The Norwegian sports industry experienced continued strong growth in 2010, as more and more Norwegians identified with a sportive lifestyle. The sport sector grew more than all other retail sectors each of the past five years, taking market shares from both the textile and shoe sectors.
According to the country's sporting goods industry association, Sportsbransjen, the total sporting goods market's turnover for 2010 at retail was 11,508.1 million Norwegian kroner (€1,473.2m-$2,147.0m). The last quarter of the year had the strongest turnover, totaling NOK 3,287.2 million (€420.8m-$613.3m) – a big compared with the same quarter in 2009, when the turnover was NOK 2,810.8 million.
The sports market growth was 7 percent in 2010, slightly lower than the 10 percent growth recorded in 2009. Norway sold the most sports equipment per capita in the world and over three times more than the average in Europe. Norwegian sporting goods chains – which together form the world's strongest chain structure within the sport industry – made up 90 percent of the Norwegian sports market in 2010.
The Gresvig group, managing the chains Intersport, G-Sport and G-MAX, made up 38 percent of the sports market in 2010 and had the highest turnover – NOK 4,417 million (€565.5m-$824.0m). XXL, with 14 stores, had the highest turnover on a per store basis, NOK 133 million (€17.0m-$24.8m).
Following a consolidation trend, in 2010 Coop acquired Smartclub, which offers leading brands from more than 40 industries to low prices, and strengthened its position on the sports market. Coop, with a turnover of NOK 16.5 million (€2.1m-$3.1m) on a per store basis, had the highest sales growth of all chains, followed by XXL and Intersport.
Comparing the market share development among the chains from 2003 to 2010, XXL was the strongest-growing chain with continued positive growth over this entire period. XXL experienced an average annual 1.6 percent increase in market share from 2009 to 2010. Intersport followed with a market share growth of 1.4 percent, and then G-Sport with a 0.8 percent increase.
The total number of sports stores operating in Norway decreased slightly from 761 in 2009 to 760 in 2010 – a stagnation of previous years' positive development, likely due to the financial crisis. G-Sport had the highest number of stores at 188.
Over the past five years, the trend of negative price growth and higher turnover meant that Norwegian customers got more sports attire than ever for their money last year. There was also a strong trend toward environmental and ethical consciousness within the sport industry.
Internet sales continued to increase in 2010, especially for the bicycle and fishing sectors. XXL, Sportsnett, Oslo Sportslager and Gresvig all invested in online boutiques.
About 350,000 bicycles were sold in 2010, which was a slight decrease compared with the year before. As a result of higher manufacturing costs, bicycle prices increased. Skiing and other winter sports held a continued strong position in the Norwegian sport industry. About 500,000 skis were sold during the 2009-10 season, broken down to about 380,000 cross-country skis and about 120,000 alpine skis. Only Russia sold more cross-country skis than Norway. Apparel made up about 40 percent of the total sport industry turnover.
Looking ahead, Sportsbransjen projects growth of approximately 4 percent for the Norwegian sporting goods market in 2011. Factors such as good winter weather and government plans to improve bicycle paths are thought to be key factors for increased sales.
