Quanzhou Footwear develops ski equipment ahead of schedule

Under the overall high industry inventory, the sports goods market entered a period of weak growth. At the same time, due to Beijing’s bid to host the 2020 Winter Olympics, Quanzhou’s footwear industry developed ski equipment ahead of schedule, seeking to find new profit growth points in the outdoor field. Through the market layout of high-end professional outdoor equipment such as skiing and polar exploration, the Quanzhou brand occupies a favorable position in the high-end outdoor market.

The reporters who entered the high-end outdoor market learned from the industry a few days ago that the 361° Group and One Way Sport, the famous sports brand in northern Europe, started cooperation in October last year and jointly established Zhonglan Sporting Goods Co., Ltd., in which 361° Investment Company and One Way Sport held respectively. With 70% and 30% equity, Zhonglan Sports sales is mainly targeted at the Greater China market. This means that 361° Group has officially launched the “ONEWAY” outdoor series of high-end outdoor brands. At the first ordering event of "ONEWAY", Martin Fourcade, a Sochi Winter Olympics ski champion from Finland, went to the scene to help.

According to Li Xiang, General Manager of Zhonglan Sports, “ONEWAY” is the fastest-growing outdoor sports brand in Northern Europe, and has a wide product portfolio in hard equipment, technical apparel, etc. in outdoor sports, winter sports, and professional cycling sports. . The related R&D team is mainly from Northern Europe. These professional teams have rich experience and experience in the design of outdoor products and have a more professional and profound understanding of the spirit of products, raw materials, sports and sports.

The brand of the Leward Outdoor Group, St. Fry, has also recently stepped up its efforts in the high-end outdoor market. Just two months ago at the Beijing Outdoor Products Fair, St. Fry proposed a new theme of “further new heights”, announced its further upgrades to professional high-end outdoor, and launched a series of marketing upgrade actions: including with Land Rover, SympaTex launched a cross-border alliance and invited Wang Yongfeng, former captain of the national mountaineering team, as a brand spokesperson to help upgrade the brand. According to Chen Jiatai, general manager of Saint-Flye, the competition between outdoor products is no longer just a competition between channels and terminals, but has begun to spread to the direction of products and brands. In this regard, St. Fry has also begun to strengthen its brand and product upgrades this year.

Taking snow supplies as a breakthrough point, Li Xiang is particularly optimistic about Beijing’s bid to host the 2020 Winter Olympics. He believes that there are great opportunities for success. Once successful, it will surely encourage the people’s enthusiasm for outdoor skiing and other winter sports and accelerate the popularity of ski sports in China. “Before the popularity of ski projects in the country was low, skiers’ ski equipment was mostly rented at ski resorts. This is far from adequate in terms of fit, comfort and professionalism, and with the popularity of skiing in winter. It will be possible for ski enthusiasts to have more than one set of their own equipment. This market is full of opportunities.” Li Xiang also revealed that “ONEWAY” has started to sponsor some winter sport projects and athletes.

Also for the emphasis on snow outdoors, St. Fry not only introduced new high-end solar energy technology ski suits this year, but also provided customized models for Land Rover VIPs, providing fashionable wear and more professional and safe protection for extreme outdoor activities. Chen Jiatai is also very optimistic about Beijing’s bid to host the Winter Olympics. He believes that this move will promote the development of China’s winter outdoor sports market. “A lot of domestic outdoor sports brands are derived from the extension or transformation of sports brands. They are still at a relatively backward stage in professional functions, especially in snow sports. The corresponding snow sports are also in the initial stage of popularization. St. Fry will Improve the technological and functional content of products and accelerate the preemption of this market,” he said.

Domestic and outdoor brands are making efforts to target professional, high-end outdoor domestic brands more than "ONEWAY" and St. Fry. Last year, domestic outdoor brand explorers announced the introduction of foreign high-end outdoor brands Discovery Expedition also began listing this year. In addition, Li Ning also began to promote its outdoor brand Li-Ning Adventure. According to professional outdoor sports exhibitor Ispo, since 2011, more than a dozen European professional outdoor brands, including mountaineering brands Mammut, Klattermusen, Haglofs, sports equipment and leisure brand KETTLER, have collectively landed on the domestic market, and Chinese high-end outdoor has been Double attention. In this year's ispo exhibition, exhibiting brands focusing on outdoor, ski and extreme sports accounted for nearly 50% of the exhibition area, indicating that high-end professional outdoor equipment will become a new growth point for domestic outdoor sports.

According to a set of data from the Outdoor Products Branch of China Textile Business Association, the total retail sales of outdoor products in China in 2012 was 14.52 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 34.94% over the entire year of 2011. By 2013, sales were 18.05 billion yuan, an increase of 24.3% over the previous year. According to the analysis, due to the initial stage, China's outdoor market still has a huge space. The market has begun to mature and the growth point has continued to emerge.