"Ice And Snow Craze" Helps Domestic Ski Clothes "Break Through"

The 9th Asian Winter Games has come to an end, but the enthusiasm of "ice and snow consumption" continues in all major industries.

As a ski clothing market with a wide audience, rapid development and obvious growth, it has become the focus of the clothing industry.

According to Tmall's data, the turnover of skiing industry in the snow season of 2024 will increase by more than 40% year on year. As of December 31, 2024, 7 of the top 10 sales of Tmall ski clothes have been occupied by domestic brands.

Relying on local advantages and constantly upgraded product strength, domestic ski clothing brands break the situation that international brands dominate the ski market in a more consumer friendly way, and promote the development of the domestic market towards subdivision and high-end.

　　 "Ice and snow craze" helps domestic ski clothes "break through"

"Foreign ski products are highly professional and well-known, so people used to only know about international brands when choosing equipment." Ski coach Wang Ke introduced, but in recent years he clearly felt that more and more people wear domestic ski brands on ski resorts.

At present, ski product lines are set up for head clothes including Anta, Li Ning, Toread and Bosiden; Outdoor brands such as Jiaoxia, Camel, Kaileshi, Boxihe, etc. also incorporate skiing scenes into product design; COSONE、AWKA、Nobaday、 Nann Swag Li、 The popularity of new domestic ski brands such as Xuebu has been constantly improving.

In terms of sales volume, e-commerce platform data shows that the GMV of a certain ski suit owned by Camel will exceed 50 million during the "Double 11" promotion period in 2024; The domestic cutting-edge snow clothing brand ISSE MIGGA competed with international brands such as Burton and Dysont during the "Double 11" last year, and the annual sales of the brand will increase by 400% in 2024.

Search the ski clothing stores on the Tmall platform and find that the top six domestic brands have the highest monthly sales of 90000 products and the lowest monthly sales of 8000 products.

"Many products, fashionable shapes and high cost performance are the main reasons why customers choose domestic ski clothes." Ms. Wang, who is engaged in ski clothes leasing on Changbai, said that 90% of the products leased in the store are domestic brands. She said that the domestic ski clothes have various and beautiful colors, which are very suitable for clocking and taking photos. "Rent a set of domestic ski clothes, including jacket and pants, about 200 yuan a day, the price is very affordable, and customer feedback is also good."

The domestic ski clothes can break through the tight encirclement in the market dominated by a number of international brands, which is inseparable from the continuous growth of the domestic ice and snow sports market.

"After the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the participation group of domestic snow and ice sports has expanded from professionals to the general public." Wang Ke introduced that, in addition, the continuous improvement of domestic ski hardware equipment, the increase of indoor ski venues, as well as the tourism boom in areas with rich snow and ice resources represented by Harbin, Jilin and Xinjiang, have driven the popularity of domestic ski clothes.

In addition, he said that policy is an important "booster". For example, on November 6 last year, the General Office of the State Council issued the Several Opinions on Stimulating the Ice and Snow Economy with the High quality Development of Ice and Snow Sports, which proposed 24 measures in 8 aspects, and defined that the total scale of the ice and snow economy will reach 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030.

　　 Know more about local consumers and find opportunities from segmented needs

Different from the development path of foreign ski market with niche and specialty as the core, domestic ski sports realized the rapid transition from niche to mass by taking advantage of market dividends.

"More and more beginners are flocking to ski resorts, and their demand for ski clothes has gradually shifted from basic functionality to diversification and personalization. In order to meet this market demand, ski clothing brands have continuously upgraded in three dimensions of design, fashion and experience, and launched more products that meet the aesthetic and needs of young consumers." The person in charge of COSONE, a domestic ski brand, said that the brightly colored "dopamine color" ski suits, detachable ski suits and entry-level cost-effective ski suits are very popular in the market.

Taking COSONE as an example, the AeroFlow aerobic ski suit series launched by COSONE realizes the combination of appearance and performance. At the same time, its brand positioning of "personalized service" not only meets the needs of ski enthusiasts for product exclusivity, but also helps the brand establish differences.

In his opinion, compared with international brands, the advantages of domestic ski suits are mainly reflected in three aspects.

First of all, it has a high cost performance ratio. "The price range of domestic ski clothes is mostly from a few hundred yuan to 1000 yuan, far lower than that of international high-end brands (such as Burton, Archaeopteryx, BOGNER, etc.), which are more suitable for mass consumers, especially non professional skiers."

Secondly, they have a better understanding of local consumers. "Domestic ski clothes focus on daily use and fashion, for example, integrating 'national fashion' elements to meet the needs of young people for the combination of fashion and function."

For example, Vector, a domestic ski clothing brand that focuses on female consumers, designs more fashionable through 3D three-dimensional cutting technology, and configures sweet and cool changeable patterns, allowing consumers to switch styles at will.

Finally, the technology continues to upgrade. "Domestic enterprises have made progress in material research and development, and the application of intelligent temperature control, new materials, outdoor assistance and other technologies has made ski suits not only perform well in professional skiing scenes, but also widely apply to daily life, outdoor sports and other scenes." He said.

　　 Strengthen scientific research and break the high-end road

Among all types of sports, skiing sports have more complex scenes and high requirements for professional equipment. The quality of ski clothes often plays a decisive role, and the level of scientific research and development is the core factor to ensure quality.

"The most important performance of outdoor sports clothing, such as sportswear and ski clothes, is both waterproof and breathable." Ms. Ye of a textile fabric technology company introduced that the micropore of ski clothing fabric is able to penetrate the molecules in water vapor and isolate water molecules.

She pointed out that the better waterproof, the more difficult it is to ventilate, and the higher the requirements for fabrics, which means that the real competition of ski brands is fabric technology.

Domestic clothing brands, such as Anta, Li Ning, Bosideng, Toread, etc., have built up product competitiveness to a certain extent with the help of self-developed technology and high-end fabrics.

During this Asian Winter Games, Anta customized competition and training equipment for seven national teams. Several products built its own high-performance waterproof and moisture permeable material "Aerovent", which broke the foreign technology monopoly in the field of waterproof and moisture permeable materials.

In addition, the self-developed TiEF WARM hollow heating cotton carried by the Pathfinder ski suit can lock heat energy, store heat energy, and store heat for the body; The ski series down jacket launched by Bosiden is made of fully elastic DERMIZAX fabric, which can move freely and keep warm; Li Ning's ski clothing series, combined with high-strength nylon 6 yarn, fluoride free anti splash treatment and bobby lattice structure, has improved the wear resistance and tear resistance of the fabric.

However, it must be acknowledged that at present, the challenge of domestic ski clothing brands is still severe.

On the one hand, the market has more players and more fierce competition, including Chanel FENDI、 Balenciaga and other brands have launched ski series. On the other hand, the competition has been upgraded, and the brand game has entered a new stage, including professional brands such as Archaeopteryx, Di Sant, Rossignol, and BOGNER, plus high-end fabrics, intelligent wear, remote rescue and other scientific and technological fields.

"With its historical accumulation and high-end positioning, international brands have occupied professional players and high-end consumer markets." The above COSONE person in charge said that international brands have established global channels through direct stores, professional ski resort cooperation, etc., but domestic emerging brands still focus on online sales, with low international market penetration.

In addition, the main players in the high-end market are international brands. According to Bezex consulting data, Moncler, Quiksilver and Bogner will have 24.72%, 10.13% and 5.26% of the global luxury ski clothing market revenue shares in 2023.

"Breaking the impression of parity and moving towards high-end is the inevitable path for the future development of domestic ski brands." The relevant person in charge of COSONE believes that in the future, if domestic brands can strengthen technical research and development (such as high-performance fabrics), deepen brand stories (such as combining sports culture), and expand professional scene applications, they can occupy a larger share in the international market. (By Ji Xiaoling)

(Source: Xinhuanet)