The mood is extremely upbeat among vendors and retailers as they get ready for a record Ispo show, the 40th in the Munich show’s history. With about 2,000 exhibitors, 83 percent of whom come from abroad, the exhibition surface has grown by 2 percent as compared to one year ago and the number of pre-registered visitors is up by v10 percent.
European sporting goods retailers performed better than the overall retail sector for the third year in a row in 2009, according Werner Haizmann, president of the German sporting goods retailers’ federation, VDS, and the European federation, Fedas. The improving economy, the Winter Olympic Games and the World Cup of football in the next months should keep the positive momentum going, provided the weather continues to help.
Haizmann estimates that the German sporting goods market grew by 3.5 percent in 2009, with increases of 20 percent for winter sports, 15 percent in the outdoor sector, 15 percent in cycling and fun sports, 5 percent in fitness, 5 percent in water sports, 3 percent in running and Nordic walking, and 2 percent in racquet sports. These gains were partly offset by an estimated 15 percent decline in team sports, due to the fact that there were no major tournaments like the 2008 European football championships.
Officials of Fedas, which groups sporting goods retailers’ associations in five major European countries, estimate that the European sporting goods market as a whole grew by 3 percent last year. Reporting preliminary estimates, they say it rose by about 5 percent in Austria and dropped by about 3 percent in Switzerland. The figure for Austria contrasts with earlier projections. We have closely analyzed the market in these two countries in a 400-page report that has just come out.
Sales probably declined in Italy and Spain, but Spanish retailers are reporting depleted inventories and stronger orders for 2010. Very strong gains in the Nordic countries have contrasted with severe declines in several Eastern European countries. In Sweden alone, sporting goods retailers have been reported to have raised their sales by 23.2 percent year-on-year in the month of December. Fedas and VDS quote a total market value of €38.6 billion in Europe and €7.3 billion in Germany, but we think that the market is much bigger, based on a homogeneous definition that includes items such as sports bicycles.
The winter sports season has been much better than expected so far. Despite a 20 percent increase in this segment in 2008, German retailers bought conservatively for the current season. The producers were not willing to take the inventory risk, with the result that cross-country skis, junior skis, snowboards, helmets, caps and other items are now sold out throughout the supply chain. Strong sales were also reported for scarves, goggles and other high-margin accessories.
About one million ski helmets were sold in Germany last year. Sales of ski helmets and other protection equipment rose by more than 30 percent last year. On the other hand, sales of skis have probably been more or less flat, according to figures quoted by BSI, the German sporting goods vendors’ associations. In contrast with the 2001/02 season, when Germans bought 600,000 pairs of alpine skis, the quantities have remained in a range of 320,000 and 340,000 pairs for alpine skis, 110-120,000 pairs for Nordic skis and 60,000 to 80,000 units for snowboards.
Evidently, more and more people, especially younger ones, have preferred to rent the equipment. It is not sure whether these figures include discounters and online stores, however, says Haizmann, noting that some retailers have started charging a service fee if the customer gets advice in their stores and then buy the equipment elsewhere.
BSI is also quoting alarming trade statistics showing that more than 230,000 pairs of skis were imported into Germany last year from the Far East, mainly from China, further igniting an “almost ruinous” price battle. The quantities were much higher than in 2008. K2, whose European head office is in Germany; took a big portion of the total, reshipping part of it to other European countries, and it posted a strong double-digit sales increase.
The generally good mood within VDS, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, is reflected in BSI’s monthly business barometer, which rose from an index of 95 last November to 103.4 in December. The current market situation was described as good or very good by 52 percent of BSI’s members, and while 19 percent feel that it will remain at present levels in 2010, 19 percent felt that it was going to get even better.
