Riding on the momentum of the 2012 "everyone goes e-commerce" trend, this summer, more and more traditional industries are "going online," continuing their long race against time. They are transitioning from traditional business models such as retail sales and direct selling to exploring online marketing methods. In this environment, the second-hand outdoor gear industry, which previously focused on achieving value chain circulation through retail stores, is also beginning to seek new channels to expand the market and capture user groups. In fact, in November 2012, Li-Ning announced that its first directly operated outdoor brand store, Li-Ning Adventure (Li-Ning Quest), would open in Beijing. Of course, Li-Ning is not the only one interested in China's outdoor products market. According to data from the COCA-provided "China Outdoor Products Market 2011 Annual Observation Report," the number of outdoor product brands in China reached 717 in 2011, an increase of 29.42% compared to 2010. Prior to Li-Ning, Adidas had also announced its entry into China’s outdoor activities sector and opened its first standalone Adidas-branded outdoor products store in China.
Faced with increasingly fierce competition in the traditional market, well-established domestic and international outdoor brands all see great potential in the e-commerce channel. In today’s world where the internet has penetrated every corner of life, promoting an e-commerce brand is much faster than promoting a traditional offline brand. It offers advantages such as low promotion costs, strong targeting, flexible operations, and excellent interactivity. In contrast, offline brands, which rely heavily on recruitment-based operations, high-cost investments, and expensive advertising campaigns, seem clumsy by comparison. Moreover, the customer base that a well-managed online store can reach is far beyond what a physical store can achieve. Although the e-commerce path for the outdoor industry is still in its exploratory stage, there is almost no doubt that online channels will become the main sales platform for outdoor brands in the future. On this path, professional outdoor brands have also begun to leverage their unique core strengths and adopt more diversified strategies to attract online shoppers.
Represented by The North Face, professional comprehensive outdoor brands are transforming e-commerce platforms into promotional strongholds, using them to both clear inventory and drive offline sales.
Represented by Toread, general-purpose outdoor brands have launched the e-commerce brand ACANU (Acanu), hoping to use a multi-brand strategy to resolve the conflict between offline and online pricing.