Behind the popularity of ski wear, the hot business in the cold ice and snow

Text |Watching the tide of new consumption Zhang Linghan.

Edit |Eucommia.

In recent years, China's ice and snow industry has developed rapidly. According to Sullivan's relevant data, the number of skiers in China is expected to reach nearly 35 million by 2027, and the number of skiers will reach nearly 90 million.

Under the boom of ice and snow sports, ski clothing, as one of the most important subdivisions in the industry, has a large consumption, igniting the most prosperous fire in this winter. Traditional sports brands and luxury brands have laid out one after another, opening this road of "nuggets" in the snow.

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Wu Dajing won the first gold medal for the Chinese sports delegation in the men's 500m short track speed skating competition. In the same year, the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China proposed to vigorously promote the popularization of mass ice and snow sports, help build a "healthy China", and strive to achieve the goal of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports". Driven by the Winter Olympics and related policies, China's ice and snow sports ushered in the first wave of small climaxes.

At this stage, the main participants in domestic skiing are the middle and high-income groups in first- and second-tier cities, aged 25 to 34 years old, the market has not completely sunk, and ice and snow sports are limited to high-net-worth consumers. This type of consumer is less sensitive to **, and professionalism and functionality are the primary goals they pursue.

During this period, the related product track has been occupied by some mature overseas brands for a long time.

Most of the overseas ski wear brands are professional brands with a long history in various countries and serve the national team, Olympic athletes and other people, generally high-end, and the major brands are more than 1,000 yuan, and the most expensive ski wear products of Bogner and Helly Hansen are 10,000 yuan. From the perspective of offline layout, these brands have also concentrated on entering the Chinese market after 2018, opening stores in the core business districts of first-tier cities and near ski resorts.

In 2022, the Winter Olympics held for the first time at the "doorstep" pushed the popularity of ice and snow sports to another climax. According to Sullivan data, among the top 10 sports brands in the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese brands and brands owned by Chinese companies account for 4. The Beijing Winter Olympics has helped Chinese brands and Chinese companies to increase their visibility on ski equipment venues.

It is worth mentioning that among the top 10 brands on the list, in addition to Anta being a local brand in China, Descente and FILA are all acquired brands by Anta; Phenix was acquired by Kappa China**, and the "Chinese system" seems to have occupied half of the country.

Take Descente, for example. Descente is a professional ski equipment brand born in Japan in 1935, with mature design and technology, and has helped countless Olympians achieve excellent results in the field with its professionalism. However, Descente, which has superior products, is a "scumbag" in the business field, and has been tepid since entering the Chinese market in 1992.

In 2016, ANTA established a joint venture with Descente to independently operate Descente China. In 2019, Descente suffered losses in the Japanese market, but sold nearly one billion yuan in the Chinese market under the operation of Anta. According to Anta's recently released operating performance report, in the fourth quarter of 2023, all of ANTA's brands, including Descente, achieved positive growth of 55%-60% over the same period.

Understanding the traditional local brands in the Chinese market and quickly entering the explosive market segment through the acquisition method of "take-it-or-leave-it" is also one of the effective ways for domestic brands to enter the market. Among them, Anta, which owns brands such as the high-end sports brand FILA, the Japanese ski brand Descente, and the Korean outdoor goods brand Kolon Sport, is undoubtedly the biggest winner.

Changes in consumer groups are also taking place at the same time. With the help of the Beijing Winter Olympics, more and more "first-time" skiing enthusiasts have joined, and skiing has migrated from a "niche high-end sport" mainly aimed at "rich people" to the mass consumer market. According to the data of the Mob Research Institute, nearly 8 percent of the skiers in China have experience, and only 8 percent of the skiers ski more than 6 times a year7%。

Under such a development trend, China's entry-level ski equipment has generated a huge market demand, with cost-effective, familiar with local consumers and other advantages of traditional domestic brands, new domestic brands continue to make efforts, and gradually break the monopoly of overseas high-end brands.

In addition to the well-known traditional down jacket brand Bosideng and sports brand Li Ning, which have made ski wear the main category this year, the newly established Guochao ski equipment brand is also slowly emerging.

Stepping out of the ski resort and moving towards the development of the life-oriented ice and snow industry has entered a new stage, which is not only reflected in the diversification of supply-side brands and the intensification of competition, but also from the consumer side, the biggest innovation is the change of scene - from ski resorts to daily life.

There are two motivations for promoting the daily use of ski wear, which can be seen from the product side and the marketing side.

Product-side. In the early days of the development of ice and snow sports, for safety reasons, ski clothes usually chose strong saturated colors, so that skiers could be quickly discovered when they were in distress in the wild. With the development of skiing becoming more and more mature, the management of ski resorts is more standardized, and the probability of distress is greatly reduced.

Nowadays, the color and style of ski wear have been rapidly upgraded, changing from the bloated and "earthy color" of the past, from black and white solid colors to personalized prints, with different patterns, and they are also closer to life, becoming a fashion item that can be worn on the street.

In terms of fabrics and craftsmanship, the functionality of ski wear itself is also the reason why it is chosen by many consumers in life scenarios. In order to cope with snow and ice, the skiwear has the dual characteristics of warmth and waterproofing, and at the same time, the skiwear is also malleable and elastic for better riding on the snow. The multi-function makes the ski suit warmer than the jacket and lighter than the down jacket, making it an ideal winter item that can be switched between indoor and outdoor scenes.

Marketing side. Rihanna, Ken Dou, Yi Mengling, Yu Shuxin, etc. have posted their "snow wear" on social platforms, and the concept of "snowcore" (snow fashion) quickly became popular on social platforms. With the expansion of the influence of celebrities in the fashion circle, snow clothing has gradually become well-known to the public, and topics such as snowcore on Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other social platforms have received tens of millions of interactions.

Image source: Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin).

The choice of snow wear by public figures as a daily collocation not only spurred the public's interest, but also forced the fashion and daily design of ski wear brands, and also attracted more brands to enter the game across borders. As the vane of the fashion industry, luxury brands have first completed the layout of the snow system, and big brands such as Chanel, Fendi, and Balenciaga have launched ski collections to win market attention through unique design and brand influence.

New brands from all over the world have also launched their own "everyday" ski wear. "In the past, we targeted professional skiers, but now more and more people wear ski clothes every day, and we have also made changes in the design, not only considering the basic functional needs, but also considering the fashion needs, and adding some trendy elements. A designer of a new ski brand told us. In the comment area of various domestic brands Tmall*** products, "good-looking", "thin" and "cool" are all keywords that appear very frequently.

The promotion of celebrities from all walks of life and the first-class platform, coupled with the product characteristics of the ski suit itself, will push the ski suit to the street. Gen Z young people not only wear snowsuits to the field, but also use it as a must-have item for street fashion. The consumption scene of ski wear is further expanding, and the market potential is slowly being discovered.

The competition in China's ice and snow sports has just begun, and there is still a long way to go. According to Sullivan data, the current penetration rate of skiing in China is only 1%, far lower than that of developed countries such as Japan and the United States. In the ski industry with great potential, Guochao ski wear brands have more opportunities, but also face more challenges.

Unlike other garments, ski wear has extremely high requirements for fabrics and craftsmanship. After years of precipitation and research and development, overseas professional brands are more mature in fabric technology.

At present, overseas mainstream ski wear fabrics include Gore-Tex, Event, Dermizax, etc., and major brands will also develop their own fabrics, such as Halti's DryMaxx. Some domestic leading manufacturers can purchase or introduce various technologies corresponding to professional fabrics through the acquisition of overseas brands, but for cutting-edge brands, the independent research and development of ski wear fabrics is costly, risky, and may not necessarily guarantee the expected effect, so most brands are reluctant to make too many attempts in fabric upgrading.

From the top chain, data show that China's OEM supports more than 90% of the world's ski equipment demand, Shandong, Guangdong, Fujian and other places have a very complete ski equipment industry chain, in ski gloves, helmets and other segments occupy a maximum of 90% of the world's market share.

Shandong Jiaxiang, known as the "famous glove city in China", has more than 300 glove production, processing and supporting enterprises, more than 1,500 processing households, and more than 50 supporting enterprises such as auxiliary material production and equipment, and the production of ski gloves has driven about 20,000 people to work, with an average increase of 1,000 yuan.

Many overseas ski equipment brands have foundries in China. Back in 2018, Burton made most of the company's skis in China; The 100-year-old French ski brand Rossignol and the industry's top technology Oakley snow goggles also have the shadow of Made in China.

Nearly 20 years of OEM experience in ski equipment, so that China's ski equipment chain has an absolute advantage, but the development of domestic brands is extremely difficult, the core reason is that ski equipment related patented technology and design ideas are still in the hands of overseas brands, while the long-term occupation of the equipment market overseas brands have been deeply recognized by the public, in the initial stage of domestic brands have not yet formed a considerable influence.

Secondly, the limitations of the sports environment are still a major problem for the ski wear market. Although this category has moved towards leisure, this is still in the market education stage, the development is not yet mature, and more consumption scenarios are still concentrated in ski resorts. For consumers who only want to experience skiing once, renting ski equipment is much more cost-effective than buying. At present, most ski resorts in China rent a full set of equipment including ski goggles, protective gear, ski clothes, and gloves, which is about a few hundred yuan, and the purchase of a set may be about a thousand yuan.

For the fledgling Chinese market, most consumers are still experiencers, with a high sensitivity to ski equipment, and a low stickiness to ski equipment.

In summary, the market potential of ski wear is huge, and the market explosion can be expected in the future. However, in order to take the lead in this market, new domestic brands still need to make efforts in professionalism, materials, craftsmanship and design, and attract consumers' eyes with higher cost-effective advantages for the general population. In addition, it is also necessary to break out of the original product model and continue to optimize the product category, so that ski wear can be broadened and covered by a wider range of consumer groups like jackets and basketball shoes.