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interface news reporter | shi yiying

interface news editor | lou qiqin

in september 2024, the autumn and winter sales war of outdoor sports brands has started in full swing.

in the second half of september, columbia, a professional outdoor brand, released its new season of hiking products and teamed up with strawman travel to create several hiking routes around pudacuo, the first national park in mainland china. descente, a high-end professional sports brand, released new snowboarding suits for autumn and winter 2024. the north face, also a professional outdoor sports brand, promoted its jackets and held the 30th anniversary exhibition of its himalayan down jackets.

almost all the world's well-known outdoor sports brands, including arc'teryx, were born in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, mainly concentrated in northern europe and north america.

as autumn arrives in the northern hemisphere, outdoor sports, mainly ice and snow, hiking, rock climbing, etc., enter a new season. for all professional outdoor brands, the most basic outdoor sports items such as jackets have entered their annual peak sales season. it is not difficult to see from the annual reports of major outdoor sports brands that the second half of the year accounts for about 60% of the annual revenue.

at the same time, the chinese market, where outdoor sports have flourished since 2020, is becoming a growth driver for major outdoor sports brands.

pierre lion, general manager of columbia china, told jiemian news: "i can't disclose specific figures. what i can say is that everyone is very satisfied with the performance of the chinese market. the team at our global headquarters is very satisfied with and very interested in the chinese market. they want to understand what kind of outdoor sports chinese consumers like and what kind of products they want. because the outdoor sports trends in the world market and the chinese market are somewhat different."

columbia, a professional outdoor sports brand, was founded in 1938. its birthplace and headquarters are in portland, oregon. this city in the northwest of the united states is also the birthplace and headquarters of nike, the global sports giant.

compared with its fellow countryman nike, columbia's revenue scale is not too large. in the 2023 annual report, the company's global revenue was us$3.487 billion (approximately rmb 24.775 billion), a year-on-year increase of 1%. columbia relies on the chinese market to maintain growth. in the fourth quarter, including the double eleven promotion, columbia recorded a high double-digit increase in the chinese market. after the start of the 2024 fiscal year, columbia recorded a high growth of 20% in the chinese market in the first quarter of the new fiscal year.

tim boyle, chairman, president and ceo of columbia group, talked about the growth momentum of the chinese market in the first quarter earnings conference call. "our growth is driven by e-commerce sales. the brand has become one of the fastest growing outdoor brands on the douyin platform. in terms of products, our transit series specially designed for the chinese market performed well in the first quarter, exceeding the same period last year. we expect that the chinese market will become the fastest growing region for our business by mid-2024."

in order to maintain its growth momentum in the chinese market and to differentiate itself from other professional outdoor sports brands, columbia has identified hiking as its main segment in the chinese outdoor sports market.

pierre lion told jiemian news: "hiking is the first step for people to get in touch with nature and outdoor sports. you can choose different routes, and it is not that difficult to get started."

in terms of global volume, columbia and the north face both had revenues of around $3.5 billion last year. amer sports group, which was acquired by anta group and listed on the new york stock exchange earlier this year, had global revenues of $4.37 billion last year. considering that amer sports owns multiple outdoor sports brands such as salomon, arc'teryx, and peak performance, its single brand volume is actually not as large as the two established outdoor brands, the north face and columbia.

however, columbia faces considerable competitive pressure, especially in the chinese market. the trend of cautious consumption has intensified competition in the sports consumption market, and it is not realistic to maintain a growth rate of around 20% for many years.

take jackets as an example. now, it is not just sports brands that are competing for this track in the chinese market. bosideng, a domestic brand that focuses on down jackets, and jiaoxia, a domestic brand that focuses on lightweight outdoor lifestyle, have both joined the jacket track in the past two years. camel, which topped the outdoor sports brand list on double eleven in 2023, has a fairly complete product configuration and price segment coverage in the jacket track.

as for international outdoor sports brands, they do not have a price advantage in items such as jackets and three-in-one products. their competitiveness mainly lies in the product strength brought by the technological barriers of outdoor products, but maintaining technological barriers means long-term and high r&d investment.

"yes, the investment in r&d is very high. many outdoor sports brands choose to buy technology from outside," pierre lion explained. "we always try to find our own suitable positioning. there are many advantages to developing technology ourselves, including more freedom and richer product positioning. over the years, we have also had many patented technologies of our own, including those used in the space station and the moon landing, which is very convincing."

fabric technology used in core outdoor products such as jackets must have two functions: heat preservation and waterproofing. therefore, many outdoor sports brands, including arc'teryx, have cooperated with gore-tex for many years. however, there are always risks in purchasing core technology from outside. in recent years, more and more outdoor brands have chosen to develop their own fabric technology.

the high cost of technology research and development means that these international outdoor sports brands cannot participate in price wars in the chinese market. ultimately, innovative technology and design of outdoor sports products are fundamental, and functionality, comfort and aesthetics are the key to conquering chinese consumers.

pierre lion told jiemian news: "it is very important to understand the chinese market and the needs of chinese consumers. the chinese consumer market is changing very fast, and we must match such needs."