SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (BRAIN) — Rack brand Küat announced Thursday it will establish what it's calling an innovative direct-to-consumer sales channel in January.
Beginning Jan. 15, consumers will be able to purchase hitch bike rack products and other outdoor products directly from kuat.com, a move the brand resisted for the past 15 years. Küat will give premium brick-and-mortar dealers a 20% cash incentive on direct-to-consumer orders from kuat.com.
For example, based on the address where a D2C product is shipped, a qualifying Küat premium dealer in that area receives 20% of the sale (after refunds and discounts). If multiple premium dealers operate within 10 miles of the consumer's shipping address, the commission splits evenly.
To be considered a premium dealer to qualify for the D2C commission, a retailer must:
- Purchase $5k in product directly from Küat in the past six months.
- Have a brick-and-mortar store and be eligible for Küat's Dealer Locator.
- Have stock three core product families consistently in-store over the past calendar year. (Product families include Piston, NV 2.0, Sherpa 2.0, Transfer v2, Pivot v2, Ski or Water.)
"My sincere hope is that we establish a viable and dealer-inclusive way of operating D2C that other brands might be inspired to adopt," said CEO and co-founder Luke Kuschmeader.
Küat added that it has grown to where it is today because of IBD and retailer relationships through the traditional business-to-business model, hesitating to add the D2C channel because of that commitment.
In a letter to U.S. dealers, Kuschmeader wrote, "Over the years, I have watched as hundreds of bicycle and accessory brands have adopted a direct-to-consumer model. The way some brands have implemented D2C has never settled well with me. At Küat, we believe in the power of brick-and-mortar and recognize that without you, we would not be where we are today. And you are the cornerstone of our industry. In my opinion, cycling would suffer greatly without you. You build community, grow critical cycling infrastructure, and offer service and maintenance that would surely deter participation if not provided, part of the reason why we have held off on offering traditional D2C sales for years."
Kuschmeader said its current strategy is challenging, with customers changing the way they want to order and receive products. Küat wants to be an option for that preference, while still supporting its brick-and-mortar retailers, he said.
Full details of the program can be requested at sales@kuat.com.
