Brad Wolansky

CEO Dover Saddlery

Brad Wolansky is the Chief Executive Officer at Dover Saddlery, the largest multichannel retailer of equestrian products in the United States. Brad brings a wealth of leadership and experience to the business. His strengths in operational excellence, omni channel marketing, product development and over 30 years in retail both in the private and public sectors, coupled with his passion and drive to put the customer first, establishes Brad as a strong leader and mentor for growing brands.

In addition to Brad’s current position as Dover Saddlery CEO, he spent time as Chief Digital Officer at Performance Sports Group via Boston’s B2C Partners, President, Consumer Direct, and President, Fundraising as well as Chief Marketing Officer for Yankee Candle, part of Newell Brands. Prior to joining Yankee Candle, Brad was CEO of The Golf Warehouse for Redcats USA and spent over 10 years with The Orvis Company, managing catalog and product development and most recently VP of Global E-Commerce. Brad was also Director of E-Commerce Merchandising for Wilson's Leather, spent time at L.L. Bean, has engineered two start-ups, and for ten years ran a family-owned group of luggage and gift stores.

Main Day Two - Digital & eCommerce Transformation

12:35 PM Keynote: Don’t Assume She Knows: How To Market Your Product To Educate, Inform And Convert New Customers

There’s a “trap” in specialty retail, particularly when selling specialized hardgoods or soft goods, to make the assumption in our messaging via catalog, online presentation , and even in-store, that your browsing customer already understands the product and its context within your assortment. That she already knows which item to buy and for which purpose.

Bad assumption.

Just because “we” (insiders) understand how 1 out of 20 different items might be used…it doesn’t mean that “she” does. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for retailers today.

It’s a challenge to convey succinctly and quickly what an item does, how it fits in to an assortment, how it will make the consumer’s life better, and why she’d desire it. Many shoppers like to get help online and in-store and while product details are valuable, guiding shoppers to make the right choice is critical in many categories and an important differentiator for specialty retailers.

It’s an opportunity for a well-versed specialty retailer to demonstrate their chops and actually help the customer understand an item’s raison d’etre, thereby reducing friction to purchase, hence increasing conversion.

In this presentation, Wolansky will:

Present the case: “Don’t Assume She Knows”…
Define “ Specialty Retail Arrogance”
How to define what the product is, why it exists, and how to help customers make a buying decision
Show examples of creative, before and after, which will ultimately educate the customer and convert the sale.
Lay out a thought process for creative productive which attempts to eliminate this bias and institute a way of thinking of how to approach each product in the assortment.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Brad.

Download The Latest Agenda