Focus On Outdoor Products: Who Will Win In A War?

China's outdoor industry working committee released recently showed that China

From 2001 to 2010, the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of China's outdoor products market was 25%~35%.

Compared to the traditional sports goods industry with a slower growth rate and an average annual growth rate of only 15%~20%, outdoor rivers and lakes can be described as "separatist rulers".

However, there are also potential problems in the outdoor market, such as the homogeneity of product positioning, the impact of specialized channels through popular channels, the conflict between products online and offline, and so on.

This phase of the business circle has gathered the mainstream outdoor suppliers at home and abroad to explore solutions to these problems.

Focus one:

How to avoid homogenization of product positioning

Question: at present, there are more than 480 outdoor brands sold in China, of which more than 290 international brands.

How can new entrants find the right position to occupy a larger market share? Does the original narrow positioning need to be adjusted for market share?

Weapon: as a latecomer, we need not only subdivide according to product category.

Xiao Xiaosong: in the current Chinese market, there are less than 50 active brands in sustainable development, and less than 20 brands with initial influence.

From this figure, the industry is not crowded at present, and the space is very large.

More importantly, the industry as a whole is developing at a high speed and will generate more space and opportunities in the future.

Let's take Coleman as an example. First of all, we emphasize that outdoor activities include leisure and outdoor activities besides limit and technology. Secondly, we aim at the largest and most potential self driving market segments. Finally, we provide consumers with more opportunities to interact and experience, so that more consumers can enjoy more outdoor activities.

These strategies have made us successful returns.

Luo Xiang Town: outdoor brands can be simply divided into outdoor clothing and outdoors.

Most of the outdoor brands of front-line clothing are mainly sales in department stores, while high-grade ones in China's first and second tier cities.

Zhang Qi: considering the professionalism, environment and personal time arrangement of domestic consumers wearing outdoor products, sales of outdoor brands will undoubtedly be greatly affected if they are completely adhered to tradition.

Therefore, in addition to maintaining the functionality of the product line, AI Gao adds a little bit to its fashion sense, such as color and edition, which has been targeted in accordance with Chinese consumers' preferences.

From this point of view, AI Gao brand is not just doing sports.

On the basis of functionality, the addition of fashion elements not only guarantees the protection of outdoor products to consumers' bodies, but also introduces the concept of leisure life in outdoor products, so that AI Gao can get a brand premium above the average outdoor products 20%~30%.

Zhang Heng: outdoor brand should be based on professional quality and professional function. On this basis, we should also take into account popular elements.

If we take the road of leisure, we will eventually drown in the Red Sea competition with many leisure brands.

At present, more and more outdoor brands have added popular elements on the basis of maintaining professional performance, which is suitable for daily public use and is more suitable for sale in shopping malls.

In addition, outdoor brand has become a trend of "professional popularity". From the past few years, foreign brands have been dominant, and domestic brands have been rising rapidly, so as to form a trend of resistance against foreign brands.

Zhang Qing: Generally speaking, the domestic outdoor market is still in the "spring and Autumn Period".

Unlike foreign countries that rely on specialties and market segments, the domestic outdoor market is more of a market expansion with the upgrading of Chinese consumption.

In this case, there are generally two ways to choose: one is to focus on core positioning, to insist on high-end market segmentation, not to seek rapid expansion of scale, but to look at the long tail demand of outdoor market; the other is the concept of outdoors, from the change of consumer life style (lifestyle), and to inject leisure elements on the basis of product professional performance.

Focus two: how to foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses in channel selection

Question: Generally speaking, the consumption peak of outdoor products is lagging behind that of mass sports products.

Limited by total sales and marketing power, outdoor products retail terminals are far less than mass sports brands.

How should outdoor brands optimize their allocation and shape their own channel competitiveness?

Tactics: we should use professional advantages to foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses, distinguish the primary and secondary resources in the channel strategy, lay emphasis on resources, and regularly assess and adjust; in the specific layout, we should improve the coverage of the whole region, and also refine the terminal management and increase the permeability in key cities.

Zhang Heng: the main sales channels of outdoor products are: shopping mall channels, multi brand comprehensive franchise stores, single brand franchise stores, and online channels.

The number of channels grows fast, but the total number and scale of channels are far less than that of sports brands.

For large scale and wide range of clothing and footwear outdoor brands, it is suitable for various marketing channels mentioned above. For specialized equipment, it is suitable for multi brand integrated franchise stores.

Therefore, each brand should choose its corresponding sales channel according to its own product structure and price positioning.

Zhang Qi: knowing his brand positioning, the positioning of the channel will come true.

AI Gao is positioned in the high-end outdoor leisure brand, so the sales channels have to be trade-offs, not all shopping malls have this brand, not a passenger flow.

For example, on the choice of floors, AI Gao 80%~90% stores will choose three or four floors instead of one or two floors.

Relatively speaking, the one or two level of passenger traffic is the largest, but the three or four tier positioning will be more high-end, shopping environment is relatively better.

At the same time, AI Gao usually chooses the shops in the middle position of outdoor and leisure brands, and the entry of many outdoor and leisure brands create a good atmosphere for consumers to do so.

Xiao Xiaosong: for the current stage of development, I think it has developed into a stage of horse race enclosure, and the way to get the future is.

However, each brand needs to develop a channel strategy suitable for itself. It is impossible for this mountain to look at that mountain high. Other brands have to open 100 new stores, and they have to make 200 plans.

China's channel construction may be the most complex in the world, but it is also the most potential.

Therefore, innovation is very important.

For two years, I have been promoting Coleman's innovation in channel construction. For example, apart from the traditional outdoor stores and shopping malls, we have also developed and infiltrated specialized vehicle channels and major customer channels. In 2011, we will continue to develop two other potential subdivision channels.

Only by constantly innovating can we have the vitality and competitiveness of channel construction.

Zhang Qing: domestic distributors of outdoor channels are small and scattered, and there is no outdoor retail brand at the national level.

Taking into account the demand for domestic consumption upgrading, brand players can invest more energy in channel construction, and channel expansion can bring more consumers and ensure greater cash flow.

At the same time, it can also expand channels with some professional sports investment funds, which will be of great benefit to the outdoor products with good quality.

In the era of enclosure, the speed of expansion is more important than anything else.

Focus three: how to solve {page_break}

Online and offline conflict

Question: although professional high-end outdoor products account for a relatively small proportion of e-commerce sales at present, the sales of low and medium priced products are very large on the Internet, and there is a situation of disorderly competition in prices and untrue products.

Weapon: to bring the advantages of e-commerce into full play and avoid the impact on traditional channels, the best way is to strengthen brand influence, improve the management level of traditional channels, and adopt differentiated strategies to advance the layout of e-commerce.

Zhang Heng: the sale of professional high-end outdoor products is not high at present in e-commerce. It should be below 5%, while low and medium priced products sell well on the Internet, but there is a situation of disorderly competition in prices and untrue products.

E-commerce is a fast developing channel, and will become one of the most important sales channels in the future.

Xiao Xiaosong: at this stage, there are still some problems in the e-commerce of outdoor industry, such as disorderly competition, good and bad intermingled, true and false.

Some excellent e-commerce websites have greatly promoted the development of the industry, business upgrading and brand building. However, many websites have caused various problems and complaints, which have a negative impact on the development of the industry due to the lack of standardization of their own business strategies.

In the long run, there is no doubt that the proportion of e-commerce will increase. In the foreseeable 5 years, e-commerce will gradually account for about 1/3 of the total business.

As a brand, I think we need to consider the long-term layout. We should not only exert the advantages of e-commerce, but also avoid the impact on traditional channels.

The best way is to strengthen brand influence and improve the level of traditional channel management. At the same time, we need to adopt differentiated strategy to advance the layout of e-commerce.

Zhang Qing: e-commerce in the outdoor industry is a useful supplement to physical sales, but the current e-commerce shopping experience is far from being able to replace physical store sales.

For online sales impact on offline products, blocking is not a way, but to actively think of other ways to solve.

For example, some companies have asked offline distributors not to directly or indirectly supply the goods online in any form, only allowing companies to sell through their own e-commerce platforms.

In addition, e-commerce is a brand new business culture, and also requires traditional enterprises to constantly adjust their business thinking and product strategy.

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Innovation sticks to its obligations

As the boss of AI Gao China, there is nothing wrong with Zhang Qi.

Lighting, showcase, matching of goods, communication between shop assistants and consumers are all his most noticing contents.

And he also admitted that after clarified the outdoor positioning of AI Gao, a large part of his energy was spent in the shop: not only Beijing, but the whole country.

Zhang Qi's business philosophy is that it is better to choose the site precisely than to open more stores, pay attention to every detail after site selection, do a good job in each store's revenue, and expand the market share through the revenue growth of endogenetic single store performance.

It is precisely because of such a clear positioning and execution, Zhang Qi also has the brand of AI high brand one or two times a year.

No doubt, this is quite different from the current practice of many fast fading brands relying on extensive shops and rapidly improving their performance.

Like Zhang Qi, Xiao Xiaosong also likes to study consumers.

In 2010, Xiao Xiaosong made an important decision to open the product stand to the 4S shop beside the car, Coleman tents, assault boats, fresh boxes, outdoor barbecue equipment, etc., with the popularity of the car into the eyes of many people.

It seems that the effective marketing decisions are not complicated or even simple.

But in fact, whether AI Gao or Coleman, the success of domestic channel layout is based on the premise that brands and products are enough to attract consumers.

In view of the characteristics of Chinese consumers, the proper addition of color, version and leisure elements often ensure that these brands ensure consistent quality and meet the needs of consumers in different geographical cultures.

According to Zhang Heng's data, the largest outdoor brand in China is about 500 million yuan per year. If the average annual growth rate is maintained for 30% years, the annual sales will be over 1 billion yuan within 3 years. With the rapid popularization of the car in China, it looks as if it can be reached.

Luo Xiang town is also full of confidence.

In his view, Beijing and Tianjin are very close to the two cities, but the outdoor industry of the former is already in the rising area, but Tianjin seems to have not yet started.

From the market potential and space, if there are good brands and products, the rest needs to communicate with target consumers in a "micro innovation" way. Success is not far away.