Update from RIA Executive Director

Dear Running Industry Association Members,

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the adoption of new tools and technologies is essential for staying competitive and maintaining relevance. Embracing innovation allows you to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences. By exploring and embracing new tools, you position your business at the forefront of industry advancements, enabling you to meet the evolving needs and expectations of your customers.

I didn’t write that. ChatGPT did. 

ChatGPT is a perfect example of the two options we find ourselves faced with on a daily basis: 

1. Embrace change, and figure out how change can help our businesses thrive, or
2. Resist change, and hope that our current ways of doing business don’t find us left behind. 

I’m using this discussion about embracing change to emphasize the importance of engagement and participation in the two significant member benefits that the RIA will focus on this year:

1. Weekly Benchmarks powered by UQ Cadence
2. The RIA Product Data Collaborative.

Weekly Benchmarks powered by UQ Cadence 

Signing up for UQ Cadence/RIA Weekly Benchmarks doesn’t just deliver reports that show how your store compares to your peers. By sharing your POS data, you also gain a powerful tool that saves you time and allows for closer collaboration with your key brands.

When you agree to share your POS data with the brands you choose, you eliminate the need to generate inventory and sales reports for your top brands, and effectively streamline the process of account management.  

It is important to note that sharing your POS data comes with no catch or downside. You retain complete control over brand access to your data, ensuring privacy and security. Remember, the more information shared, the better it is for all members. There is literally no catch! Just sign up, and start doing better business with your brand partners. You can learn more about it here.

The RIA Product Data Collaborative

We are also excited to announce that the platform buildout of the Product Data Collaborative (PDC) has begun. During this implementation phase, we’re inviting brand and associate member data specialists to participate in testing, to enable us to identify any necessary modifications or adjustments. With a beta version in place in July, we will organize training events. These workshops will provide training and support to ensure that all stakeholders can effectively utilize the platform.

We’ll keep you all informed as we progress, but when the time arrives,  RIA members will be invited to participate in this crucial phase of the project. To be best prepared, we encourage you to identify individuals within your organization who possess in-depth knowledge of data responsibilities. Letting us know who these individuals are will help RIA secure their involvement in this collaborative effort.

Remember, active engagement and participation are key to making these member benefits truly valuable and impactful for your business. As ChatGPT puts it, “By actively engaging in these initiatives and embracing new tools, we can collectively strengthen our industry and drive growth and success for all members.”

Thanks to all of you for your ongoing support and commitment to these critical new RIA member benefits. Together, we can achieve great things. Those are my words, by the way!  

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