Retail & Supply
How sporting goods move from factory to consumer: covering physical retail, e-commerce, omnichannel strategies, distribution networks, and the supply chain decisions that shape availability, cost, and competitive positioning.
SPOTLIGHT
Why sports retail is consolidating and fragmenting at once
Nike reversed its DTC strategy. Gresvig and XXL collapsed. Lululemon, Vuori and Arc’teryx built their own channels. The wholesale model is being rewritten from both ends.
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Amazon goes agentic, for customers and retailers alike
Amazon licenses the architecture behind its own shopping AI to competing retailers, deepening its infrastructure role across e-commerce.
StockX launches possessionless trading
New Store at StockX removes the logistics loop that drives up costs for resellers, letting buyers own, store and relist products without handling them.
DICK’S and Adobe team up on AI customer experience
The US sports retailer deploys AI agents, real-time data and generative content tools to individualize the customer journey. Powered by Adobe.
Retailers reclaim checkout from ChatGPT
Walmart conversion inside ChatGPT ran 3x lower than click-through. OpenAI pivots to discovery-first; retailers keep checkout control.
Germany’s sports goods sector unites on e-commerce
Germany’s BSI sporting goods association partners with e-commerce body bevh to align on digital distribution, lobbying, and market data.
UK startup raises £500,000 to modernize golf resale
Scottish golf tech startup Hosel targets a $3bn pre-owned market long dominated by generalist platforms with poor pricing transparency.
MARKET DATA AND ANALYSIS
European sports retail 2025: the top five in review
Vertical integration compounds. Specialist cooperatives hold. Fashion footwear exposure bites. Retail is sorting by structural logic.
SGI Analysis: The 20 biggest sports retailers in Europe
Europe’s 20 largest sports retailers grew sales by 4 percent in 2024, with market leaders like Decathlon and JD Sports driving growth.
SGI Analysis: The Top 50 Global Sports Retailers
The world’s 50 largest sporting goods retailers increased sales by 2 percent to $149 billion in 2024, with European players gaining market share whilst Asian growth stalled and US retailers faced consumer headwinds. Decathlon, Intersport and JD Sports led the rankings as regional markets showed diverging trajectories.
REPORTS
Exclusive data: How Chinese consumers shop for outdoor apparel online
Explore key insights from the 2024–25 China Outdoor Apparel: 2024–25 Ecomm Report, including platform shifts, premiumization trends, and brand strategies from Nike, Anta and Hoka One.
Exclusive data: How chinese consumers shop for sports footwear online
Explore key insights from the 2024–25 China Sports Footwear Ecomm Report, including platform shifts, premiumisation trends, and brand strategies from Nike, Anta and Hoka One.
The German Performance Running Market 2025
How German runners choose, buy, and value their shoes. Drawing on 1,001 active runners and pricing analysis, the report covers consumer profiles, buying behaviour, channel preferences, brand choices, pricing strategy, and sustainability’s influence on purchasing decisions.
STORES
Store strategies, experiential concepts, and in-store technology shaping how sporting goods brands compete for consumers in physical retail.
adidas and Lululemon on stores and loyalty
Executives from both brands spoke at the World Retail Congress in Berlin on April 27, arguing that physical stores and community ties drive consumer retention.
Golden Goose opens biggest APAC store in Beijing
Italian sneaker brand Golden Goose has opened its largest Asia-Pacific store in Beijing – a 475sqm experience flagship as HSG moves to unlock the brand’s China potential.
On opens first store in Boston
On’s 15th US store opened five days ahead of today’s Boston Marathon, marking an accelerating push into premium direct-to-consumer retail.
DISTRIBUTION
Distribution deals, wholesale partnerships, and evolving business models that determine market access and channel economics.
SportsShoes.com signs YETI as UK retail partner
The Bradford-based retailer with £93.3m turnover adds YETI coolers, drinkware, and bags to its 150-brand running and outdoor roster
Asics and Montana Sport to end distribution agreement
The Swiss handover reflects Asics’s broader push toward a 40% direct-to-consumer ratio in Europe
Fanatics and The FA sign exclusive Topps card deal
The agreement covers trading cards, stickers, and trading card games for both England national teams, beginning in 2031.
Skechers picks Mainhausen for German HQ
The move consolidates showroom and HQ into one facility at Europe’s largest footwear ordering campus.
Montirex takes on Europe via JD Sports
The Liverpool-born challenger brand pairs a 24-location Spanish rollout with a culturally targeted athlete deal — built without a single outside investor.
Fanatics wins exclusive FIFA collectibles license
Fanatics takes exclusive FIFA collectibles rights — ending Panini’s World Cup sticker run that began in 1970.
How ICIW is building Europe one gym deal at a time
A Belgium studio deal in March, a 50-location Dutch exclusivity now: ICIW’s market entry model is becoming legible.
Geopolitics opens India’s door to Anta
The Fujian-based group plans 10 stores by March 2027, positioning Anta in India’s premium sportswear segment as bilateral tensions ease.
Myprotein activewear enters Footasylum stores in the UK
Sports nutrition brand Myprotein enters multi-brand physical retail with MP Activewear, targeting 16-to-24-year-olds in seven Footasylum stores.
AGENTIC COMMERCE
The shift from browsing to briefing: how AI agents are becoming personal shoppers that understand intent and execute purchase decisions.
New AI index tracks sporting goods brand visibility
Parcel Perform’s AI Visibility Index tracks how AI shopping assistants rank and recommend sportswear and sporting goods brands when consumers ask what, how and where to buy.
Visa Study: AI reshapes winter sports participation
AI is reshaping how Americans engage with winter sports, with 44% planning snowboarding bookings inspired by the Olympics, Visa study shows.
JD Sports launches AI commerce in US
JD Sports is enabling direct purchases through ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini in the US, positioning itself as an early mover in AI-powered commerce.
Google launches agentic AI shopping protocol
Tech giant unveils open standard for AI-driven commerce with backing from major retailers including Target, Walmart, Shopify and Etsy.
Sport 2000 CEOs on AI in retail
Sport 2000’s CEOs Margit Gosau and Irina Andorfer discuss how AI assistants are shifting retail from search-based discovery to conversation-driven commerce.
OpenAI adds 'shopping research' to ChatGPT
ChatGPT now offers a “shopping research” tool that helps users find, compare and choose products via conversational AI — available on all plans during the holiday season.
Frasers Group deploys AI-first Commercetools Agentic Commerce suite
Shoppers of Sports Direct and other brands of the Frasers retail ecosystem will be able to purchase products directly within AI shopping channels.
RESALE & RENTAL
StockX launches possessionless trading
New Store at StockX removes the logistics loop that drives up costs for resellers, letting buyers own, store and relist products without handling them.
New Balance expands resale program to include apparel
The Boston brand brings apparel into its two-year-old resale program after recirculating more than 100,000 pairs of shoes.
UK startup raises £500,000 to modernize golf resale
Scottish golf tech startup Hosel targets a $3bn pre-owned market long dominated by generalist platforms with poor pricing transparency.
Nike, Mizuno lead StockX resale growth in 2025
Mizuno leads sporting goods resale growth at 124 percent as nearly 200 brands hit record sales on StockX in 2025, signaling shifts in athletic market.
AI IN RETAIL
DICK’S Sporting Goods makes AI the spine of its apps
The rollout of Coach by DICK’S brings together ScoreCard data, GameChanger users and a full Adobe AI stack.
Intersport CFO on AI strategy and physical retail
Intersport’s CFO frames the AI era as a structural opportunity for cooperative retail, not a threat to be managed.
adidas and Lululemon on stores and loyalty
Executives from both brands spoke at the World Retail Congress in Berlin on April 27, arguing that physical stores and community ties drive consumer retention.
The retail edge data can't buy; a CEO's view
Benelux retailer PassaSports makes the case that understanding behavior – not collecting more data – is the real competitive edge in sports retail.
DICK’S and Adobe team up on AI customer experience
The US sports retailer deploys AI agents, real-time data and generative content tools to individualize the customer journey. Powered by Adobe.
Do you exist if AI doesn’t mention you?
AI tools are reshaping the customer journey in sporting goods. If your brand isn’t in the answer, it isn’t in the running.
Intelligence, analysis and advice for the global sporting goods industry.
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