Dick's Sporting Goods 2015 Annual Report Download - page 10

As of January€30, 2016, the Company operated 644 Dick's Sporting Goods stores in 47 states, 73 Golf Galaxy stores in 29
states and 19 Field & Stream stores in nine states. In some markets we operate two adjacent stores on the same property with a
pass-through for customers. We refer to this format as a "combo store".
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 category, 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 and extensive in-store support services that we offer allows us to differentiate and
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 with us. We continue to see growth in the
number of customers who shop with 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 transitioning our eCommerce
platform to one 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.
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.
Private Brands.€We also offer a wide variety of private brands and products through exclusive licenses such as adidas baseball,
CALIA, DBX, Field€& Stream, Fitness Gear, Lady Hagen, MAXFLI, Nishiki, Primed, Quest, Reebok (performance apparel),
Slazenger (golf and racquets), Top-Flite, Umbro (performance soccer equipment, footwear and apparel) and Walter Hagen. Our
private brands and other exclusive products offer our customers products that they cannot find anywhere else. Our private
brands also offer exceptional value and quality to our customers at each price point and obtain higher gross margins than we
obtain on sales of comparable branded products. We have invested in a development and procurement staff to support our
private brand business.
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