not been updated since 2012 and commits to 99.5 update. So customers wear a 2 day unscheduled outage.
They don’t do refunds, only credit back on your account. Miss one payment and you are no longer even eligible for this.
You can’t get your “site” out if you choose to move host, you have to start again.

For the nerds one of their “testimonial” sites is -lifeinteriors. com. au-
Run your network tools and see what you discover.You get what you pay for…

you 'can' do anything yourself, doesn't mean it will be any good. It also means you'll probably take longer to do it than someone that knows what they are doing.
DIY web is an option of course - but if it's for something more than a hobby, it leaves a lot to be desired, causes headaches and results can be questionable. There's a lot more that goes on and needs to be done behind the scenes that most aren't aware of. Of course I may be biased as I work in design and web ;)

McSmurfin said..
DIY web is an option of course

DIY web is actually relatively cheap these days but as said it will take time...

In my previous business I maintained a up to date list of stock on the website by using a drop box link to an excel spreadsheet. It was a timber business so each pack was unique and customers just clicked on the link to download to spreadsheet and pick the pack they wanted. Once the pack was sold I deleted it off the spreadsheet so available stick was up to date all the time

Very interesting thread .. as I see it pros and cons to online .
I have been in this windsurf retail for 30 years and okay I might be old school but the only reason I am still here is because I always strive to give the right advice .
For those sailors out there that know exactly want they want I get it, but are they going to click on RRP price new board and buy it .. I don't think so they will want some sort of deal . For me as a sole operator to go online it is a lot of work , new software a lot of of time with photos etc and maintenance of the site .
At the moment I use the seabreeze classified with great success . Maybe I should start putting small items on line and test the waters