OutdoorProlink.com is a unique e-commerce service for manufacturers and professionals in the outdoor equipment industry. The brainchild of Gareth Richards, former vice president of marketing for Lowe Alpine USA, Outdoor Prolink offers equipment manufacturers a more efficient means of distributing their products to outdoor industry professionals through their "pro purchase" or "pro deal" programs. These preferential pricing programs have long been an important distribution channel for outdoor equipment manufacturers, enabling them to increase their brand exposure by getting products into the hands of the most influential members of the outdoor and alternative sports communities.
Outdoor equipment companies include producers of ski, climbing, rafting, hiking, camping and adventure gear. Initial participating companies include Gregory Mountain Products, Eagle Creek, CAMP-USA, Backcountry Access, Optic Nerve, Indigo Equipment, Macpac, Eldorado Wall Company/Franklin Handholds, Adventure Medical Kits and Jetboil, with many more expected to come online throughout the year. Outdoor Prolink manages inventory updates, online order processing and user accounts including the application process. Each manufacturer defines its own criteria for acceptance, giving selective access to individual user accounts.
The Outdoor Prolink service is free to all qualified outdoor industry professionals including guides, instructors, sponsored athletes, recreation coordinators, government employees, and the employees and owners of outdoor products companies and retailers. Participating professionals gain access to a wide variety of equipment at deeply discounted prices not available elsewhere with a single application, eliminating the need to apply separately to each company.
Amadeus Consulting developed Outdoor Prolink's custom e-commerce system on the Microsoft .NET platform with a SQL Server database. The customizable system includes numerous security features including recurring user authentication and profiling, and order verification based on quantity and user-size matching. Professionals are restricted to what products they are authorized to purchase through dynamically generated navigation and security. Other advanced features include selective approval by manufacturer, EDI inventory updates, order aggregation and processing, and transaction and inventory reporting.