A few weeks ago, I went to a local Outdoor Industry meetup with brands like Rumpl, Snow Peak, and Ombraz. The panel covered all sorts of ecommerce topics, but (unsurprisingly) AI kept sneaking into the conversation.
What stood out to me wasn’t just that AI came up, it was how casual the conversation about it has become. It wasn’t “Should we use AI?” It was more, “Here’s what we’re using it for, and if you’re not using it, you’re probably behind.”
AI as a productivity multiplier
Right now, outdoor brands are using AI for the obvious stuff:
- Writing marketing emails
- Drafting social captions
- Optimizing SEO titles and product copy
- Rapid brainstorming for campaigns
If your team isn’t using AI somewhere in your workflow, you’re probably leaving efficiency on the table.
It’s not about replacing people, it’s about speeding up the repetitive tasks that drain their time so they can focus on the bigger, creative, strategic stuff. One panelist put it well: AI should be your strategist, the one you throw half-baked ideas at, push back on for new angles, and use to reframe a problem.
The tension: scale vs. authenticity
In outdoor retail, the real magic happens when someone experiences your product in real life:
- The first time they slide into a Rumpl blanket and feel the warmth.
- The first time they cook outside on a Snow Peak stove and taste the difference.
- The first time they put on a pair of Ombraz and realize sunglasses don’t have to have arms.
That “aha” moment? AI can’t replicate it.
The challenge is figuring out how to use AI to get more people to that moment faster without replacing the human touch. And if you can’t articulate exactly how AI supports your brand’s in-person experience, you shouldn’t be using it yet.
The panel didn’t go deep into specific AI applications, but it got me thinking:
- AI-powered customer service that quickly routes people to demos, events, or local dealers.
- Virtual try-ons for gear or apparel that mimic the in-store discovery process.
- Personalized trip-planning content that nudges people to actually use their gear in the wild.
AI & Search: the big question mark
The panel also touched on something a lot of ecommerce teams are quietly wondering: What is AI going to do to search?
- Google’s AI Overviews are already reshaping how people find information.
- For now, it doesn’t seem like it’s charging full-speed toward becoming a “shopping engine.”
- But outdoor brands are watching closely, because organic visibility is still a huge traffic driver and the rules are shifting.
Why this matters for D2C outdoor brands
I left the panel thinking:
- AI isn’t a threat to the soul of outdoor retail unless we let it be.
- The brands that win will use AI to free up human energy for building connection, trust, and real-life experiences.
- Technology has always been part of outdoor recreation GPS, weather apps, avalanche beacons but it’s a partner, not the destination.
At the end of the day, outdoor brands sell more than gear, they sell the promise of time well spent outside. AI can help us deliver that promise faster, but the brands that forget the “outside” part will lose, no matter how smart their tech stack gets.