Future of tackle shopping will happen online says former Cabela’s exec

The future of fishing tackle retail will happen online, says the new high-profile appointment to the advisory board of Omnia Fishing, an innovative US-based e-commerce supplier.

Ralph Castner, former Chief Financial Officer at Cabela’s for 17 years before its acquisition by Bass Pro Shops in 2017, has joined Omnia to help it navigate rapid growth and identify the funding required for a growing inventory. He said: “In my previous role, we spent a significant amount of time focused on the in-store experience. Until I met the team at Omnia and saw what they were building, I wasn’t sure it was possible to provide that same level of relevant tackle selection online.

“The future of tackle shopping will happen online and Omnia has prioritised the right things, including product curation and content and data organisation for a unique tackle recommendation for each individual lake. That is what people came into our stores for and now its digital and more powerful than ever.”

Omnia Fishing CEO Matt Johnson said: “I have really enjoyed Ralph’s incredible perspective on solutions to the financial obstacles in the way of our rapid growth. His connections within the industry are world class and his awareness of how we can provide the most value to our vendor partners that no longer want to be hamstrung by big box is invaluable.

“Only 15% of tackle sales are happening online so the industry is largely under-served by e-commerce. We believe the in-store experience is declining. Omnia Fishing.com is the first online retail experience to make tackle buying easier and more productive by providing custom tackle selections for specific waters. At Omnia our goal has always been to build an e-commerce platform that combines data, products and content by lake in order to make relevant recommendations and eliminate the need to visit bricks-and-mortar stores and rely on tackle advice from ‘Bill from guns’.

“Ralph’s first-hand knowledge will help us scale quickly in the fishing industry. We couldn’t be happier to have an executive of his calibre focused on Omnia’s growth.”