marketmover
Mercian Hockey
Simon Mason, co-owner of hockey brand Mercian, speaks to SGB about the potential impact of the Olympic Games to the retail hockey trade
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hat is your Olympic experience?
I was fortunate enough to represent Great Britain at three Olympics as the goalkeeper for the hockey team. It was an immense privilege to do that; it is every athlete’s dream to represent their country, particularly at the greatest sporting event on the planet. For the last 7 years I have been on the Sports Advisory Group to the London Organising Committee and now the Athletes Committee that reports to the LOCOG board.
How did you get into hockey wholesale, what’s the attraction? During the course of my sports career I was sponsored by Mercian Hockey. Having finished playing in 2004 I went to work for them, eventually buying the company with a partner in 2007. I love working amongst sports enthusiasts. I believe that sporting people have a different kind of energy and humour; even when the market is tough, as it is now, the retailers that I meet still exhibit those strengths and it makes for an exciting day when you are out seeing people.
Will the Olympics help hockey retail?
I think that the games will create a ‘feel-good’ factor that has retail spin-offs. Sports in which GB athletes do well will see an upsurge in interest. I think that sports governing bodies that are ready to capture that temporary interest and turn it into long- term participation are those that the retail trade will benefit from. Since I finished playing I have worked in hockey’s governing body, culminating in my current voluntary position as President of England Hockey Board (EHB). I see the massive workload that is going on to harness the benefits that the Olympics creates. EHB has a five-week frenzy programme to ensure that any of the 630,000 people who will have hockey tickets during the games can get information about their nearest hockey club. It is programmes like these that will hopefully drive players into hockey and retailers will reap the benefits.
The economy is still challenging, what can retailers do to help themselves? I don’t think the solution to generating sales is just price. Of course the customer is looking for a bargain and if they go online then price is a differentiating factor, but I think the service offered also has a value. A retailer needs to decide what the target is, is it speed of delivery, is it the ease to buy a ‘family’ of products that are automatically identified on a website, or is it the quality of the in-store proposition, sizing,
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SGB-SPORTS.COM
amongst sports enthusiasts. I believe that sporting people have a different kind of energy and humour, even when the market is tough, as it is now
I love working
technical knowledge and product recommendation? It is easy to try and do too much and compromise everything. In my opinion, hockey products have technical features and highlighting them can lead the customer to make a decision based on the suitability of the product to their position, strength, speed or skill set. If this information is online or in the heads of shop staff it involves the customer and means they are more likely to buy.
How do you see the market over the next 12 months? I think it will continue to be tough, disposable income is being squeezed because of the rising costs of living and so people are being very cautious when it comes to purchasing. However the brands that produce high quality products, with innovative technical features will continue to make the most of the opportunities that exist.
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