Amer Sports, the Finnish parent of 11 brands, which filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 4, has dramatically increased its sales in Greater China over the last four years largely through its Arc’teryx brand. The group’s total sales in the market increased at a CAGR of 60.9 percent between 2020 and 2022, when the region’s revenues hit $523.8 million. And through the first nine months of 2023, Amer’s Greater China sales hit $593.0 million.
Arc’teryx has been a key contributor to sales growth in Greater China, which accounted for 19 percent of all group revenues for the first nine months of 2023, up from 15 percent for all of 2022. The outdoor brand’s loyalty program in Greater China, which uses the WeChat app to accelerate enrollment, has expanded from 14,000 in 2018 to 1.7 million. Now, Amer Sports, according to its public filing, has developed a “repeatable playbook” for its Salomon brand that grew its Greater China sales by 72 percent between 2021 and 2022.
Amer sees Arc’teryx’s future geographical expansion fueled by Greater China and North America with additional growth opportunities in Europe and the rest of Asia. The brand currently operates 63 retail stores in China, having opened 31 such doors since 2019. In North America, the brand has 17 stores with plans for three more by the end of 2024. Across Europe, Arc’teryx is eyeing large metro areas such as Paris and iconic outdoor locations such as Chamonix, France; Zermatt, Switzerland; and St. Anton, Austria, as possible locations for “mountain stores” to create authentic brand positioning.
As for Salomon, Amer thinks there is significant growth potential in Greater China and the US, where brand awareness is lower than in Europe. In Greater China, Salomon intends to accelerate opening retail stores where it currently operates 30 locations.
