Sport 2000 reports that it has continued on its growth path of recent years, closing 2022 with another record result. With an increase of 22 percent in purchasing volume, a new record was achieved in consolidated external sales of its German retail partners of €3.31 billion. The historic result of 2021 is therefore clearly exceeded. External sales in the 5-country network (Germany, Switzerland and BeNeLux) amounted to €4.35 billion. With 998 businesses and 1,522 stores, the number of affiliated retailers is at the same high level as in previous years. “With numerous measures and retail-oriented concepts, we have again succeeded in convincing new quality-oriented and high-turnover partners of our services in 2022,” said Sport 2000 co-CEO Margit Gosau.
Team Sport and Skiing lead the pack
The biggest increases in sales – according to co-CEO Dominik Solleder based in part on catch-up effects after the weaker Covid years – were in the Team Sport (+38.7 percent) and Alpine Skiing (+73.8 percent) categories.
After the Covid-related restrictions from previous years, Outdoor still recorded a slight increase of 3.4 percent in sales, Running a slight minus of 5.7 percent and Fitness a decline of 2.7 percent. “The numbers show how much the categories have benefited from Corona in previous years,” Gosau said.
Following the high Covid-related results in previous years, the Outdoor segment continued to record a slight increase of 3.4 percent in sales. Running lost 5.7 percent and Fitness dropped by 2.7 percent. “The numbers show how much the categories have benefited from the pandemic in the previous years,” Gosau explained.
2023 forecast
In the face of volatile business conditions, difficult-to-calculate sales, fragile supply chains and a consumer climate that is almost impossible to assess, retail is facing a difficult order situation. Despite these challenges, Sport 2000 is confident about 2023, but Solleder sees sporting goods at a major advantage over other industries: “The last few years have shown how resilient our industry is. Sport is still an important commodity for people, and they don’t want to do without it.”
Growth drivers
For 2023, Gosau expects growth of up to 8 percent. This is to be achieved in particular through the additional acquisition of strong retail partners and the targeted conceptual support of partner companies. A key factor will be the further expansion and internationalization of the Absolute formats. “With Absolute Teamsport, we are currently represented with 23 stores in 6 countries,” said Solleder. By the end of 2023, there will be 35 locations in 9 countries. With Absolute Run, the number of stores is to be increased from 9 to 12.
One Sport 2000: The future
With regard to the strategic positioning of its members, Sport 2000 is working intensively on the conceptual development of its multi-category retailers. In this context, Sport 2000 is investing in an expansion of the concept portfolio to support partners with future-oriented retail formats. The upgrading of locations and their digitalization under the term “elevated retail” is one of Sport 2000’s most important projects until 2025. This is linked to strengthening the brand and the strategic appeal of Sport 2000 with the international “One Sport 2000” alignment. Also essential is the expansion of the digital platform sport2000.de and its ongoing development into an excellent consumer experience in line with the “Home of Experts” brand claim, Gosau said.
Sustainability is part of the corporate culture
Both CEOs are particularly passionate about sustainability, calling it a key strategic focus for the future of Sport 2000. “With the development of our sustainability strategy, a comprehensive roadmap of measures and an organizational focus on sustainability at Sport 2000, we will send a real signal. Here we are clearly aligning ourselves with the SDGs issued by the United Nations, i.e., the Sustainable Development Goals. This is of enormous importance to us in terms of corporate culture, and we will be putting a lot of energy into the topic of sustainability,” Gosau and Solleder both agree.
