| Main centres: | 1-3 business days |
| Regional areas: | 3-4 business days |
| Remote areas: | 3-5 business days |
Please find below a little explanation of where I come fromand what our market is like, as well as our selling concept.
I started the business 4 years ago when my daughters startedcompeting. Sadly, quality equestrian clothing is not available from SouthAfrican suppliers. We do not have the expertise nor the fabric availablelocally. With import duties of 45% (which is the main problem for newbusinesses interested in importing) on fabrics and clothing, it is verydifficult to enter the market. But I knew if I could get the right partners andthe right quality, there is a good niche market that will profit from ourimports.
Many of the bigger retailers import themselves due to the insane import costs,but all of the smaller retailers that serve the customers closer to their homebase would appreciate a service where they could buy single items. It wasbecause of this that my wholesale / distributor idea was born. I keep myprofits extremely low so that the little retailer that buys from us is stillable to sell our products in a high yet still acceptable price bracket.
We have a few main equestrian areas Gauteng is the mostimportant / dense area, with Kyalami (just at our doorstep) being the area withthe most show venues / hosting the main events in South Africa, followed byNatal and the Cape. All other regions are fairly small and usually have totravel far to compete. Due to the relatively high price of imported equestrianclothing and apparel, our main market is the equestrian that competes, trains,instructs, and influences.
We choose products that speak for themselves. We areconfident that bigger companies will start getting their supplies from us too,as the market will start asking more and more for specific products. Benefitsfor them include but are not limited to: smaller outlay, less risk of stock notselling, short turn around and delivery times. We also offer free shipping fororders valued at R5,000 and over. We already see some local importers buyingfrom us.
Your shirts are now also sold at Natal Saddlery and RidersSaddlery both of them importers in their own right. A more formal relationshipwith you would help to establish the Kerrits brand further in the South Africanmarket. We have already seen keen interest in your products and were excitedto distribute them across a wider area.
For us the main benefit of distributing is that we canmarket the products on a wider geographical and diverse platform. Thereforealso promoting the brands faster, better, and wider.
Our next milestone is adding retailers in Cape Town and theCape region. This is a very difficult area to enter the market as the playersare all very well connected. However, there is progress and I am positive thatwe will reach our 2020 goal.
