Presenting the results of a large nationwide study by the market research company Regio Plan. Holger Schwarting, CEO of Sport 2000 Austria, confirmed that his cooperative was able to secure market leadership in Austria for the first time in 2020 with a market share of 33.6 percent, followed by Intersport with 31.9 percent and by Hervis Sport with 14.1 percent. Sport 2000 came out first also in terms of the quality of the shopping experience in the areas of customer satisfaction and ski rentals, according to Regio Plan.
With its 237 dealers operating 398 shops in the country, Sport 2000 Austria generated sales of €590 million (including VAT) in its home market in 2020, and a slight growth of 1.6 percent to €600 million is now expected for 2021. Adding the affiliated stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the cooperative’s retail sales amounted to €636 million last year, and they are expected to grow to around €640 million in 2021.
The year 2020 was challenging for all sports retailers in Austria because of closed shops and hotels, especially in the ski resorts. The situation continued at the beginning of this year, bringing foreign tourism to a complete standstill. The important ski season was basically cancelled, but many Austrians looked for a way out by engaging in ski touring and cross-country skiing.
The past summer season was gratifyingly positive, however. The main sales drivers were biking, mountain sports and running. “All activities that can take place outside and that work on their own are currently booming - especially cycling and hiking,” said Schwarting in a press conference. “Outdoor is the new fitness center….Especially in the mountains, you see a lot more young people and women today than was the case just a few years ago.” Schwarting sees a lot more potential in this area in the future.
Among the biggest challenges at present are the disrupted supply chains and the resulting delivery delays, which are now hitting the European market due to factory closures in countries such as China and Vietnam, said Schwarting, who is also the chairman of Sport 2000 International. While there has been little impact in the apparel segment, he said, the footwear segment is experiencing major difficulties. The bike and fitness equipment segments are also struggling with similar problems. “But that doesn’t apply to everyone, you can’t make any blanket statements here,” Schwarting said. Retailers should expect delivery delays of between a few weeks and one to two months, he said.
For Schwarting, the cooperative form has more than proven itself in times of crisis: “We stuck together when it was important. That’s an important reason why we survived the crisis.”
With its “Center of Excellence” approach, Sport 2000 intends to manage cooperation in digitalization projects as well as in winter sports on an international level in the future. Thus, since autumn 2020, the purchasing of goods for the winter sports category, which is demanding from a strategic and operational point of view, has been carried out by Sport 2000 Austria for the all the organizations affiliatred with Sport 2000 International. In a similar way, the newly founded Absolute Teamsport GmbH in Germany will provide the best possible support for the specialized Absolute Teamsport dealers all over Europe.
