Buy a Boat from Us and We Will Cover Your Gas [Marketing]

The canoe and kayak industry is a pretty competitive world. Combine razor thin margins on boats and a small group of people looking to get a new boat and you need to be on your game to get people in the door buying your product.

I just got the monthly newsletter from my friends at White Squall Paddling Centre. They are one of the larger boat dealers here in Ontario. Good service, good advice and good prices are what make them a great place to go check out floating toys.

The problem is that they are located way out in the sticks. Folks from Toronto need to drive about 2.5h just to get there. Of course that was never a problem when gas was half the price 5 years ago. Now that it costs $37 to drive down the block to get milk, people are not as willing to drive so far.

So how do you tackle the problem? Pay for people’s gas when they purchase a boat. White Squall just announced that for the month of June, they will give you $1 for every 10 kilometres you drive to get to the shop. There is a cap of $100 but at the end of day unless you are driving a massive SUV you pretty much get a full tank of gas out of the deal.

Boat manufactures have also been forced to get creative as well. Jackson Kayak just a tweated that they are celebrating, “Lets Go Boating Month” and offering 10% off all new boats and 20% off blemished models. No word if you need to order direct from them or if it’s available 10% through stores.