Sport 2000’s Gosau: AI will make specialty retail more human

Shortly after the conference, SGI Europe spoke with Margit Gosau, CEO of Sport 2000 Group International, about the rationale behind the group’s new shareholder structure, the future licensing strategy for specialist formats such as Absolute Run, and why, in an increasingly AI-driven retail environment, human expertise and well-positioned physical retail concepts may become even more relevant at the point of sale.

Key takeaways: three core insights from Margit Gosau, CEO Sport 2000 Group International

1. Clearly positioned retail concepts will win

For Margit Gosau, the future of sports retail does not belong to scale alone, but to clearly differentiated retail positioning. Both specialist experts and well-positioned multi-category retailers can succeed when they combine strong assortments, clear consumer relevance, and credible advisory competence. Retailers that create distinctive identities and tangible expertise are achieving stronger KPIs, healthier margins, and deeper customer loyalty.

2. AI optimizes processes while retail delivers experience

For Margit Gosau, AI is not about replacing physical retail but about reducing operational complexity. Internal closed-loop AI systems are increasingly handling information management, automation, and administrative processes, allowing retailers to focus on what continues to matter most in sports retail: trust, fit, movement analysis, material feel, and human experience. The more information becomes digitized, the more valuable genuine human expertise at the point of sale becomes.

3. Strong identities win within strong networks

With its “Home of Experts” strategy, Sport 2000 Group International is building a collaborative ecosystem of experts rather than a uniform retail structure. Successful retailers maintain their individual identities while benefiting from international knowledge transfer, shared development, and the strength of a broader strategic platform. Competitive advantage is created not through centralization, but through a connected community of retail expertise that combines entrepreneurial independence with international collaboration.

SGI Europe: Ms. Gosau, what are the key takeaways from this year’s shareholder meeting and international conference?

Margit Gosau: At Sport 2000 International, we made a very important strategic move. Going forward, there will only be two shareholders: Sport 2000 France and Sport 2000 GmbH as part of the seven-country ANWR Group alliance. This change was one of several strategic adjustments that shaped this year’s shareholder meeting and international conference, which also marked the 60th anniversary of Sport 2000 International.

Most importantly, however, the conference was about strategic evolution. We want to accelerate international growth significantly, both through our specialized retail formats and through our multi-category Sport 2000 format. That is why we are now clearly separating the licenses for Sport 2000, Absolute Teamsport and Absolute Run.

What changes in practical terms?

There is no longer an automatic country entitlement. Any organization that wants to implement one of our formats in the future must actively qualify and present a convincing business plan. What matters is genuine expertise.

This is how we continue to advance our global expert strategy. Sport 2000 no longer sees itself as a traditional mono-label organization, but rather as a group of specialized brands and expert formats. That is also why we officially renamed the organization “Sport 2000 Group International.” The word “Group” deliberately reflects several strong national organizations and multiple specialized banners operating under one strategic umbrella.

We want our retailers to feel at home as part of a “Home of Experts” environment, with their own identity and expertise, while also benefiting from a strong international network.

How were these far-reaching changes received?

The national organizations and local retailers responded extremely positively to this repositioning. There was a real sense of momentum, because everyone immediately recognized the value of this sharpened identity.

“Uncompromising positioning and specialization are our future model.”

Why are positioning and specialization more resilient long term than pure scale?

Because retailers with a clear positioning are significantly more successful today than companies stuck in a classic “middle-of-the-road” position.

We see this very clearly in the retail KPIs of our partners: higher traffic, better conversion, larger basket sizes and ultimately higher realized margins.

We are not orienting ourselves around competitors. We are pursuing our own path very consistently. Our future strategy can be summarized quite simply: uncompromising positioning and specialization.

Incidentally, this will also prove to be a major advantage for retailers when it comes to technological innovation and the use of AI. We also do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. We take the differences between countries very seriously and position ourselves in a way that allows each market to move forward strategically according to its own identity and strengths.

“We are no longer a traditional buying group.”

Traditional purchasing advantages are becoming less important. What is your strategic value proposition today?

The historical role of a pure purchasing organization no longer exists for us in that form. Fundamentally, we have evolved into a retail service organization. Purchasing conditions remain important, of course, but they are no longer the sole driver of a retailer’s economic success. What matters is whether retailers sell the right assortment with clear positioning, strong advisory expertise and relevant services.

Today, we work intensively on unlocking the potential of our retailers. One example: a retailer with 250 square meters of sales space wanted to cover 11 different categories simultaneously. That creates neither assortment depth nor real expertise. Together, we sharpened the positioning, increased focus and deepened the relevant assortments. Only then do traffic, conversion and ultimately realized margins improve.

The excellent purchasing conditions we provide as an international group are only one part of the equation. Countless moving parts need to work together. That is why our focus as a retail service organization is on strategic consulting and tailored services that help independent specialty retailers survive and maintain profitable margins in a highly competitive market.

“Home of Experts” as a Strategic Competitive Advantage 

Why does the “Home of Experts” concept resonate so strongly?

Because the word “Home” has become strategically very important today. Strong retailers like Sport Schuster and Sport Conrad do not join us because they want to place a Sport 2000 logo on the outside of their stores. They join because they want to maintain their own identity while also becoming part of a strong expert network.

We do not enforce uniformity. Instead, we create collaboration – for example, within our seven-country alliance and our expert clubs, such as Ski Experts and Running Experts. Retailers benefit from international networking, knowledge exchange and shared development.

At the same time, there are clear standards. Our formats must be implemented cleanly, consistently and strategically correctly. The system only works if everyone actively contributes to this shared expert positioning.

How intensive is the knowledge transfer between countries?

Very intensive, and that is one of our greatest strengths. For example, our new partner in Poland exchanged closely with our Bulgarian partner to benefit from its experience in implementing the “Home of Experts” strategy. Austria also worked closely with the Swiss organization following its relaunch, particularly in alpine service concepts related to tourism environments.

We actively encourage this principle of mutual support. Our national organizations benefit from one another because they share their respective strengths. This creates a dynamic that isolated single markets can rarely achieve.

AI, data and the future of sports retail

Beyond collaboration, will technological infrastructure become another core product of the organization in the future?

Absolutely. But always under strict data-protection rules and with complete transparency toward retailers. We already use data extensively today, although only in anonymized form and exclusively within closed systems. This creates highly relevant analytics and benchmarking tools for both our retailers and brand partners.

For example, with the ANWR Data retail cockpit in Germany, retailers can analyze and benchmark their retail KPIs. At the same time, the Brand Cockpit enables industry partners to precisely evaluate their performance within the network. On the international level, we are continuously expanding our POS database and increasingly providing category-specific benchmark reports for both sell-in and sell-out performance, as well as highly specific marketing efficiency analyses in the near future. Artificial intelligence primarily helps us process large amounts of data and simplify operational processes.

ANNI: The ANWR Group’s internal AI infrastructure

What role does the AI assistant “ANNI” play in this ecosystem?

ANNI is our internal AI system within the ANWR Group, essentially a closed, proprietary GPT environment. Retailers can instantly retrieve information via voice or text input, including contacts, order deadlines, services and administrative processes.

At the same time, the system significantly reduces operational workload. Retailers can generate job postings or automatically summarize newsletter content, for example.

Adoption rates become extremely high once retailers understand how much time they can save.

“AI takes over information management while specialty sports retail delivers the experience.” 

How will AI change the role of brick-and-mortar sports retail?

I do not believe AI will replace specialty sports retail. Sport is physical. It is about fit, movement analysis, material feel, trust and human experience. A running analysis, a ski-binding adjustment or the evaluation of pressure points and stability cannot be fully digitized.

That is why, for me, the defining sentence is this: AI takes over information management while specialty sports retail delivers the experience.

Of course, AI is changing the customer journey. Consumers increasingly inform themselves through AI tools in advance. But final consultation, product testing and emotional reassurance still happen through personal interaction.

In the end, AI may actually make us more human again, because real encounters and genuine expertise become even more valuable.

Community as the new loyalty driver

Speaking of becoming more human: nearly every market player is investing in communities today. Where will true differentiation come from in the future?

Communities today are open and dynamic systems. People move simultaneously across different interest groups and look for belonging, inspiration and exchange. Real differentiation, therefore, does not come from reach alone, but from relevance and proximity. Whoever truly understands sub-communities, speaks their language and communicates on eye level wins loyalty. The human touch is critical. Despite all digital possibilities, people are still searching for real interaction, genuine inspiration and authentic exchange.

Communities with a clear purpose are particularly powerful. We also see this within our own retail networks. Our Absolute Run retailers no longer see themselves as competitors, but as a community. Retailers travel to each other’s store openings, support one another and organize joint events.

We see the same dynamic within Absolute Teamsport. In many ways, this also reflects the future of Sport 2000 Group International itself: a retail service community that is not artificially imposed but built through genuine conviction. Our partners already understand one thing very clearly: together, we are significantly stronger than alone.

Here the Sport 2000 Group International’s latest revenue figures.