According to comments published in Cycle Canada magazine, Western Powersports owner Marq Smith talks about the challenge of competing with the internet and cross border shopping. He said people will order something online and then cross to pick it up…they get it for a little bit less money, quite often not a lot, but they think they’re saving a lot.
“We’re losing thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars every month to people shopping online,” he said. “People are always complaining about lack of service, and yet they shop online.”
Smith goes on to cite actual cases of people coming into his store with the intention of making more informed online purchases—it’s called showrooming.
“They come here and they’ll try on a jacket, helmet and a pair of gloves, then say, ‘Ok, thanks very much, now I can order them online.”
Smith doesn’t take these instances lightly, “ That’s theft, they’ve stolen time from my staff just to save themselves a few dollars.”
“Why not buy the stuff in Canada from people that are employed in Canada so we can keep our businesses going?” Smith wonders. “That keeps my friends and neighbours employed, keeps the taxes in Canada. We all want better roads and schools and highways, but if we take all the tax money and pay it outside the country then that doesn’t help us at all.”
Smith has taken his Yamaha line and merged it with Holeshot Motorsports also of Langley.
