Outdoor Retailer is currently testing out the beta version of its new Outdoor Retailer Hub, an online service designed to bring brands and retailers together in a virtual platform of brand microsites that can be used all year for everything from product development and launches to placing and managing orders. At the moment, the site, www.outdoorretailerhub.com, just shows the basic framework and a few sample microsites. The OR Hub, which was developed with the help of Sparc Retail, gives brands a way aside from their consumer sites to keep retailers and sales reps informed about product offerings, provide marketing materials and improve the selling process. Brands can customize their microsite and decide who can access it, changing it at will – for example, expanding access in time for the Winter and Summer Market trade shows. The sites are available to brands for $2,500, $4,500 or $6,000, depending on how elaborate they want it. Sparc noted that if a brand requested a B2B site directly, it could cost five times as much. More information is available from Marisa Nicholson, national sales manager for Outdoor Retailer.
