Travelling through the West Midlands earlier this month we happened upon a couple of online retailers from Germany with two large white vans and an impressive level of commitment.
The two had set themselves up in a 300 or 400 square foot tent in the middle of a music festival's cluster of retail stalls that otherwise seemed to comprise a random collection of festival necessities, t-shirt stalls, music memorabilia, and a majority with odd bits of, er, shall we say 'tat', and other accessories.
The guy in charge was clearly an hoary old hand at the job - in this case selling music CDs and LPs - yes, boxes and boxes of new, limited edition, vinyl.
I looked at the vans (German made not Ford transits, obviously) and looked at his sidekick - diminutive, long haired and with a special skill at miscalculating the Euro prices on the stock into British pounds. The pair had driven from Northern Germany to get to the festival with as much stock as they could squeeze in - about 3 or 4 per cent of their entire stock as it turned out.
While being impressed with the entrepreneurial drive, we were confused by the economics. How could it be possible that it could be financially viable to sell this stuff when you've also had to pay for the travel of some pretty heavy merchandise (the weight as well as the music, which anyone who has tried to lift a box of old vinyl will know)?
His business, it turned out, was the retail arm of a record label but which sold a wide variety of records from other labels to help fill the coffers of what everyone knows can be a cash strapped industry these days. It's quite a common set-up we understand. The retail division was then split again into an old mail order business catering for heavier tastes, now selling mainly online, and a more mainstream business.
He had been coming to the festival since its early days when it was still small and had forged a good reputation with the operators - meaning the rent he paid for his pitch was at a very favourable rate.
'We have a credible offer, more so than some of the other retailers here,' he explained gesturing to the other stalls. 'The organisers see that as being an important ingredient for the mix here and so we get a pretty good deal.'
He went on: 'We're here until well after the music stops and it can get very busy.' The attendees, mostly an older crowd still with a love of vinyl records, are having a good time - drinking beer, naturally inclined to browse and for whom the words 'rare' or 'limited edition' stimulate parts of their brains that other signals cannot reach.
In short they're a bit drunk, in the mood to spend and being presented with something that, even when completely sober, they would probably see as irresistible.
Here was a truly multi-channel offer. Not only was he flogging his wares online our friend was going out and finding them in their natural habitat and though some good relationship building and probably some deft negotiating he was managing to make a bit of money too (we don't know how much but we're he didn't seem like the sort of chap would be doing this for free).
Flogging stuff to festival goers isn't a new selling secret but his commitment to finding his customers clearly was.
One thing we didn't ask the guy was why on earth the organiser couldn't find someone in this country with the range or the commitment to do what he was doing.
Amazingly he hadn't. Our loss, it seems, and Germany's gain.
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