E-commerce today concerns all sectors, without distinction. While we are currently experiencing many sporting events with the Rolland Roland-Garros tournament, Euro 2021 and the Tour de France, it's time to take stock of the growing importance of digital in sport. .
A change in consumption habits
A barometer study conducted by Kantar for FashionNetwork.com highlights the behavior of French people before and after confinement. It shows that 33% of them, who had not practiced any sports activity before, wanted to change their habits and engage in regular sports practice. All this is confirmed during the deconfinement period since the sports market amounts to 2.125 billion euros over the two months following the confinement (May and June 2020), with the purchase of 2.2 sports products and sportswear, on average, over this same period (all means of sale combined).
We also note that sporting goods are no longer just dedicated to weekly sports, but have become fashion items in their own right , as with the cycling trend for example. The average basket of sporting goods has also changed and amounts to €253 per year and per buyer. We can also see this in the cycle market with the explosion of bicycles and electrically assisted bicycles (VAE), which made it possible to cross the bar of 3 billion euros in turnover in 2020 (source LSA ).
According to EY Future Consumer Index, confinement has brought about more profound changes. 67% of individuals have placed certain ethical issues such as the environment, recycling or eco-responsibility at the heart of their concerns and their purchasing process . It then becomes essential for a brand to communicate on these axes to attract customers.
The rise of e-commerce in the world of sport
E-commerce now represents almost a quarter of the market, with 23.3% for the year 2020 against 17.4% in 2019, with an increase in individual buyers from 10.2% in 2019 to 12 .9% in 2020 (source Kantar). This enthusiasm for online sales is mainly due to the first confinement, and allows it to integrate the top of the key sectors of e-commerce (source Shopify June 2021).
Also according to this study, the sports and sportswear market has held up well to the covid-19 crisis since it suffered a drop of 0.8% in the second quarter of 2020; against a substantial decline for the other sectors, such as the fashion market, which shows a decline of 9.2%, all categories and all means of sale combined.
Who benefits from this growth?
This dynamic has benefited certain players, such as Zalando, which manages to enter the top 1O of brands , capturing 2.6% of the market against 1.3% in 2019. It is a great feat for this pure-player which even manages to overtake Adidas and Lacoste on direct sales, over the same period. Zalando has even become the champion of sports and sportswear in terms of online sales figures , managing to capture 11.8% of the market share .
Despite the strong presence of pure-players in the online sports sales sector (half of sales), the brands that have implemented omnichannel strategies - such as Decathlon or GOsport - have strengthened their position and managed to capture 47 % of web purchases .
And among these e-commerce professionals, we also find Marketplaces, such as Amazon (5th in the ranking) which impact the e-commerce of sporting goods and sportswear with growth of +27% (Fevad). These allow consumers to obtain a wider choice of products and to make comparisons more easily, while improving the customer experience .
How to convince in 2021?
Today, with the digitization of companies and the number of resources made available to Internet users, it is very easy to make comparisons and obtain precise information . And that's good, since the crisis has changed the behavior of consumers , who today pay more attention to corporate ethics, CSR standards, etc.
For companies, CSR (corporate social responsibility) consists of voluntarily integrating social and environmental concerns into their activities. It is in a way a contribution by companies to the challenges of sustainable development , which is governed by the PACTE law of May 22, 2019.
Thus, the purchasing prism has changed . The customer no longer buys only out of necessity , but also out of conviction . For a brand, it must therefore be on all fronts to satisfy the new expectations of consumers.
A dedicated strategy
Do you want to get started in this sector and sell on the internet? So you are going to have to put in place a push sales strategy that takes into account the evolution of customer behavior and the changes in competing companies .
Regarding sports products, they are quite varied and affect a wide range of customers. Therefore, to sell your products to your target, you will have to think about the type of e-shop you want to set up:
- Distributor / Own brand
- Generalist / Specialist
- Niche / all sports
- ...
The bias you choose will mainly depend on the identity of your brand, your products and the message you want to convey to your customers through it .
The dream of growth with e-commerce
With the Covid, many companies had no choice but to change their organization , to stick to this new model and keep their turnover. Unfortunately, the context of 2020 was rather urgent and brought its share of dashed hopes for businesses.
Indeed, setting up this type of process takes time and requires a certain investment of time and money . Of course, it is possible to create an e-commerce store without real technical knowledge, but this will quickly be limited if you want to actively develop your business.
Indeed, creating an e-commerce site cannot be improvised. It is a profession in its own right , complete and varied (developer, design, sales monitoring, SEO, SEA, ADV...) which must be based on a completely new strategy, which takes into account the possibilities and the limits that brings e-commerce.
Pikka, the e-commerce specialist
Fortunately, at Pikka, e-commerce is our specialty. So, if you still hesitate to get started, do not hesitate to contact us. We can help you in the creation of your project as well as in the development of your e-commerce site.
Don't hesitate any longer, it's here !
