Advice needed for basketball store owner

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

I didn't check Firefox or Safari but you should.

No problems in Firefox for me.

I'll pass on the long-sleeve, compression shirt though.

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

...Chrome is busted.

Runs fine on my Chrome. I'm using Version 49.0.2623.112 m

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

Runs fine on my Chrome. I'm using Version 49.0.2623.112 m

It now renders fine on mine too. Looks like it has been fixed.

[ref81]

Originally Posted by LRZ

You might want to add compression items that referees do use for basketball: compression calf and ankle sleeves, compression socks, compression shorts.

FWIW, I have no problem with your site listing things (eg, LS compression shirts, wrist lanyards) in one section (eg, basketball) that only apply to another (soccer, football).

Few more compression items were just added and Long Sleeve removed. Thanks!

[ref81]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

It now renders fine on mine too. Looks like it has been fixed.

Still has to be further fixed by our developers, sorry about that, I noticed that too.

[ref81]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

No stopwatches.



"smitty" is a type of lanyard, as used here (it is also a brand) -- it clips to the loop on the front of the shirt. Another type is a "noose" lanyard that goes around the neck -- and there are different styles of this as well.

Stopwatches removed. Looking into more lanyards...

[ReffingAce]

Anything you can find that would pertain to the female ref category would be a nice addition. We have several women in our association (including 1 on my crew) that just have an insane amount of trouble finding any items: shirts, shoes, etc. in women's sizes/fit. Unisex shirts/uniforms just don't do them any justice. My partner actually had to go to the boys youth section at Dick's Sporting Goods just to find a pair of black basketball shoes because there was nothing for women haha.

[ref81]

Originally Posted by ReffingAce

Anything you can find that would pertain to the female ref category would be a nice addition. We have several women in our association (including 1 on my crew) that just have an insane amount of trouble finding any items: shirts, shoes, etc. in women's sizes/fit. Unisex shirts/uniforms just don't do them any justice. My partner actually had to go to the boys youth section at Dick's Sporting Goods just to find a pair of black basketball shoes because there was nothing for women haha.

I agree, those seem to be just impossible to find.

I don't see Smitty of Cliff Keen making those shirts though (except few we found and added for Basketball - have you seen those?).

If you have any suggestions I will be glad to likely add them to the selection.

[ref81]

I know there are uniforms that are state/assn.-specific (most often sublimated with flag and or your assn. logo), but are they more popular than the generic ones? Are refs strictly following that and buying them rather than generic ones?

[jpgc99]

Originally Posted by ref81

I know there are uniforms that are state/assn.-specific (most often sublimated with flag and or your assn. logo), but are they more popular than the generic ones? Are refs strictly following that and buying them rather than generic ones?

I think your site looks pretty good, but I have to ask what motivated you to start this business? No offense intended, but you don't seem to have a great understanding of how the world of amateur basketball officiating works. I wish you the best of luck, but I think you need to know that more and more high school state associations are contracting with specific vendors to provide 100% of the uniform shirts for all high school officials in the state.

The big companies like Honigs, et al, aggressively pursue exclusive contracts with state organizations, then create the customized shirts with flags and state patches sublimated into the shirt.

I'm not sure what your business model is, or how you manage inventory, but I think it is important to understand the nature of the business today, and then try to identify specific areas of opportunity in the industry that you can take advantage of. What will make your store stand out?

[ballgame99]

Selection of shirts and pants is great! Website looks awesome!!

[ref81]

Originally Posted by jpgc99

I think your site looks pretty good, but I have to ask what motivated you to start this business? No offense intended, but you don't seem to have a great understanding of how the world of amateur basketball officiating works. I wish you the best of luck, but I think you need to know that more and more high school state associations are contracting with specific vendors to provide 100% of the uniform shirts for all high school officials in the state.

The big companies like Honigs, et al, aggressively pursue exclusive contracts with state organizations, then create the customized shirts with flags and state patches sublimated into the shirt.

I'm not sure what your business model is, or how you manage inventory, but I think it is important to understand the nature of the business today, and then try to identify specific areas of opportunity in the industry that you can take advantage of. What will make your store stand out?

Thanks for the input, I do appreciate and no offense taken whatsoever.

We are until recently specializing in being one of the largest soccer referee stores in USA and beyond.

It is our goal to expand into basketball and football which we recently undertook.

We differentiate ourselves by the fact that we have not only online presence but also a physical store (Referee Store). The store is strictly for referees/officials and not just general sporting goods store with small section reserved for officials.

We also keep stock on 95% of our items as we prefer shipping directly from our store. That allows us to control completely the shopping experience of our customers, rather what most others do, drop-ship from manufacturers.

We do not enter into contracts with specific states, but rather expand on the existing ones that, say, Cliff Keen has with many state associations.

While we didn't yet enter basketball state specific packages/uniforms on our site, we just completed those for Football officials.

In the end it is my belief that with unmatched selection and superb customer service, we can really add a great store for officials like you.

Having said that I am a retired national soccer referee and so I need to learn few things myself from officials like you as to what makes a great store for a basketball referee.

Should you have any more input or ideas, please let me know, I sure listen to all of it.

[ref81]

Originally Posted by ballgame99

Selection of shirts and pants is great! Website looks awesome!!

Thank you, on advice of members here we just added those few different Smitty lanyards too.

Love the input, thanks a lot all.

[Dad]

I'm not sold you should change anything I'm about to say, just random observations.

You have accessories with a picture of a bag/whistles/etc. Then you have an additional two tabs for bags/whistles. I would add them all into accessories and then possible have subsections.

Shoe section doesn't have shoes.

Compression pants are the only compression item I wear. I find them invaluable to keep calves/knees/etc warm. Though, I have a history of injuries so this may not be important to others.

[ref81]

Originally Posted by Dad

I'm not sold you should change anything I'm about to say, just random observations.

You have accessories with a picture of a bag/whistles/etc. Then you have an additional two tabs for bags/whistles. I would add them all into accessories and then possible have subsections.

Shoe section doesn't have shoes.

Compression pants are the only compression item I wear. I find them invaluable to keep calves/knees/etc warm. Though, I have a history of injuries so this may not be important to others.

The Basketball section link is Basketball

The accessories tab does not have a bag at all.

I am sorry, are you looking at the correct link? Please refer to the one above and tell me what you think.

Rafal