Dick's Sporting Goods 2014 Annual Report Download - page 31

5
Business Strategy
The key elements of our business strategy are:
Authentic Sporting Goods Retailer. Our history and core foundation is as a retailer of high-quality authentic athletic equipment,
apparel and footwear, intended to enhance our customers' performance and enjoyment of athletic pursuits, rather than focusing
our merchandise selection on the latest fashion trend or style. We believe our customers seek genuine, deep product offerings,
and that ultimately this merchandising approach positions us with advantages in the market, which we believe will continue to
benefit from new product offerings with enhanced technological features.
Our objective is not only to carry leading brands, but to carry a full range of products within each brand, including premium
items for the sports enthusiast. We believe that the breadth of our product selections in each category of sporting goods offers
our customers a wide range of good, better and best price points and enables us to address the needs of sporting goods
consumers, from the beginner to the sports enthusiast, which distinguishes us from other large format sporting goods stores. We
also believe that the range of merchandise we offer allows us to compete effectively against all of our competitors, from
traditional independent sporting goods stores and specialty shops to other large format sporting goods stores and mass merchant
discount retailers to internet-based retailers.
Omni-channel Development. We believe when our customers connect with the Dick's Sporting Goods brand they expect a
seamless shopping experience, regardless of the manner in which they choose to shop us. We continue to see growth in the
number of customers who shop us both online and in our stores and believe these omni-channel customers represent the future
of retail.
Our customers may research products online, then visit a store to experience the merchandise and consult with one of our in-
store experts, such as a bicycle mechanic or running specialist. Other customers may be inspired by one of our push
notifications on their mobile device, visit our store to test the merchandise by utilizing such features as the golf hitting bay,
archery lane or trying a pair of running shoes on the treadmill and complete the purchase in the store or later on their tablet
device.
We believe that leveraging all of our sales channels to deliver a consistent, seamless and high-quality customer experience
across our store, on the web and via mobile technology, will differentiate us from our online-only competitors. As a result, we
continually upgrade website functionality, expand assortment and content and invest in new capabilities to maximize device
shift and leverage our store network. We believe this will provide customers with an enhanced shopping experience that will
enable our customers to buy and receive products where, when and how they want. We are also planning the development of an
eCommerce platform that will allow us to fully control our customer experience and maximize profitability, while continuing
store growth. We believe our store base is a competitive advantage to our online-only competitors, as our physical presence
allows us to better serve our customers, whether through the convenience of accepting in-store returns or exchanges, or
expediting fulfillment of eCommerce orders. We believe that offering support services for the products we sell enhances the
credibility of our associates and specialty store concepts with our customers and further differentiates our stores from our
competitors.
The primary factors that have historically influenced our profitability and success have been the growth in our number of stores
and selling square footage, positive same store sales and our strong gross profit margins. We have grown from 419 Dick's
Sporting Goods stores at the end of fiscal 2009 to 603 Dick's Sporting Goods stores at the end of fiscal 2014. We seek to
expand our presence through the opening of new stores and the Company believes it has the potential to reach approximately
1,100 Dick's Sporting Goods locations, including smaller-market locations across the United States. The Company believes the
expansion of its store network will also drive growth in eCommerce sales as the Company continues to deliver an omni-channel
shopping experience for its customers. We also make continued investments in our store locations in order to maintain our
brand standards and improve our customers' shopping experience.
Brand Partnerships. We carry a wide variety of well-known brands, including adidas, Asics, Callaway Golf, Columbia, Nike,
Remington, TaylorMade-adidas Golf, The North Face and Under Armour. In addition to the cost efficiencies of shared
investments with our brand partners, we seek to leverage our partnerships to offer authenticity and credibility to our customers,
while differentiating ourselves from our competitors. We partner with our brands on important marketing initiatives and product
launches, in addition to leveraging athletes that these brands bring to us for our marketing campaigns. Our brand partnerships
also provide us with access to exclusive products and allow us to differentiate our customers' shopping experience, such as our
brand shops, which provide our customers with a wider and deeper selection of products from our key brands.