Register now for Unlocking AI Tools for Independent Retailers
Artificial intelligence frequently sounds like a luxury reserved for big-box corporations with massive tech budgets. But the truth is much more encouraging. AI can serve as a powerful equalizer, acting as an extra set of hands that helps bridge the gap between a mounting to-do list and a successful store.
Shop Eat Surf Outdoor is hosting a new webinar: Unlocking AI Tools for Independent Retailers. Taking place on Monday, April 13 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 P.m. ET, this session offers a candid conversation about using accessible technology to fuel your shop’s unique vision.
Real Insights from Real Retailers
We assembled a panel of independent retailers who navigate the exact same daily challenges you face. They will share their personal journeys, their learning curves, and the specific ways they are integrating AI to make their businesses more efficient.
Key topics we will explore include:
Operational Efficiencies and Analytic Tools
We will discuss how technology streamlines time-consuming tasks, including summarizing lengthy vendor reports to organizing daily store operations. We’ll also discuss how to analyze sales data quickly to spot sales and profit trends.
Practical Content Strategies
Hear how active retailers use AI to spark ideas for social media, email newsletters, and product descriptions without spending hours behind a screen.
The Independent Advantage
Our panelists will highlight why small businesses are uniquely positioned to use AI to amplify their local, curated voice and maintain a personal touch with their community at scale. You will also get a look at the specific, low-cost tools these operators actually use and how they use them.
Private Label Tactics
We’ll explore how AI is helping ramp up one retailer’s private label efforts in designing product and even packaging.
Meet Your Speaker Panel
The webinar brings together veterans of the active outdoor and surf industries, combining decades of retail experience:
- Josh Hansen: Josh is the business leader at Hansen Surfboards, which includes a high-volume flagship store in Encinitas, California, a bustling e-commerce site, and a robust snow business.
- Mark Moffett: Mark is the owner of Rooster Bus, an Arizona-based men’s clothing retailer. He launched the brand from a converted fire bus and successfully grew it into a lifestyle brand with two brick-and-mortar locations, a successful e-commerce site, plus a dedicated hat store called TOPit.
- Laura Carson: Laura is the head buyer and e-commerce manager for REAL Watersports in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, which includes a large compound with a flagship store, lesson center, boutique hotel, and restaurant.
- Roy Turner: The current show director and SVP of Surf Expo, Roy previously owned Surf City Surf Shops for 22 years and co-founded the Board Retailers Association.
Register now for Unlocking AI Tools for Independent Retailers
Introducing the Next Swell Series
This April 13 event kicks off our new SESO Next Swell Webinar Series, designed to provide the B2B surf, outdoor, and active lifestyle community with a clear roadmap for navigating technology and economic shifts.
Throughout 2026, we will host ongoing sessions to bridge the gap between technical innovation and brand authenticity. Upcoming events include:
- June 2026: Preserving Brand Identity in the Age of AI
- August 2026: From Product Design to Supply Chain: How AI is Transforming Backend Ops
- October 2026: The New Marketing Mix: Navigating Athletes, Influencers, and AI
- December 2026: The 2027 Outlook for the Active Outdoor Industry
