How Blitz Surf Shop Rid the Digital Wave with Omni-Channel Shopping

Pictured above: Blitz Surf Shop in Gisborne.

Blitz Surf Shop has successfully navigated these changing circumstances by combining traditional click-through stores to create an omni-channel approach to retail shopping.

The 2024 NZ Post eCommerce Market Sentiments Report revealed that New Zealanders have changed the way we shop. Two-thirds of shoppers browse online before heading to the store to make a purchase. Almost a quarter of shoppers click online and pick up in store, and one in five people start a purchase in-store and then buy online.

Retail marketing is no longer about choosing between in-store or online; it’s about seamlessly merging the two to ensure your business meets your customers wherever and however they want to shop. An omni-channel approach that integrates brick-and-mortar stores, websites, mobile apps, and social media into a cohesive and unified customer experience.

This omni-channel approach is increasingly blurring the lines between brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce, and retailers are having to adapt. One shop that does this better than most is local Gisborne legend Blitz Surf Shop.

Known for its deep roots and connection to the coastal lifestyle, Blitz has been a destination for surfers and outdoor enthusiasts since 1983. In 2009, Euan Nelson took over ownership and brought this iconic shop back to life.

After almost a decade in London, Euan felt a sense of home, drawing him back to Gisborne. “I was working as a physiotherapist in London for almost nine years. Home was calling me,” he recalls. “I was really looking forward to getting back to Gisborne. When the opportunity to run this iconic surf shop came up, I jumped at the chance. It was a complete change of scenery and career.”

The laid-back lifestyle in New Zealand often means we can sometimes be a little slow to adapt, but Euan bucked the trend by giving Blitz an instant e-commerce site. “Coming from the UK, the internet was already massive there, but it hadn’t quite made it home. When I bought Blitz, I inherited a new website that didn’t have e-commerce capabilities. It was clear we had to get it set up to stay competitive.” And so began Blitz’s journey into omni-channel shopping.

We connect the physical and digital worlds

Setting up an online store was no small feat. Back then, you had to do everything yourself, Euan explains. “We had to take pictures of everything ourselves and write the descriptions. It was a huge amount of work.”

Despite these challenges, Blitz Surf Shop successfully launched its e-commerce platform in 2010, initially using E-Retailer to run its online operations, but the rapidly evolving digital space soon overtook this platform, rendering it outdated and inefficient.

Blitz quickly moved to Shopify and Counter Intelligence for inventory management. “Counterintelligence is the core inventory management system,” Euan explains. “There’s an API that connects Counter Intelligence directly to our online store platform, Shopify.” This integration provides constant communication between inventory management and the online store, allowing for quick updates to product information.

However, having a reliable and functioning website was only half the battle for Euan; the other, and perhaps more important, battle was connecting the website with the store operation.

This integration came about through an emphasis on the human touch. “Community is the core of our brand. I love that I sell boards in the morning to the same people I surf with in the evening.

“We bring that human touch to both online and in-store interactions, ensuring that customers know they are dealing with a human being at every step, not an automated service,” Euan emphasises.

By ensuring that online shoppers receive the same level of care and attention they give to those who visit physical stores, Blitz has been able to create a consistent and satisfying shopping experience across all channels.

Growing interest in Blitz on the web

But as Euan learned, just because you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come. Once their online store was up and running, a change in marketing approach was needed to fully embrace omnichannel shopping.

Blitz Surf Shop’s marketing strategy evolved significantly with the introduction of e-commerce, moving from traditional media advertising to digital marketing. This change allowed for more measurable and targeted activity. “Going online makes everything measurable. We knew exactly how many people were looking at our website every day and where they were coming from,” notes Euan. The change was driven by a need for visibility and impact that traditional media couldn’t provide. “I was paying a lot of money to do daily surf radio coverage, but with so many radio stations in Gisborne, I wondered if it wasn’t falling into a vacuum.”

Blitz has also used social media to maintain a strong local presence while reaching a wider audience. “Promoting our brand and our position in the community gets a much better response than just posting product photos,” says Euan. By sharing stunning photos of local surf conditions and engaging with the community through surf competitions and beach clean-ups, Blitz has kept its brand at the forefront of awareness.

When taking an omni-channel approach, it’s not always easy to bridge the gap between in-store and online customers. For Euan, “the biggest challenge was making the store more visible online; locals know about the store but aren’t always familiar with the website.”

To help bridge the gap between these two types of buyers, Euan installed his own surf cam at Wainui Beach in 2016. “By setting up a free surf cam streaming live from Wainui Beach, all of our customers can check out the waves for free, whenever they want. It really helped our website gain more visibility very quickly,” he notes.

The live surf cam feed drives massive traffic to the Blitz website and effectively connects its physical presence in Gisborne with the wider online community, driving customer engagement across all platforms.

This new marketing approach allowed Blitz to compete effectively in the digital space, ensuring it remained relevant and accessible to both local customers and those further afield. “Everyone has a phone these days, right? And Google is the most used website in the world. It makes sense to put a lot of eggs in that basket,” says Euan.

A lifeline in uncertain times

Like every industry across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the surf retail industry, disrupting supply chains and leaving businesses large and small in crisis. Euan says the aftershocks are still being felt today. “The COVID lockdowns caused supply issues, then huge demand as everyone had this newfound freedom. But once the initial rush wore off, there was oversupply.”

Blitz Surf Shop navigated these turbulent waters with a strategic omni-channel approach focused on integrating its brick-and-mortar store with a solid online presence.

As the country teeters on the edge of a precarious recession, many retail businesses are feeling a bit out of touch. But with a shift to omni-channel shopping, Euan has brought the Blitz firmly back to dry land.

Euan credits “ongoing education” and the need for staff to understand the value of online shoppers as key to this successful transformation: “Making staff realise that their online shoppers are just as important as those who live further afield.”