retail buyer’s guide
RETAIL BUYER’S GUIDE
S U P 2022
INDIANA
The SUP market has now gone way beyond the normal remit of boardsports in the variety of its uses, attracting more and more people to an outdoor sport: a sport of the masses whose critical size is far from being attained. The proof comes in this preview of what’s on offer for Spring/Summer 2022, which is destined to be a busy season for retailers, so long as they get their orders right. By David Bianic.
In an international context where it has become more difficult to supply than to sell, the issue is no longer as much about whether the market is doing well as whether the supply and logistics chain can handle it. The proof? “We have almost 25% of our current turnover in customer orders that we cannot deliver at the moment due to lack of products”, reveals Benoît Brecq, Brand and Marketing Manager for Ari’i Nui who have recorded a 200% increase in demand on last year! Just as revealing is the anecdote from Wyatt Miller, Brand Manager at Slingshot Sports who tells us how they ordered 500 inflatable SUPs in one go and sold them all in one single day. This is why you need to go for pre-orders, reminds Swen Rilhac, Communication and Marketing Manager 58
“the shipment costs have more than tripled worldwide and have even arrived at five times in some regions” Chap Zhang, Aqua Marina
at SIC Maui. The team at NSP tell us that the indicators would suggest that the demand is at risk of exceeding the supply of provisions “for at least another 18-24 months”. To keep up, the Chinese brand Aqua Marina have had to kit their factories out with better machines to provide higher production capacity, explains Chap Zhang, Head of Product. And for the
