Dividing the European market into three regional clusters, Intersport International Corp. (IIC) has established a new set-up that has probably contributed to its relatively good performance in the past year, in spite of differences from one country to the other.
Under the wing of Steve Evers, CEO of IIC, an “operating council” has been holding virtual meetings every month for about one year to help “cascade” the implementation of strategic priorities set by IIC’s board and management in the three regions. Regional meetings are held in turn every quarter to discuss and implement strategic programs with the national Intersport organizations.
The three clusters are headed up by Pontus Petterson of Intersport Sweden for the Northern region, Thorsten Schmitz of Intersport Austria for the Central region, and Volvango Bondi of Intersport Italy for the Southern region.
Jacky Rihouet, president of Intersport France and a member of the IIC board, acts as “sponsor” for the Southern Region. Furthermore, Fabian Engelhorn from the eponymous German retail operation, is the sponsor for the Central Region and Petter Schouw-Hansen, chairman of Sport Holding in Norway, is the sponsor for the Northern Region.
They all connect with the national Intersport organizations through dedicated representatives, collecting and exchanging facts and figures to monitor the execution of Intersport’s strategic objectives.
The current priorities include a further “verticalization” of the Intersport organization, the development of omni-channel capabilities, the professionalized collection of data & analytics and a streamlining of the European supply chain. For example, Intersport foresees the establishment in the longer run of regional distribution hubs to partly relieve the logistic burden at the national level.
As part of the verticalization process, IIC wants to eliminate double tasks and costs, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the group through more centralized and centrally steered operations in areas such as product development, sourcing and shipping.
As previously reported, Intersport booked a record 20.7 percent increase in total retail sales in 2021, despite all disruptions. Sales gains were recorded in the majority of the markets, with above-average scores achieved in countries such as France, Italy, Finland, Greece, Norway and Ukraine. Germany and Spain grew by around 15 percent.
Only a few relatively small countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark suffered declines, mainly because of extended retail lockdowns and supply chain disruptions. In both cases, limited markdowns helped minimize the damage.
