Skiing, from the old Norse word, “skio,” was a form of transport in Scandinavia until the late 18th century when it was studied for the purpose of warfare. In the late 19th century, the first ski lifts and ski shops were developed, and the sport known as “skiing” was born. The sport has carved many different lines to the present day. Several varieties of skiing are practiced competitively. Alpine, cross-country, ski jumping, Nordic combined, speed skiing, and even grass skiing are all sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS). While modern skiing is still defined as gliding downhill on two symmetrical skis with bindings for the feet, skis have evolved to be lighter, generally more aerodynamic, and specialized.

For entrepreneurs with a genuine love of the sport, ski shop businesses may me rewarding for both the pocket book and the spirit. There are many different paths to realization. An independent brick-and-mortar ski shop makes sense in a town close to a skiable mountain. Operators often develop a relationship with the owners of a new or existing ski resort and open a store within the resort for the built-in clientele. This path readily allows for an equipment rental opportunity. The third option is to exist as an online store, which, while difficult, is still possible given the relative uniformity in binding sizes. These businesses stock more than just skis and ski poles. Other accessories include masks, visors, goggles, jackets and gloves. SaaS (software as a service)-based inventory management systems have the ability to handle all aspects of operations including payment intake.

Payment Integrator has everything you need to make sure your ski shop business doesn’t go downhill.  We have industry-leading ski shop payment processing solutions that can be deployed frictionlessly into your existing on-premise sales software or SaaS framework. We can also help optimize your CRM (customer relationship management) to traditional point-of-sale devices should you decide to operate your own brick-and-mortar storefront. All of Payment Integrator’s solutions are customer-specific and operate in a secure, PCI compliant, P2PE tokenized environment. Our solutions easily integrate credit card and debit card payments and are enabled to use e-wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

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