Surf industry leader Rip Curl is deploying PlumRiver Technology’s Elastic Suite digital merchandising platform with the aim to eliminate the company’s printed B2B sales catalogs and marketing materials. The move comes on the heels of the endorsement of Elastic’s wholesale ecommerce technology by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) as part of the organization’s new Business Sustainability Alliance designed to strengthen the surf industry’s commitment to the environment.
Elastic’s legendary technology team and commitment to customer service were key to their selection by Rip Curl. The initial Elastic rollout covers the company’s regions of the United States, Canada, Caribbean and Costa Rica, with the potential of extending the technology to additional global regions. As part of the SIMA partnership, Elastic parent company PlumRiver will donate 8% of their revenue from creating digital catalogs for Rip Curl to help fund environmental programs within the surf industry.
“Helping our clients enhance their brands through more sustainable B2B merchandising and sales practices is exactly what the Elastic platform was designed to do. Partnering with Rip Curl in this way, while also giving back to support the surf industry’s environmental stewardship efforts, is a perfect opportunity for us to maximize the sustainability benefits of our technology in a meaningful and measurable way.”
–Josh Reddin, PlumRiver Technologies CEO
According to Rip Curl, the company sees their pathway to sustainability as a journey where their customers, crew and shareholders are constantly raising their expectation level relative to the environment. The company is committed to exceeding this level of expectation in part through their participation in the SIMA Business Sustainability Alliance and by using the Elastic platform to achieve print free B2B merchandising and sales. This effort exemplifies Rip Curl’s alignment of all aspects of their business with the values shared by their retailers, customers and crew.
“As surfers, we feel firsthand the immediate effects of pollution“We see rampant development on our coasts, we see the effects of a runaway consumer lifestyle and the general disregard for the future of the ecosystem as a whole.”
-Tom Curren, Rip Curl Team Rider
According to SIMA, the surf industry collectively creates nearly 180,000 wholesale product catalogs annually. Research by the Environmental Paper Network shows that printing and shipping this number of 150-page catalogs requires 540 tons of wood made from 3,244 trees, uses 3.45 million BTUs of energy, produces 2.43 million pounds of CO2, uses 2.89 million gallons of water and produces 159,480 pounds of solid waste. All of these negative environmental impacts will be eliminated when moving to print-free B2B sales and as others in the surf industry are prompted to follow Rip Curl’s lead in taking this step.
To learn more about how Elastic can benefit your brand, request a demo with our sales team.
Print Reduction & Sales Lift with Fully Integrated B2B
In addition to these sustainability benefits, Elastic is helping Rip Curl realize cost savings, sales growth and stronger relationships with their retailers. The move to a digital merchandising platform will provide a more seamless, standardized and efficient wholesale buying process for retailers, which is a top priority for Rip Curl. Ease of Elastic’s integration and the platform’s robust features are helping the company to create and manage multi-ship or multi-door orders, manage inventories real-time, allow reps and retailers to order in-stock products across multiple seasons under a single purchase order, and gain greater visibility into order status, shipping and invoices.
Digital Catalogs
Rip Curl’s digital catalogs powered by Elastic are making the B2B purchasing experience more interactive, visual, and strategic as sales reps can collaboratively curate assortment plans to assure a higher level of sell-through with the potential of greater margins at retail. Digital catalogs bring greater efficiency as sales teams no longer have to task an internal designer with laying out their seasonal product catalog pages. Rip Curl sales reps can also use the Elastic whiteboarding feature to more efficiently create custom merchandise assortments for their buyers resulting in more effective and profitable sales presentations. All of these features add up to reduced costs, increased sales revenue, and a greatly enhanced purchasing interface with retailers.
PlumRiver’s B2B platforms serve clients representing some of the world’s largest and most iconic brands in the outdoor, surf, cycling, sporting goods, apparel and footwear industries. In addition to Rip Curl, selected brands include: The North Face, Patagonia, Timberland, Volcom, Shimano, Gordini, Kuhl, Outdoor Research, Pearl iZUMi, Rawlings, TYR, Fjällräven, New Balance, 2XU, Boardriders, Crocs, Puma, Oakley, Reebok/CCM, Haggar, Lazer, Bauer Hockey, Easton, Burton, Reef, Hurley, Icebreaker, Fila, Nidecker, Black Diamond, Majestic, Osprey, Smith Optics, Bushnell, Fox River, Lowe Alpine, Rab, Carhartt, Dickies, Helly Hansen, Ariat, Marmot, Simms Fishing, Lole, Carter’s, Smartwool, Speedo, Golfino, Hi-Tec, Bell, OshKosh, Vans and CamelBak.
About Rip Curl
Founded in 1969 by Brian Singer and Doug “Claw” Warbrick, Rip Curl is one of the world’s most recognized and respected brands. It has been at the forefront of the surf scene since its creation. Rip Curl remains a company built by surfers for surfers, and we’ve been market leaders in surfing for over 50 years. We endeavor to make the best products, run the best events, support the best athletes, deliver the best customer service, communicate the best brand message, and have the best crew of people. This helps Rip Curl hold a vision of being regarded as The Ultimate Surfing Company. As a part of that vision, Rip Curl has forever prided itself on having the world’s best surf team. From global elite athletes to regional rising talents, no matter where you are in the world the best surfers will be riding with a Rip Curl sticker on the nose of their board. Rip Curl will continue to stick by the grassroots that helped make us the market leader in surfing, but we’ll also charge on into the future and push riding to a new level.
About PlumRiver Technologies
Founded in 2003, PlumRiver Technologies is a leading provider of B2B ecommerce SaaS solutions. Easy-to-use, web-based applications are tailored to the needs of manufacturers and wholesalers of footwear, apparel, outdoor, surf, sporting goods and other segments of the specialty retail market. In early 2016 PlumRiver acquired Elastic Suite Inc., the leading provider of B2B digital merchandising and sales enhancement technologies serving category-leading clients from a variety of manufacturing verticals. PlumRiver acquired CenterStone Technologies in 2018, bringing together the combined experience of a strong technology team behind the company’s Elastic platform as the industry standard wholesale purchasing interface between manufacturers and retailers. Some of the world’s biggest brands utilize the company’s Elastic technology platform that quickly bridges the gap between order processing systems, sales reps, retailers and consumers. Clients benefit further from Elastic features designed to quickly and easily integrate with existing IT infrastructure and ERP systems.
