Russian sporting goods retailer Kant reported that the current winter season is going exceptionally well: Sales in November-December were up 30 to 40 percent compared to the same period last year. In January, sales declined slightly, but were still 15 to 20 percent higher than last year.
Maxim Vinogradov, co-owner of Kant, explained that the increase in sales was primarily due to the early and snowy winter. “For example, unlike previous years, the early onset of winter in St. Petersburg doubled sales in our stores in this region in the first half of December,” he said. To some extent, the sales growth could also be attributed to good planning. As Vinogradov explained, Russian sporting goods retailers have had supply problems related to the closure of some production facilities and logistical issues. “Our company successfully overcame these challenges and received 85 percent of planned deliveries by Dec. 1, and as much as 95 percent by Dec. 20,” Vinogradov said, adding that the company placed additional orders for some sporting goods in a timely manner given the increase in sales and in anticipation of product shortages. “In the end, we had a better supply of goods than our competitors.” In 2021, Kant also made efforts to revise and expand its product line to make it more attractive to customers. In general, the company increased its product range in the winter goods segment by 25 percent compared to the previous year, Vinogradov estimates. “We have prepared very well for the current season by designing the operation of our website and mobile app, optimizing advertising on the Internet, starting cooperation with four marketplaces, increasing the sales area in two of our stores and repairing and replacing sales equipment in several others, which has improved representation and increased the offer,” he said.
Kant currently operates 23 stores in Russia, including 11 in Sochi and 4 in Moscow. The company also operates several shop-in-shops within Decathlon stores. Kant opened its first shop-in-shop at Decathlon in 2017 in the city of Zelenograd in the Moscow region. This was an experimental project that, according to the partners, proved to be quite successful: sales in the Decathlon store increased by 17 percent and also secured good sales for Kant.
