‘Monsoon June’ – Another Record Breaking Month for Wavewalk Kayaks
June was soggy here in Massachusetts – It just kept raining and raining, and sometimes it felt like the monsoon season… -It was also another spectacular month for us, as we sold in it more than twice as many boats as we sold in June of last year.
The second quarter of 2009 (April-June) was fabulous too – we sold more W kayaks in it than in the first half of 2008.
As for the first half of 2009 (January-June), we sold as many boats in this period as we did in the entire year 2008.
It’s hard to tell what’s been causing this continuous increase, but we think it’s basically because more people realize that our W kayaks offer real advantages over ordinary kayaks, for which there is a growing sense of disillusionment. It’s also possible that more people feel comfortable with buying online, especially from a company like Wavewalk that’s been around long enough, and can show a high level of customer satisfaction.
The W500 kayak series we launched two months ago is a best seller, with a high level of customer satisfaction.
Traffic to our website was another record broken this month, with 16,835 unique visitors.
Note that our W kayaks sell in the upper tier of the price range for kayaks, which should have really hurt our sales, as normally high-priced products and services suffer more in times of economic recession.
And just for comparison, here are US Canoe and Kayak Market Statistics for 2006-2008:
Source: National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA)
We didn’t find data that suggest an improvement in this market during the first half of 2009, and we did find information pointing to further deterioration.
Tags: fishing kayaks, kayak design, kayak market, statistics
July 2nd, 2009 at
I hope Wavewalk will transform the kayak market. More people need to realize that traditional kayaks are unhealthy for them, and it doesn’t matter if they are sit-inside or sit-on top kayaks.
Pete
July 2nd, 2009 at
Part of the increase in W sales may well be the failing boat industry itself. Genmar one of the two largest boat making firms out there filed for Chapter 11 in early June. Their brands included Ranger, Champion, and Triumph all well know sport fishing boats. As people have less and less dollars for boating they still want to fish. The W offers anglers something they need if they intend to stand and cast. The comfort level is such you don’t have to be athletic to use one. So the good old boy angler who may not have bought a regular kayak will get a W and now he has one that is super size in the W500. Besides the W was listed in the current issue of Bass Master as a boat bass anglers should look at. That market for fishing is the biggest out there and covers virtually any place with water. Even here in Florida more and more kayak anglers find themselves looking for something more comfortable. At the start of their kayaking they think the discomfort will fade as their bodies learn to use the boat. But that never happens. Right now folks look at little skiffs or motorized canoes to get back the upright seating and standing they left a few years back. Funny thing is these folks are learning all the padding in the world won’t make those sit on top boats any better. Kind of ironic since the W never used pads of any kind and it always was more comfortable.
July 3rd, 2009 at
The boat industry is in dire condition, but other yak manufacturers don’t seem to benefit from this situation, according to the numbers provided by the NMMA.
The wavewalk phenomenon seems to be a singularity having to do with the fact that it’s offering a product based on a new technology that actually solves problems many people have with regular yaks.
July 5th, 2009 at
Americans are individualistic by nature, and this is why they prefer kayaks to canoes. Americans love comfort too, and this is why they’ll migrate from sik and sot kayaks to the W.
G.R.