In hardly any other industry, the weather influences the buying mood of Austrians as much as in sporting goods retail. The arrival of winter on the first weekend of Advent gave Intersport Austria a good start to the Christmas season. Alpine skis, bobsleighs, toboggans and sporting goods for children – especially ski clothing – were in particularly high demand before Christmas. The service area, from ski waxing and edge tuning to full service, also performed well and suggests that many winter sports enthusiasts will use the holidays for skiing and snowboarding.
“According to the Intersport Ski Report, 81 percent of Austrians see skiing and snowboarding as a cultural asset. Winter sports have a long tradition in Austria, which positively affects our Christmas business. Despite the short Advent period, our result is slightly up on the previous year, which we are generally satisfied with,” said Thorsten Schmitz, Managing Director of Intersport Austria, adding: “I am particularly pleased with the good performance in the Alpine skiing segment. This shows that winter sports are still very important in Austria. It is important to convey this to the next generations, and we are working hard to achieve this.”
Intersport can also confirm that Austrians like to play it safe and give gift vouchers. In December alone, the sales volume of gift vouchers was 6 percent higher than the previous year.
