SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (BRAIN) — A new company, Solution54, is setting up an online system to allow independent bike retailers to exchange inventory with other stores.
"Overstocked retailers can post excess inventory to other shops and expand their customer base. Understocked retailers can 'shop' with other dealers to complete the sale. With Solution54 overstocks and out-of-stocks no longer have to translate into missed sales opportunities," the company stated in a press release.
Solution54 was founded by Kyle O'Dea, whose idea was to create a closed online system that operates with agreements from specific brands to allow dealers to exchange inventory when needed, while preserving dealer agreements.
O'Dea first began thinking about the idea years ago, when he owned and operated a snowboard shop in Crested Butte, Colo. O'Dea said the pieces of the program all came together in his head on a more recent mountain bike ride. His company received a patent last year on the technology behind its peer-to-peer system.
Solution54 launched last year in the snowboard market, making its first transactions in the fall. Snowboard brands including Never Summer, Jones and Flux are participating. The bike market is next, O'Dea said, noting that he hopes Solution54's first bike transactions will take place this summer.
"We launched first in the snowboard market, but I feel that bike is actually the best market for us," he said.
The company notes on its website that brands benefit when retailers exchange unneeded inventory with other stores (who sell it at full retail price) rather than dumping excess inventory on the Internet, a major concern among bike retailers.
Under the system, the participating brands don't pay anything for the service, but System54 earns a percentage off of each transaction between retailers. There is no upfront cost for retailers to join the program. More information at solution54.com.
