MARKET INSIGHT UK GERMANY ITALY SWISS AUSTRIA SPAIN FRANCE
Beware the price rise.
Today (21st June) is the day that we are supposed to end the covid lockdown and return to ‘normality’. It’s not happening and the UK looks like we will have another 4 weeks in our semi-lockdown state which, for summer business in the UK, is probably going to prove to be good… very good. I also do wonder if the extended ban on travel could have something to do with trying to keep as much of the furlough money in the UK… just saying! Either way it does seem perverse that this extended lockdown is a positive for the UK boardsports business – but gift horses and all that. It could also be good news for winter business. The longer we stay in this current state then, in theory at least, the less likely we are to be locked down during the crucial winter months. Having said that it is all really going to depend on the ‘travel traffic light system’ which will allow UK boarders to get to the mountains … and for this to work we need all our ‘go to’ alpine countries to get their covid-$hit together. So how is it? On skate, Paul from Black Sheep, Manchester was still pretty sanguine about the situation: “It’s a funny feeling – it’s not as good as it was about a year ago but if I make a comparison to two years back it’s still up. Whereas a year ago we were all scrabbling around for stock we now have plenty – perhaps too much! Same for distributors and we can see some ‘sale-ing’ going on which is never a good thing if we want to maintain our margin. What’s 80
nice is that it so much broader than it used to be – all ages and loads of girls. It’s fantastic to see how many girls we’ve got on boards. And let’s face it that doubles our market”. Is it all good news? “No – we are seeing price rises which is not a surprise and the business is very erratic – Saturday mad busy, Sunday half decent, Monday really slow which is unusual. To me that’s a sign that something is changing – but bottom line is good. I’m really happy with the way things are panning out. Fantastic!” In theory the UK is still in a mild lockdown but if you check out the travel statistics it appears that the roads are busier now than precovid times. People are desperate to get out there and get on board and they are flooding towards the water. “The staycation is washing through and increased sales still continue apace.” This is Tony from The SUP Co, “we all know what covid has done for watersports in the UK and SUP in particular but we’re now finding the business is not slowing down and our deeper stock holding together with customer service is paying dividends with both new and repeat customers.” What about the supermarket offerings – is that not a problem? “Nothing to fear! The ‘compromise’ purchase from supermarkets has brought in lots of newbies to the sport and the next thing they want is a decent bit of kit to take their new passion further. In the same way that the IBD’s (Independent Bike Dealer) have survived the ‘Wiggle storm’ by product differentiation so we will be able to do the same - as will any good independent watersports retailer”. “All this increased participation, whether it
