The outdoor area

Résumé du document

Nowadays, people are used to having other preoccupations other than their work, due to shorter working weeks. They can invest in activities of entertainment, since they have time to practice them. This evolution creates a favorable context for the development of the outdoor market. Moreover, life expectancy is increasing. Hence, the apparition of a new category of consumers, seniors. The latter are all the more exigent since they have specific needs. They are very active, and like the outdoor activities for which they are likely to pay. Many people are fed up with the urban environment which they consider as harmful and too contaminated. That is why they feel the desire to do healthy and close to nature activities. People give more importance to their self image, including and maybe above all, the seniors. People think that they have to be able to surpass themselves in nature, and in an authentic frame. At the same time, they want to live a strong experience that will give them a positive image of themselves. The outdoor sector is relatively fragmented: the two leaders, Nike and Adidas, do not seem to be likely to get involved in the Outdoor. The latter are vigilant but for the moment they seem to content themselves with sports. They are waiting before investing massively in outdoor. The sector is stricken by a certain uncertainty which does not encourage the leaders to invest massively.

Extraits

[...] Costs and prices are justified by the fact that the product is different from another. But this involves that companies make important innovation efforts and it could represent high costs. So, the good solution is to develop a focused offer. This strategy is addressing to specialists, to people who want specialized products and who want a product because it has got those particularities. It is a targeted strategy and in this case the manufacturing process, the innovation and the technology used to make the product are very important for the customer. [...]

[...] However, one of the most important entry deterrents is limited access to retail space. Financial barriers: It requires for new firms a minimum capital and a lot of investments. In terms of cost it is easier for big companies to adapt to its different types of clients (prices, volume, schedule ) because they have the size and they cover the world. New entrants face to low capital investments, which are needed for manufacturing. Overall it is important to reduce cost so big company can in source some branch of the sector. [...]

[...] The final buyers play a major role in the outdoor industry. They are highly focused of changes in fashion and they have identified themselves to some brands. It means that the criteria for buying sporting goods can be very different Performance analysis The performance analysis is used to focus on basic indicators of performance. They are economic, commercial and financial indicators. They allow strategists to better understand the company's strategy. So, in this case we are first comparing in a table firms in terms of differentiation strategy and volume strategy. [...]

[...] Retailers advise the final customers to what is better for them to buy. They are the selling force of the manufacturers. Mainstream retailers include fashion retailers, shoe shops, department stores, e-commerce and hyper/super-market. These retailers are very limited in term of outdoor products. They have less power than the specialist's retailers because their clients don't have the same demands. The Final clients A lot of people are involved in sports, some are daily practitioners and others only practice sport someday. [...]

[...] BILLABONG: Like Aigle, Billabong is specialized in Outdoor. The brand is one of the most recent brands (created during the 70's) but this has not prevented it from conquering the whole world (100 countries), including the emergent countries like Brazil for example, during a very fast growth. The brand has expanded itself thanks a policy of acquisitions of other companies which had a real know-how in their specialties. Otherwise, the Billabong stores are a powerful network of distribution for the goods. [...]