This article explains what Relay is, how it works, the steps your brand must take to join, and the answers to common questions we get from other brands considering signing up. It's split into easy-to-navigate sections for your convenience:

All product manufacturers (a.k.a. brands) within the orbit of the run specialty and sporting goods industries (think: Shoes, clothing, accessories, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to join the Run Free Project's Relay network. There is no cost at all for you to join or participate.

You may have never heard of the Run Free Project, so we should probably give you a little background on what we do.

The Run Free Project is a digital commerce software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform built for run specialty retailers that provides a myriad of automated tools such as a no-code website builder, POS-integrated eCommerce, and custom-branded mobile loyalty apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play, all tied together under a "single pane of glass" to make administration of all of it easy, right from the retailer's web domain.

Since Relay is the primary focus of this article, the rest of this guide will focus on the Integrated eCommerce component of our platform where Relay lives.

Unlike any other eCommerce solution on the market, Run Free Project bi-directionally syncs with the running store's POS system to automate inventory changes, orders, gift cards, customer records, and more.

This means that when a retailer adds a new product in their POS, that product automatically streams to their Run Free eCommerce store with all the pertinent information from its record in the POS, then pairs with pictures and a product description from the Run Free Project Metabase in real-time without any human intervention.

This results in a self-maintaining eCommerce store which is a real-time representation of the retailer's live inventory, automatically adjusting as purchases take place in-store and online.

Most importantly, Run Free Integrated eCommerce comes bundled with Relay, our endless aisle feature, which is free to join as a partner brand.

There is no catch. The retailers are our paying customers, not the brands.

Our retailers (we call them members) pay us a monthly fee to use the Run Free Project platform. Those proceeds cover the cost of providing them with Relay, making warehouse inventories from their favorite brands (you) available in addition to your physical merchandise they already have for sale in-store.

In fact as a brand, there is only upside to joining the Relay network.

Your brand will be included in all Relay-related communications, regularly exposed to our members (which comprise over 40% of run specialty retailers across the US and Canada), given opportunities to communicate new product announcements, provide assets for brand continuity and marketing opportunities, and more. And we're serious, every last bit of it is completely free of charge.

Relay enables retailers to extend the product selection in their eCommerce store to include additional items that brands (you) have available in their B2B warehouse(s), even (and especially) products and product variants that the retailer doesn’t have on hand.

In the eCommerce store shopping experience, products from the retailer's on-hand inventory are combined with "virtual" products and variants from Relay to provide shoppers with a seamless combination of all product options, regardless of whether a selection is on-hand at the retail store, available "virtually" from the brand, or both.

If a shopper purchases a Relay item, the retailer receives a special notification, then places an order directly with the brand (you) using their existing retailer/brand relationship, systems, and processes to arrange for the product to be delivered to the store or drop-shipped to their shopper directly.

This video illustrates the retailer's Relay experience in detail:

Simply put, Relay gives retailers the ability to complement their on hand inventory with available warehouse inventory (often referred to by the shorthand "B2B inventory") from top brands (like you) on their eCommerce site.

The online shopper's buying experience is the same whether the product they purchase is on hand at the retail store or "virtual" in your brand warehouse. All payments are processed at the moment of sale and take place between the shopper and the retailer. When a retailer receives notification of a sale from their Run Free Project eCommerce site, they simply log in as administrators to review the order.

If the order includes on hand inventory, the retailer picks the inventory and notify the customer based on the customer's shipping preference.

If the order includes Relay items, the retailer "swivel-chairs" to the brand's B2B site and places a drop-ship order with the brand directly using their existing brand/retailer relationship.

It is important to note that the process a retailer follows with a brand will vary by brand, as will any constraints that may be in place around drop-shipping. This arrangement is handled directly between the retailer and brand as they see fit.

The Run Free Project does not broker any monetary transactions between retailers and brands nor do we collect any commissions or fees from Relay sales.

Our role is ensuring that retailers and their customers are presented with accurate inventory data from the brands. Our platform is also responsible for merging data between the feeds of Relay inventory and POS inventory in such a way as to automate the customer-facing, combined presentation of product availability. This is a four-step process:

To become a Relay partner brand, you will need to:

This video illustrates the roles of the brands and the Run Free Project in a Relay relationship in more detail: