E-COMMERCE FOR SPORTS AND

RECREATION ORGANIZATIONS?

Yes that’s a thing…a thing YOU NEED.

By Kristen Goecke, Marketing Coordinator - 2014

There are currently over 250 million online shoppers in North America.

More than half (62%) of US consumerswith Internet access now shop online at

least once a month.

Did you know…

That is a lot of online shopping.

Yet, the sports and recreation industry has not adopted e-commerce as readily as traditional retailers.

Revenue from e-commerce for the sports and recreation industry is only around 3.5%, which is significantly less than the 9% for online retailers.

The sports and recreation industry is where online retailers were in 2003.

Did you know…

Why shouldn’t shoppers be able to

purchase activities, memberships,

merchandise or make donations the

same way they do with other

e-commerce merchants??

You might be asking yourself, how can a sports and recreation organization like

mine benefit from e-commerce?

We aren’t a store, we don’t sell physical things.

Well, first off, you do sell things.

How can I benefit from e-commerce?

You sell memberships, events, activities, merchandise and maybe you

accept donations which are an opportunity to help a cause.

These things might not all be tangible products that can be shipped but they

are things that can be sold via an

e-commerce platform.

ways e-commerce can increase revenue

and cut operation costs!

7

Ease of doing business

1

Your clients will be able to search for activities and classes, read

reviews and most importantly, they will no longer have to wait in

long lines or sit on hold waiting for someone to help them register,

renew or purchase.

The second you break down barriers to transacting with your organization and provide an easy user experience, you increase

sales and revenue.

Savings

2

Many clients will prefer to purchase via your online store. In person

and telephone registrations and purchases will decrease. Staff

devoted to these tasks can be utilized to grow the business, provide

better customer service, and work on projects that they didn’t have

time for previously.

A full service e-commerce solution will handle online registration and payment, offline sales as well as financial reporting, enabling you to spend

less time dealing with paperwork and more time concentrating on what you do best.

3

With the right e-commerce solution you can have up-to-date

information on your clients wherever you are. Everything from class

lists to outstanding invoices are at your fingertips making endless

paper trails a thing of the past.

Up to date information

4

The key to a successful business is to be where your audience is at

all times.

If your organization is online with an e-commerce solution, you are

everywhere your current and potential clients are. You are in their

pocket on their smartphone, at home and at work on their tablet or

computer.

Location, location, location!

The easier it is for you to reach your current and prospective clients, or for them to reach you, the more your volume and revenue will

increase.

5

Accepting online credit card payments can have a tremendous

positive effect on your cash flow.

Online credit/debit card payments can quickly be authorized saving

you a lot of time unlike checks and money orders which take days or

weeks to clear.

Online credit card payment

E-commerce brings convenience to your clients in terms of payment, automatically inviting more clients to browse and impulse buy.

6

Recurring billing is easy to set up with most e-commerce platforms.

You can configure your e-commerce platform so when a client

makes a purchase, they can opt for their card to be re-billed at a

certain frequency.

Recurring payments

Your clients will appreciate this option for big ticket purchases and membership renewals.

7

Imagine how much further your reach would be if all your current

clients went online and extolled your organization to all of their

friends, who took that recommendation, visited your website and

registered for your activities? That is social commerce and it’s the

best marketing you can get.

E-commerce can expand your reach as well as reduce the barrier to

doing business with you – increasing your volume and revenue.

Social E-commerce

The hardest part of building an effective social commerce strategy is establishing relationships and building a community that is loyal to

your organization.

You have this now. You just need to take it online with e-commerce.

Adding e-commerce to your organization can be a tremendous boost to

your business.

It will cut down your administrative work, break down barriers to

transacting with you and expand your market reach via social commerce.

Are you are interested in taking the next step and launching your

organization into the 21st century with e-commerce?

Download our Guide to Choosing an E-Commerce

Platform

Amilia 101The Amilia platform is entirely web-based, which means all you have to do is sign up, activate your account, and start boosting your business from day one.

We give you access to a fully implemented and fully secure platform, so you don’t have to worry about costly and complex installations or upkeep.

We also made sure Amilia is affordable and easy to adopt. Amilia is pay-as-you-go service with no long term contract, no set up fee, no penalty for cancelling – so it’s a very low risk decision for most social organizations.

It is easy to use. It is for everybody.