UK European Market Insight

UK

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

GERMANY nice is that it so much broader than it used to ITALY be – all ages and loads of girls. It’s fantastic to SWISS see how many girls we’ve got on boards. And AUSTRIA let’s face it that doubles our market”. SPAIN FRANCE 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

be from a supermarket or a direct-to-market offering is going to play to our advantage. If we only retain 5% and these enthusiasts go on to develop their board skills it’s going to be good and we’ll be here to service them.

Tony quoted John Hibberd from Red Paddle: “John talks about SUP being the bridge to mass participation and he’s right. SUP is so easy to do and easy for anyone to take up - it’s going to lead on to better things for everyone.” Eighteen months back The SUP Co moved into the Surf market. How’s that going for you? “Really happy with what we have done and are forecasting. We’ve simply followed the same ethos – expert advice, great customer service, good stock. We’re not trying to be all things to all surfers but we are really serious about customer service. It’s working well and we’re super happy with the results.” I did quickly ask Tony about the fear of price rises. “It is what it is – there’s nothing much we can do to avoid them. I’m not afraid of price rises – the market price is the market price and we’ll have to live with it.” And so to winter. What is it going to bring, what are retailers feeling? “Optimistic, really optimistic.” this was Angelo from S2AS in Poole – a watersports and winter sports store: “I don’t think as many people will travel but those that do will really spend big on new kit. They’ve been starved for at least one season, maybe two, they’ll be gagging... It will happen I am absolutely convinced of it.” So have you bought accordingly? “Absolutely – I’ve got all last season’s kit and I’ve topped up with a load of clearance – I’ve put my money where my mouth is – hope I am right!” I’ll have a socially distanced beer to that thought! What about your summer business? “Super strong. Wake up 400%, SUP up 150% on top of doubling last year – the problem is getting stock. Kite is weak but not if you add winging with it – but that’s not an easy market.” And what of price rises? “I’m not worried about rising prices but brands should not think that they can cut the margin to minimise price rises. That’s not on and I’m not going to take that. Good news though is that due to supply/demand issues, discounting has stopped.” Angelo is not alone in his positivity towards winter but he is in the minority and most retailers are still very nervous about what is to come. I guess we will only know when we get to the door of winter. In the meantime we can just hope that the UK and other countries can get it right. One really positive piece of news from the UK is the uptake of the vaccines by young adults – there’s plenty of doom mongers out there but the positive approach and huge uptake shows that the covid-concern applies to all ages. They want to get back to a new normal ASAP – and get to the pubs, clubs and, hopefully, slopes as quickly as they can. In summary it’s certainly not all bad - watersports doing well, optimism with caution for winter, no fear of the inevitable prices, vaccines appear to be working, lots of money about (for some not all) and consumers seem keen to spend. All in all nobody saw covid coming, nobody could have predicted where we would be now and most would have thought it would be a lot worse … so in summary – “better than expected”. Now, where’s my beer?