What do the Olympic games, FIFA world cup, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Tour de France and many such sporting events have in common? Apart from the fact that these are internationally acclaimed sporting events, the other thing in common is the jackpot business opportunity (esp. for the sports equipment industry) that embraces every such event irrespective of its scale – local, national or international. People are moving away from being a couch potato and are taking recourse to different outdoor sports activities in order to be active and adhere to a healthy lifestyle, resulting in a boom on the fitness sports front namely, walking, running and swimming among others.
The online retail scenario has been improving all over the world, with every traditional brick and mortar retailer setting up shop in the virtual space. And, this gives impetus to several businesses to expand internationally and reach out to the target market sans the geographical constraints. With the sports frenzy that is spreading like wildfire across the globe, retailers are taking the e-route to every consumer’s shopping cart.
Pick one or pick all – Your options are (as)sorted!
The benefit of an online retail portal is that it offers a wide range of variety and assortment of products under different price range to make individual customers happy. A brick and mortar sports retail store can hold only a limited number of SKUs in both – the store as well as the warehouse. Also, it runs a risk of stocking out and thereby disappointing customers looking for that product. However, when consumers shop online, they enjoy not only convenience but also receive the best prices and offers for everything related to sports – apparels, equipment and footwear. The major vendors in the online retail space for sports goods are Walmart, DICK’s Sporting goods, Academy Sports + Outdoor, Amazon.com and Alibaba.com among several others.
Mirror mirror on the wall, are they genuine after all?
The biggest threat that the online sports retail space faces is the widespread availability of counterfeit products and local brands. These are copies and rip offs of premium sports merchandise that risk the original brand’s value by threatening to return it back to the bench, while also sending the latter’s marketing budget down the drain. These ‘me-too’ local brands are not only available off the street but also on the virtual space thereby increasing the chances of online fraud. This is a challenge as it coerces the consumers to question the genuineness and authenticity of the original brand.
Get sporty with the Technavio advantage
Technavio’s expert market research team has some insightful opinions to share on the global online sports retailing market – the trends, challenges and drivers. You can download a sample of this industry report for free or get it customized for your individual business requirement. Waiting to get sporty? Technavio is ready to play ball.
