Deporvillage’s product catalog has passed the milestone of 100,000 items. Thanks to such lockdown effects as distance work and the spike in online purchasing, home fitness has become a top segment for the Catalonian e-commerce specialist, which was recently acquired indirectly by JD Sports Fashion through its controlling interest in the Iberian Retail Group (ISRG). The segments with the highest sales and most extensive selection are cycling and running, but outdoor too has enjoyed a significant boost over the past many months, especially in hiking, climbing and camping. Athleisure apparel has also risen to prominence, with more people staying home, as have watersports like swimming and paddleboarding, perhaps to spice up homebody life. Deporvillage’s best-selling brands are Garmin, Salomon, The North Face, Adidas, New Balance, Castelli and Finisseur.
At present Deporvillage is handling about 5,000 orders per day from some 2 million customers overall. “Modernizing order treatment and maintaining high inventories have been key to reaching this objective, as have expanding the catalog and incorporating new brands and categories,” as Ángel Corcuera, the company’s chief purchasing officer, has explained. According to CMDsport, Deporvillage hopes to approach €170 million in sales by year’s end, for an increase of 40 percent from 2020. The objective for 2024 is €500 million, mostly through expansion abroad.
In late June, as we reported at the time, Corcuera and Xavier Pladellorens sold the company they founded about ten years ago to ISRG. According to CMDsport, ISRG’s CEO, Miguel Mota, has left the door open to expansion through physical retail. Pladellorens, who remains Deporvillage’s CEO, has confirmed this to the Spanish trade publication: “It’s very feasible for us to open some physical points of sale, but we still have to discuss and specify our plans.” If they open under the Deporvillage banner, he added, such stores would specialize in cycling. ISRG owns many brick-and-mortar operations that operate under the Sprinter, JD Sports and Sport Zone banners.
