IBD Summit registration opens

Registration for the January IBD Summit in Pheonix, Arizona is now open to members of the trade.

The 2016 event runs January 12th to 14th and will build on its debut event with more industry panels from top executives in (and out) of the bicycle industry, enhanced business seminars from The Mann Group and extended interactive group collaboration time to focus on industry challenges and to further the Manifesto For Change. 

One of the most exciting segments of the event will come in the form of a dynamic panel discussion from the motorcycle industry, and led by Powersports industry veteran and owner of Vroom Network, Eric Anderson. The presentation, titled “Lessons Learned from The Motorcycle Industry: Takeaways for IBD’s,” will tap into the minds of 4 industry veterans who have gone through similar challenges to the bicycle industry. The group will discuss retail successes and failures, OEM relationships with retailers, analytics on motorcycle data and how it relates to the bicycle industry, maximizing parts, garments and accessories, profits/sq. foot and more.

“This panel alone will make the investment worth any dealer’s while,” said Pat Hus, Vice President of Interbike. “We know our retailers get the most out of these types of other industry comparisons, and this one should be no exception. There are so many lessons to be learned from the moto world and especially from iconic brands such as Harley and Indian.”

At the 2015 IBD Summit, The Mann Group hosted several small breakout sessions for store managers and owners to attend before and during the event. The upcoming version will give The Mann Group center stage as they present three sessions to the group on the following topics: 

• Buying and Inventory Strategies: Exploring the key metrics that allow store owners to forecast the inventory that is successful for their business, and uncover where they can take some risk.
• Visual Merchandising 101: This session will uncover how often IBD’s should change their store look, the best way to display performance apparel, the key areas retailers need to look at every week to know how product is selling through and more.
• How to Measure and Evaluate Employees Productivity: From setting goals to defining metrics based on customer engagement and more, IBD’s are encouraged to come prepared to review your sales goals and your employees performance against those goals, and an in-depth discussion of how to get to where you want to be in your market. 

Retailers can register at The IBD Summit website (www.theibdsummit.com), where they can also find a list of speakers and their biographies, more in-depth session descriptions, the event schedule and more. Registered Buyers who register before December 21st can take advantage of the $695 early bird price (conference fee covers all food, sessions and conference materials). The price increases to $750 after December 21st.