Glad I could make you laugh! Usually I just piss people off since I actually have a brain in my head & know how to use it & some folks just flat don't like that. 
TLCA Merchandise
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yeah, well just remember, they may think they they are tougher, or smarter, but invite 'em into the 'pit!!!! bet they don't last long!!!:whoops: 
Send all existing goods (2 car garage full) to a fulfillment house who will ship upon confirmed orders. The fulfillment house takes full responsibility for the inventory including shrinkage and insurance. Even if it costs 20% this is not much on the small ticket items we are selling.
If there are tasks involving merchandise (whether physical inventory is involved or not), I volunteer.... or other tasks, I have time on my hands and somewhat of a brain left in my head (but that is subject to debate, right Jen : )
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Alf: we're already doing this...???ANC stocks and ships all our stuff already.
Waynerain: Unless you can help Matt rebuild what's already there at ANC, we don't need any help.
As for splitting merch into east and west...no-sir, we're not going that way. We've gone to great lengths to make this into a business proposition, not a car club volunteer activity. This way when volunteer X moves, it's not a problem. This way when volunteer Y is on vacation, no problem. This way when volunteer Z loses a fedex number, no problem. This way When volunteer A gets tired of doing the job we don't spend $2000 re-shipping merchandise to volunteer B. I am not up for moving backwards here...
thanks for the willingness to help tho y'all.
Waynerain: Unless you can help Matt rebuild what's already there at ANC, we don't need any help.
As for splitting merch into east and west...no-sir, we're not going that way. We've gone to great lengths to make this into a business proposition, not a car club volunteer activity. This way when volunteer X moves, it's not a problem. This way when volunteer Y is on vacation, no problem. This way when volunteer Z loses a fedex number, no problem. This way When volunteer A gets tired of doing the job we don't spend $2000 re-shipping merchandise to volunteer B. I am not up for moving backwards here...
thanks for the willingness to help tho y'all.
My recollection (I'd have to go back to our original discussions to get the actual numbers) is that we make something on the order of 10% on ANC merchandise. It has never been made clear what our margins are on merchandise we provide, such as Trails. I would therefore guess that our margins vary from one item to the next. I asked in my post above, but haven't heard back yet, what our CoGS are. In particular, it would be helpful to have them broken out by line item or clessification for a more informed analysis.cmc said:
I have no argument with the assertion that the store...shall we say...could be better
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willingness to help is great. chef even thanked those guys for being willing to do so. but chef is right. we haven't given this enough time. the work has been done.
the merch has been shifted, the merch is available. matt's fixing the store issues. let's see what happens when the store is functional, before we start making even further changes.
further changes means additional costs, so let's try to keep those controlled where we can, and that means giving this issue time to settle in. my two cents. (canadian )
-justin
the merch has been shifted, the merch is available. matt's fixing the store issues. let's see what happens when the store is functional, before we start making even further changes.
further changes means additional costs, so let's try to keep those controlled where we can, and that means giving this issue time to settle in. my two cents. (canadian
) -justin
Merch Help
I am the merchandise manager for a well known entertainer. I have a few suggestions for solutions that TLCA might be interested in.
Please contact me if you'd like more info and/or help. I might not have the time to take this on until early October, however I see the need and I'm volunteering....Gulp! Besides, I'd like to get more involved with TLCA and this might be the motivation. Give me a shout, I'm happy to help.
Best,
Dan de Serpa
415.999.4332 mobile
I am the merchandise manager for a well known entertainer. I have a few suggestions for solutions that TLCA might be interested in.
Please contact me if you'd like more info and/or help. I might not have the time to take this on until early October, however I see the need and I'm volunteering....Gulp! Besides, I'd like to get more involved with TLCA and this might be the motivation. Give me a shout, I'm happy to help.
Best,
Dan de Serpa
415.999.4332 mobile
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swagdan said:
thanks, dan. hopefully your experience and ideas will be just the spark we need. glad t have you here, and hopefully we can get you involved to the benefit of our great club!!! thanks again for stepping up. that's really great of you.
-justin
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
I just read the whole thread.
It sounds like there are three issues.
-Merchendise inventory managment
-Merchendise fulfillment
-Marketing
Chef makes good points on the first two items and it apears that the new system may need more time to get moving.
It sounds like Swagdan is offering to help on the third but maybe a little group discussion might be a good thing.
So assuming the ordering and delivery systems is working what can be done to generate more sales?
I'll throw out a couple of brainstorm ideas to play with;
It may be already be like this but could we but a full page add on the other side of the membership form in TT? IIRC you can order stuff when you apply. Maybe it would help if there were color pictures right there?
Maybe offer swag at cut rate/free to event organizers for use as door prizes just to get visability? This would be more effective at events where merchendise was for sale because you could get the MC to help pimp your stuff.
It sounds like there are three issues.
-Merchendise inventory managment
-Merchendise fulfillment
-Marketing
Chef makes good points on the first two items and it apears that the new system may need more time to get moving.
It sounds like Swagdan is offering to help on the third but maybe a little group discussion might be a good thing.
So assuming the ordering and delivery systems is working what can be done to generate more sales?
I'll throw out a couple of brainstorm ideas to play with;
It may be already be like this but could we but a full page add on the other side of the membership form in TT? IIRC you can order stuff when you apply. Maybe it would help if there were color pictures right there?
Maybe offer swag at cut rate/free to event organizers for use as door prizes just to get visability? This would be more effective at events where merchendise was for sale because you could get the MC to help pimp your stuff.
Here's the list as I see it:
I plan to work with ANC in September to revise the store. Keep your fingers crossed.
- New merchandise that is cool and interesting. Stuff that people drool over.
- Merchandise inventory managment
- Merchandise fulfillment
- Marketing
- Selling TLCA merchandise at events
I plan to work with ANC in September to revise the store. Keep your fingers crossed.
Hi rusty_tlc,
Perhaps a brief history of TLCA merchandise is in order here. Knowing where we've been can help understand why we are where we're at, where we're trying to go, and how.
Back before the internet, all TLCA merchandise were advertised through Toyota Trails. A volunteer would keep the actual merchandise at their home, and fulfill merchandise orders. Occasionally, merchandise would be schlepped to an event by a volunteer, and some would be sold at the event. At some point in the mid-late 1990s, we got a page on our primitive, volunteer-webmastered and hosted web site where you could see the stuff, but you still had to order it the old fashioned way.
Chef's platform included a professional rebuild of our entire web site, including ecommerce where you could order stuff online securely with a CC and it would be just like the 21st century. We got some software, and built our online store. Because the software was free, it needed a lot of custom coding, which was gradually implemented and things were working pretty good. At this point last year, we were mainly looking for fresh, new ideas for what TLCA merchandise to offer.
At that time, among the things we had been discussing within the TLCA BOD is the company that Toyota uses for their logo'd stuff, ANC. ANC takes your logo and super-quickly puts it on any of thousands of items they keep in stock, from first-aid kits to tire pumps, jackets, whatever, then drop-ships it direct to the customer. In return, they only give us a very small amount, something like 10% IRRC. But we don't have to pre-purchase and stock any merchandise, and they do all the inventorying and fulfillment headaches.
Then, the merchandise section of the web site got hacked, apparently including all the custom coding. Nobody noticed for a week, and the nightly backups our hosting service made became backups of garbage. Somehow, we did not have any local backup to restore the store. Not long after that, our merchandise chairs were moving, and this kind of pushed the whole ANC idea forward. But we were without a web store for quite a few months. Then, earlier this year, our webmistress had to quit. We got a new webmaster, and he has been working real hard on a lot of things on the site, and we have a merchandise section again, but at the moment the transition from the TLCA part of our site to the ANC's part is problematic.
Not only is it a bit less user friendly online shopping experience than most of us are used to, but you can't tell that there are thousands and thousands of cool items you can get through ANC with the TLCA logo on them. Where we are currently trying to go is to make the shopping experience easier, and to somehow make it easy to order all the cool ANC stuff with a TLCA logo on it.
Any comments, elaborations, clarifications or corrections are welcome, this is just an encapsulation of my recollection. HTH and happy cruisin'!
Perhaps a brief history of TLCA merchandise is in order here. Knowing where we've been can help understand why we are where we're at, where we're trying to go, and how.
Back before the internet, all TLCA merchandise were advertised through Toyota Trails. A volunteer would keep the actual merchandise at their home, and fulfill merchandise orders. Occasionally, merchandise would be schlepped to an event by a volunteer, and some would be sold at the event. At some point in the mid-late 1990s, we got a page on our primitive, volunteer-webmastered and hosted web site where you could see the stuff, but you still had to order it the old fashioned way.
Chef's platform included a professional rebuild of our entire web site, including ecommerce where you could order stuff online securely with a CC and it would be just like the 21st century. We got some software, and built our online store. Because the software was free, it needed a lot of custom coding, which was gradually implemented and things were working pretty good. At this point last year, we were mainly looking for fresh, new ideas for what TLCA merchandise to offer.
At that time, among the things we had been discussing within the TLCA BOD is the company that Toyota uses for their logo'd stuff, ANC. ANC takes your logo and super-quickly puts it on any of thousands of items they keep in stock, from first-aid kits to tire pumps, jackets, whatever, then drop-ships it direct to the customer. In return, they only give us a very small amount, something like 10% IRRC. But we don't have to pre-purchase and stock any merchandise, and they do all the inventorying and fulfillment headaches.
Then, the merchandise section of the web site got hacked, apparently including all the custom coding. Nobody noticed for a week, and the nightly backups our hosting service made became backups of garbage. Somehow, we did not have any local backup to restore the store. Not long after that, our merchandise chairs were moving, and this kind of pushed the whole ANC idea forward. But we were without a web store for quite a few months. Then, earlier this year, our webmistress had to quit. We got a new webmaster, and he has been working real hard on a lot of things on the site, and we have a merchandise section again, but at the moment the transition from the TLCA part of our site to the ANC's part is problematic.
Not only is it a bit less user friendly online shopping experience than most of us are used to, but you can't tell that there are thousands and thousands of cool items you can get through ANC with the TLCA logo on them. Where we are currently trying to go is to make the shopping experience easier, and to somehow make it easy to order all the cool ANC stuff with a TLCA logo on it.
Any comments, elaborations, clarifications or corrections are welcome, this is just an encapsulation of my recollection. HTH and happy cruisin'!
All,
What I will likely be suggesting are total solutions for all areas of TLCA merchandising. It seems that merch is the biggest weight that can and should be lifted from the shoulders of TLCA Management. This is the easy part. I will be proposing a fulfillment house that not only will design and hosts the merch. section of the website (displayed in "frames" so it appears within the TLCA website") but will handle inventory management (including real time sales and inventory data), will image every product, will handle customer service, will handle fulfillment and returns and will provide monthly reporting and payment. For this service there is very little upstart charges (shipping of product, interfacing with TLCA site hosts) and maximum return as far as taking this task off the hands of volunteers. It's not totally free however. For this service, they will take between 25% - 35% of net sales (to be negotiated). Minimum monthly sales goals have to be met or TLCA will be responsible for a minimum monthly charge ($100 or so). I will have further details and costs forthcoming....
This brings me to the next topic. Product quality and design quality. In order to get 4,000+/- members to buy product, the designs have to appealing, the product has to be top quality and the manufacturing runs have to be relatively small while keeping the manufacturing costs low in order to maximize profit. This is not easy, however it is possible if managed by someone who does this for a living. Because of my relationships with my vendors, this is possible. Everything costs money.... Good designs, quality product, manufacturing and finally freight/shipping all cost money. Lot's of suggestions on how to get top quality for reduced costs....but I'll save that for another time. This is where ANC (whatever the current product/fulfillment housis called) excels. There are no upfront product costs.....but then again TLCA has greatly reduced percentage of revenue because of it.
As far as marketing, we already have two published avenues for print/web advertisements. 1) Toyota Trails and 2) www.TLCA.org We should continue using these and explore how to best maximize the impact of advertisments in both.
I would further propose strategically placed co-opped advertisements on industry or sport specific websites and/or print publications (focused on Landcruisers, obviously - if we had advance knowldege of a publication featuring a landcruiser, we would consider taking an ad in that issue). We could advertise merchandise and membership opportunities in one well designed add. I'd also suggest that advertising timing is critical....spring, summer and holidays come immediatly to mind as does pre-TLCA sponsored events.
Exposure, exposure, exposure. TLCA needs to think out of the box because the hardcore member/customer has probably already purchased memberships and merchandise. The trick is how to get the curious would be member to join and marginal (the ones who are in it for TT only) member to both purchase official merch.
Event merchandise. The best way to motivate participants and observers is to purchase merchandise is to offer event specific merchandise ie; TLCA 2006 Moab specific designs etc...take pre-orders and then only bring a limited amount to the event. Offer the standard products as well at the event. The pre-order will ensure a revenue stream (to at least cover costs) and train participants to visit the store and buy early and buy often. Like concert tees, everyone wants the "tour" shirt.....because they were there.
It seems the most difficult part of event merchandising is 1) consistency and 2) a deadicated person(s) to staff a merch booth. If you want to increase merchandise visibiltiy at events, you'll need a merch. stand of some fashion (could be a clothesline and some hangers, metal gridding, whatever) and someone to manage it. Participants attend events to wheel, to meet other TLCA members, to get away from their everyday lives, to enjoy family and friends, right? So the chore of managing a merch booth seems counter to the reasons to attend because that person would be somewhat anchored to the booth and/or responsible for the inventory and cash. The way I see it, the merch person has to be incentivized (comped or reduced event fees) or payed. There should be realistic "store hours" so he/she can enjoy the event and finally, there has to be enough business to make this worthwhile to not only TLCA, but to the event merch manager.
Event sales can be forcast ahead of event and product can be drop shipped to whomever would be the "merch. manager" for each event.
I would be happy to take on "merch. manager" for most western region events....except that I travel alot for work, therefore I often can't make events (which is why I'm still a stranger).
There are so many more details....but it's not brain surgery. It's really about taking the repsonsibility off of paid staff and volunteers and replacing it with a full service fulfillment house so more time and resources can be focused on the goals and vision statement of TLCA. As far as event merchadising, people are just going to have to step up and take some responsibility if TLCA wants to offer merch at official events. I think this is very important and might be combined as a merchandise booth/TLCA information booth at events. Your most loyal members, your most likely potential members and your most deadicated customers attend events. There ought to be a merch/information booth at each and every event.
Prior to knowing if this is achievable, a current merch budget would need to be presented as well as a financial history of merch sales and budgets. If not, again, not a problem, however it'd be like your losing your GPS.....kinda like starting over without a map.
This is all train of thought, top of my head...and I really should be working. So forgive me if I've omitted key information, left any thoughts/suggestions unfinished or missed the boat completely.
Time to discuss, flame away or continue brainstorming so we can move towards a fully functional and efficient managment of TLCA Official Merchandise (that we'd all be proud to wear).
What I will likely be suggesting are total solutions for all areas of TLCA merchandising. It seems that merch is the biggest weight that can and should be lifted from the shoulders of TLCA Management. This is the easy part. I will be proposing a fulfillment house that not only will design and hosts the merch. section of the website (displayed in "frames" so it appears within the TLCA website") but will handle inventory management (including real time sales and inventory data), will image every product, will handle customer service, will handle fulfillment and returns and will provide monthly reporting and payment. For this service there is very little upstart charges (shipping of product, interfacing with TLCA site hosts) and maximum return as far as taking this task off the hands of volunteers. It's not totally free however. For this service, they will take between 25% - 35% of net sales (to be negotiated). Minimum monthly sales goals have to be met or TLCA will be responsible for a minimum monthly charge ($100 or so). I will have further details and costs forthcoming....
This brings me to the next topic. Product quality and design quality. In order to get 4,000+/- members to buy product, the designs have to appealing, the product has to be top quality and the manufacturing runs have to be relatively small while keeping the manufacturing costs low in order to maximize profit. This is not easy, however it is possible if managed by someone who does this for a living. Because of my relationships with my vendors, this is possible. Everything costs money.... Good designs, quality product, manufacturing and finally freight/shipping all cost money. Lot's of suggestions on how to get top quality for reduced costs....but I'll save that for another time. This is where ANC (whatever the current product/fulfillment housis called) excels. There are no upfront product costs.....but then again TLCA has greatly reduced percentage of revenue because of it.
As far as marketing, we already have two published avenues for print/web advertisements. 1) Toyota Trails and 2) www.TLCA.org We should continue using these and explore how to best maximize the impact of advertisments in both.
I would further propose strategically placed co-opped advertisements on industry or sport specific websites and/or print publications (focused on Landcruisers, obviously - if we had advance knowldege of a publication featuring a landcruiser, we would consider taking an ad in that issue). We could advertise merchandise and membership opportunities in one well designed add. I'd also suggest that advertising timing is critical....spring, summer and holidays come immediatly to mind as does pre-TLCA sponsored events.
Exposure, exposure, exposure. TLCA needs to think out of the box because the hardcore member/customer has probably already purchased memberships and merchandise. The trick is how to get the curious would be member to join and marginal (the ones who are in it for TT only) member to both purchase official merch.
Event merchandise. The best way to motivate participants and observers is to purchase merchandise is to offer event specific merchandise ie; TLCA 2006 Moab specific designs etc...take pre-orders and then only bring a limited amount to the event. Offer the standard products as well at the event. The pre-order will ensure a revenue stream (to at least cover costs) and train participants to visit the store and buy early and buy often. Like concert tees, everyone wants the "tour" shirt.....because they were there.
It seems the most difficult part of event merchandising is 1) consistency and 2) a deadicated person(s) to staff a merch booth. If you want to increase merchandise visibiltiy at events, you'll need a merch. stand of some fashion (could be a clothesline and some hangers, metal gridding, whatever) and someone to manage it. Participants attend events to wheel, to meet other TLCA members, to get away from their everyday lives, to enjoy family and friends, right? So the chore of managing a merch booth seems counter to the reasons to attend because that person would be somewhat anchored to the booth and/or responsible for the inventory and cash. The way I see it, the merch person has to be incentivized (comped or reduced event fees) or payed. There should be realistic "store hours" so he/she can enjoy the event and finally, there has to be enough business to make this worthwhile to not only TLCA, but to the event merch manager.
Event sales can be forcast ahead of event and product can be drop shipped to whomever would be the "merch. manager" for each event.
I would be happy to take on "merch. manager" for most western region events....except that I travel alot for work, therefore I often can't make events (which is why I'm still a stranger).
There are so many more details....but it's not brain surgery. It's really about taking the repsonsibility off of paid staff and volunteers and replacing it with a full service fulfillment house so more time and resources can be focused on the goals and vision statement of TLCA. As far as event merchadising, people are just going to have to step up and take some responsibility if TLCA wants to offer merch at official events. I think this is very important and might be combined as a merchandise booth/TLCA information booth at events. Your most loyal members, your most likely potential members and your most deadicated customers attend events. There ought to be a merch/information booth at each and every event.
Prior to knowing if this is achievable, a current merch budget would need to be presented as well as a financial history of merch sales and budgets. If not, again, not a problem, however it'd be like your losing your GPS.....kinda like starting over without a map.
This is all train of thought, top of my head...and I really should be working. So forgive me if I've omitted key information, left any thoughts/suggestions unfinished or missed the boat completely.
Time to discuss, flame away or continue brainstorming so we can move towards a fully functional and efficient managment of TLCA Official Merchandise (that we'd all be proud to wear).
Last edited:
swagdan said:
The sticking point here is that TLCA only puts on one event per year: the Rubithon. All other events are sponsored by chapters of TLCA. For example, the club to which I belong, Rising Sun, created the event Cruise Moab. We spend about 8 months planning this event, which includes a unique t-shirt and some other merchandise. You can see some of it here. In May 2007, we'll be hosting the 10th annual Cruise Moab, and we'll have some really cool shirts, hoodies, caps, and a few other items for sale.
We will gladly set up and staff a TLCA booth, where we can sell TLCA memberships, back issues of TT, and TLCA merchandise. However, event-specific merchandise is our domain.
A few years back, TLCA had some shirts that listed all the events for that year: kind of like one of those concert t-shirts that show all the tour dates on the back. We could certainly do that again -- it was pretty cool.
I think we should have a new TLCA t-shirt every year, available online and at events. And once they're gone, they're gone -- it's a limited edition.
Green Lantern
Have Truck, Will Travel
Hey Swagdon!
Your post is a great description of TLCA's business relationship with ANC. It's good that you know of an alternative merchandising resource... options are good.
I have a couple of observations. First, Matt already mentioned that all but one of the events are hosted by local chapters. Hosting an event is very stressful. Local chapters are in the red until the last day of the event. Most events make money by selling raffle tickets or event specific merchandise. TLCA merchandise has the appearence of bleeding money away from the host club. There's no anger in this and our host chapters fully support TLCA. But the feeling is still there. So, it's hard to sell TLCA merchandise at chapter events unless you have an inspired salesman like Cindy Twiddy.
Second, TLCA is marketing to its members. We rarely market to folks outside. Others tried this and the BOD spent money to buy ad space. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to measure any success.
Thanks for getting involved!
Happy Trails! N
Your post is a great description of TLCA's business relationship with ANC. It's good that you know of an alternative merchandising resource... options are good.
I have a couple of observations. First, Matt already mentioned that all but one of the events are hosted by local chapters. Hosting an event is very stressful. Local chapters are in the red until the last day of the event. Most events make money by selling raffle tickets or event specific merchandise. TLCA merchandise has the appearence of bleeding money away from the host club. There's no anger in this and our host chapters fully support TLCA. But the feeling is still there. So, it's hard to sell TLCA merchandise at chapter events unless you have an inspired salesman like Cindy Twiddy.
Second, TLCA is marketing to its members. We rarely market to folks outside. Others tried this and the BOD spent money to buy ad space. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to measure any success.
Thanks for getting involved!
Happy Trails! N
When we took merch to events, which was rare because it did not sell much except for events like the swap meet, we always asked the hosting club first, and then while selling, we always noted to folks to buy event shirts first, then TLCA shirts second.
At Rubithon, folks are buying TLCA shirts... only they say Rubithon instead of TLCA. but it is still TLCA.
Finally, I know Swagdan, know his gig, seen him wheel (ya, it was ugly) and can vouche for him... for whatever that is worth.
He is good people.
At Rubithon, folks are buying TLCA shirts... only they say Rubithon instead of TLCA. but it is still TLCA.
Finally, I know Swagdan, know his gig, seen him wheel (ya, it was ugly) and can vouche for him... for whatever that is worth.
He is good people.
rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
Rzeppa, thanks for the readers digest version of TLCA merch. history.
