At the end of December, Austrian ski sports brand HEAD will open its first sportswear store in Beijing Fangcaodi.
In addition, in January 2022, the German luxury sportswear brand BOGNER will also open its first boutique in Shanghai in Plaza 66.
Ski wear brands are entering China in droves. According to Mr. William Yang, General Manager of BOGNER Greater China, compared with foreign ski markets, the holding of the Winter Olympics has effectively stimulated the skiing craze, and BOGNER has also seized this opportunity to enter the Chinese market. Although it is late, it is at the right time. BOGNER, a luxury sportswear brand with a 90-year heritage, officially entered Tmall Luxury Products in December 2021. At the same time, it was officially announced that Yang Yang would serve as the brand spokesperson on December 20. These measures help the brand accelerate its entry into the Chinese market and lay a good foundation for future development.
The market also gave positive feedback. According to this year’s Double 11 performance data, orders for ski clothing on the Tmall platform increased by 130% year-on-year, snowboard sales increased by 240% year-on-year, and ski helmets and ski goggles both increased by more than 190% year-on-year. In addition, JD.com’s self-operated orders for the sports and ski category also increased by more than 170% year-on-year.
Ski wear has become increasingly popular in China, partly due to the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. Since the successful bid for the Winter Olympics, the niche ski sport has gradually become favored by domestic consumers, and the scale of the ski market has increased year by year.
According to the “2021-2027 China Ski Equipment Industry Market Development Model and Strategic Consulting Research Report” released by Zhiyan Consulting, the scale of China’s ski equipment market in 2020 is 12.69 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8% .
However, compared with the ski market in countries such as Japan and France, China’s current ski market and ski clothing are still in the popularization stage and have not ushered in a real explosion. So, can these clothing brands betting on the Chinese market usher in their real spring? Can ski suits become the next hot item in the apparel industry?
The skiing atmosphere is gradually gaining momentum. According to Qichacha data, as of the end of November 2020, there were 5,008 skiing-related companies in my country, including 1,684 ski resort-related companies. Harbin has the largest number of ski-related companies with 416, followed by Zhangjiakou and Beijing. In terms of provincial rankings, Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Guangdong rank among the top three, and the three northeastern provinces together account for 27% of the country.
This phenomenon is also reflected in the primary market, especially in 2021, a total of 9 related financing events occurred, and brands such as GOSKI, Xueleshan, SNOW51, and Aoxue Culture were all different. It has obtained tens of millions and billions of yuan in financing.
In the past 2021, SNOW51 added 9 new stores and currently has 18 stores in Shanghai, 4 stores in Ningbo, 4 stores in Shenzhen and 3 stores in Beijing. According to SNOW51CHO revealed to the media, in the next 2-3 years, it will open to all cities with a trillion GDP, and hopes to expand the number of stores nationwide to 200-300.
While ski resorts are rapidly occupying the market, competition is also fierce in skiwear, another important category in the ski market.
Yingshang Big Data compiled statistics on 19 ski wear brands and their store openings in shopping malls with more than 50,000 square meters in 24 cities. The 19 ski wear brands with more than 30 offline stores are: 8. Among the brands that focus on ski wear, HALTI and KJUS have the largest number of stores, opening 62 and 137 stores respectively.
The trend of ski clothing brand store openings may enter the fast lane.
As brands such as Goldwin, Peak Performance, and BOGNER enter the Chinese market, store openings in shopping malls and specific markets will continue.
Since November 2021, BOGNER has successively opened pop-up stores in Shanghai Kerry Center, Jilin Songhua Lake Resort Prince Hotel, Beijing SKP, and Beijing Wangfu Central. In December, BOGNER Na Beijing Wangfu Central store has officially opened, and will open its second directly-operated store at Plaza 66 on Nanjing West Road, Shanghai on January 17, 2022.
And this has just begun.
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