Being immersed in the business of building, marketing and selling kayak gear has given us plenty of time to analyze the way it is best sold and displayed. An often overlooked item in retail merchandising is the kayak sprayskirt, without a doubt one of the most awkward things to display nicely. The purpose of this study is to assist retailers of sprayskirts by offering a more organized and visually pleasing concept of how to display an otherwise floppy, contorted piece of neoprene. Our professional advice in this case is meant to help service the end consumer with an easier shopping experience on the retail floor at the point of purchase.
The following two images show you the typical sprayskirt display and retail inventory storage. Not too flattering, eh?
The next series of photos shows the process of building an inexpensive and very effective sprayskirt rack.
Use a jigsaw to trim around the cockpit rim to the desired size and shape.
Using door hinges and simple nuts, bolts and screws, attach cockpit rims to plywood or another backing material of your choice.
First mark the cockpit rim where the hinge attachment points meet and pre-drill holes to accept appropriate bolts.
Apply as many cockpit rims as your space will allow. We've found that you can place the cockpit rims very close together by using this method, giving you a lot of display space within a small area.
Complete and attach the assembly to your new sprayskirt wall.
Put a sample of each skirt or cockpit cover you carry on the cockpit rims.
One fancy feature you can easily add to your display is a rand/bungee cross section. This way you can look behind each skirt and see how the rand or bungee wraps around the cockpit rim and how the skirt adheres to the cockpit combing. This one shows a bungee skirt.
This cross section shows a rubber randed skirt.
These scraps from the cross sections show the different cockpit shapes.
A wider view of the new skirt display.
Myself and Tosh Arwood at NOC displaying our new creation.
As seen in the background the same concept can be applied to a free standing display. This was from my booth at a regional trade show.
Same free standing display, different angle.
Another application of the same concept, installed at Get Outdoors in Greensboro NC.
This shows the sprayskirt rack on the broader accessory wall. Skirts are easy to see and shop in this format. Inventory and sizes are stocked on a separate wall and may be selected once the customer decides which model of skirt is best of their purposes.
Sprayskirts made easier to buy and sell.
For more information or questions please contact me directly.