At this year's Ispo show in Munich, Intersport Germany reported the first drop its retail sales in many years, which no doubt had an effect on the relatively weak performance of Intersport at the international level (see our previous issue). The retailers affiliated with the German-based group recorded retail sales of €2.85 billion in its home market for 2018, a decrease of 3 percent from the previous year. Adding the retail sales of its subsidiaries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia included, Intersport Germany's overall sales in all its markets declined by 1 percent to €3.53 billion.
Sales in Austria increased by 8 percent to €0.58 billion on an absolute basis and by 4.5 to 5 percent on a comparable store basis. In the Czech Republic, they declined by 7 percent to €0.04 billion, while in Hungary they dropped by 1 percent to €0.02 billion. In Slovakia, sales were stable at €0.03 billion.
Intersport Germany currently oversees a big network of 1,849 stores in its five markets, including 1,480 stores in Germany, 291 stores in Austria, 32 in the Czech Republic, 13 in Hungary and 33 in Slovakia.
Sales in the winter sports segment – which account for more than 10 percent of total sales in Germany and 25 percent of total sales in Austria – decreased by 10 percent in all the markets, but the rental segment grew by 13 percent.
Intersport claims market share of 11.7 percent in Germany and of 20 percent in Austria.
Adding the sales of retailers affiliated with its subsidiaries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, Intersport Germany's overall sales for January in all markets increased by 13 percent from the comparable period in 2018.
Sales of outdoor products, which account for 25 percent of total sales in Germany and more than 20 percent of sales in Austria, declined by 3 percent last year. Team sports sales increased by 5 percent, despite Germany's early exit from soccer's World Cup. They rose by 9 percent in both the bike and the water sports categories.
At the annual press conference at Ispo Munich, Intersport Germany reported on its intense efforts last year to transform the buying group into an omni-channel retail platform. More than 200 Intersport stores have already joined its cooperative omni-channel platform, which should help the group to fulfill digital orders. Those stores are pooling their stock to ensure that the required products are available for immediate order.
The ranking of Intersport Germany's ten leading suppliers remained broadly unchanged. It was topped by Adidas, Nike and the Amer Sports group, followed by Asics, CMP and Lowa. The changes included Puma's rise two spots from ninth to seventh, with Jack Wolfskin and Schöffel both moving one spot down. The VF Group cracked the top ten, moving up three spots from number 13.
