High-profile representatives of the Italian sports industry expressed conflicting views on the introduction of the “low-cost” concept in the sector to relaunch consumer demand, especially in Italy. Weak demand in Italy is putting at risk the survival of many small players that continue to rely largely on their home market, according to Adriano Sartor, a top executive of Stonefly who heads up Montebelluna’s industrial cluster, which suffered double-digit declines in sporting goods sales over the past two years.
Sartor noted that the average prices have dropped on many products and that sporting goods should not be an exception. In fact, the Italian Ski Pool put out data a few days ago The average price of alpine ski equipment declined in all the major product categories in Italy during the fall/winter 2009-10 season except for ski boots, where it rose to €101.39 a pair from €92.63 in the previous selling season. The average price of a pair of skis declined to €141.50 from €145.72. Ski bindings were down to €54.14 from €56.06, while the average price of a set of skis and bindings fell to €195.64 from €201.78. The figures were announced by the Italian Ski Pool. They were based on input from all the major brands. They are not quite comparable between one year and the next one for ski boots because Dalbello replaced Dolomite in this category.
Sartor urged the “low-cost” solution for sporting goods, especially for winter sports, to foster demand, saying that otherwise the industry risks shrinking into a niche market. He added that the demand for low-cost packages comes from consumers and requires a thorough review of the winter sports industry, involving sporting goods suppliers and resorts. The focus on price does not mean reducing the quality of equipment and services, but ironing out inefficiencies to reduce costs.
Sartor said that two years of significant snow levels at winter resorts, after two poor seasons, have not been sufficient to bolster sales of Italian winter sports goods and that sporting goods manufacturers of the Montebelluna cluster will probably not reach combined annual sales of more than €2 billion, as they did in 2008.
Luca Businaro, chief executive of Novation and the newly elected chairman of Assosport, does not agree. He replied to Sartor’s comments by saying that there are signs of recovery and he rejected the pessimistic view of the industry’s future. In the first half of the year, the sector’s sales were in line with the levels seen in 2009 but revenues picked up in October and November, led by Germany, France and Russia, he noted. He added that the Italian winter sports segment is also showing significant signs of recovery.
Businaro totally disagreed with the idea of low-cost solutions and indicated that Assosport’s intention is to continue supporting highly specialized and quality equipment. However, he agreed on the need to offer competitive packages to stimulate demand for winter sports, highlighting the widespread use of rented equipment by holiday-goers in France and other countries.
