To put a bit more perspective on this Importer -> Dealer (LBS) -> Consumer question. OEM brands almost always have an importer in various countries - The Importers agreement almost always has a condition that the importer is not allowed to sell direct to consumer. Why ? Well the importer does not have the geographical footprint to harness market volumes of the brand, they do not have the manpower to handle after sales service and retailing is just not their business. the business model of an importer is very different from a retailer business model, you cant be both. If you try be both one or the other will suffer at some point. The problem with this business model is the OEM & Importer are too far away from their target market (consumer) and have to rely on retailer (LBS) for service levels & product availability. Well we all know the crappy service levels of most retailers - so the brand suffers as a result - they don't keep stock, staff are clueless on the brand and technically they not up to speed on the brand technology. So yes why should a consumer be forced to order through a retailer. Well the bulk of the importers turnover is from the retailer and if the importer starts retailing to the consumer he is effectively competing against his own customers. TREK & Spez tried to change this with a certain amount of success by opening up their own concept stores - But in the background its still the same setup - There is an importer and a retailer in the margin chain, the service levels of the retailers are however better because they are focused on one brand, but the lack of choice like a LBS who is mulitbranded is the downside, and of course both these brands have a vast range to warrant a successful business model. There is no silver bullet solution to satisfy both the retailers and consumers - and DT Swiss brand is just no big enough to go the concept store route, so they have to rely on retailers for the majority of their market, that small portion of business they lose direct to consumer is considered acceptable in the bigger picture. What does need to change though, is the connection of Brand (Importer) to the consumer, especially those of us that repair & service products outside the norm of retailers. Which in my view is a bigger market than we think. As an importer i would be tapping into this market. Starting a Q&A forum like this is a good start - Joe public can now at least communicate with people that know the product. Hopefully the importer is open to providing Joe public with tech advice, Ass & repair instructions as well as spare part manuals. The next step is to give the consumer more choice by publishing your RRP and the ability to order direct online. This gives the importer complete control of the retail price and stops retailer pricing your products out of the market. So as a consumer i check your price against my retailer and if its more or less the same i'll get it from the retailer, if its completely out of line i'll order it online. Yes more work, more logistics, more admin for the importer - but you retaining the retail margin in return and you retaining a happy consumer = repeat business. We started this in our industry - Our customers are paying the same price they would through a retailer but are far happier because they were able to order direct from importer. Kind of boggles the mind but it works and proves that generally consumers complaints are more about the retailer than the product.
