By Uwin Lugoda
As the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps the world, many industries have fallen into a downward spiral as the growing uncertainty is triggering global market shares to plummet. Industries such as airlines, oil, automobiles, and tourism have experienced a massive impact due to the virus and its subsequent lockdowns. However, the virus has had a positive impact on one industry in particular.
Due to the virus, many of the world’s gyms and sport centres had to close their doors, in accordance with the social distancing guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This has led to a surge in sports goods-related retail, with most companies, both international and local, struggling to cater to market demands.
While very few companies were prepared for the prolonged closure of gyms and sport centres in the past few months, many brands have used this time to push the boundaries of what the fitness industry can deliver through e-commerce.
Globally, sports and fitness equipment-related clicks on online platforms have increased by 97% week-over-week (WoW) as consumers shift their fitness needs to home-based options, according to a Microsoft Advertising report on the current online behaviour of consumers. This has led to a year-on-year (YoY) fitness-related click growth of around 112%, with 75% going to cardio-related products and 25% to strength equipment.
“As more consumers are looking for remote workout options, home gyms are becoming more popular. The increase of home fitness equipment will continue to grow as the option to use fitness equipment at one’s own time and convenience has increasingly appealed to consumers,” the report reads.
Similar to these international markets, Sri Lanka’s sports goods-related retail has also seen an uptick since the pandemic broke out. Despite the relaxing of curfew measures and the reopening of gyms and sports clubs, one local gym franchise told The Sunday Morning Business that only about 25% of their members still frequent the gym due to health concerns.
Despite this, local sport equipment retailers have had a successful few months, as many consumers have opted to work out from their homes. Speaking to us, Decathlon Sri Lanka, a part of the global franchise which caters to the equipment demands of up to 50 sports in Sri Lanka, stated that they experienced a positive growth in sales since the pandemic period began.
They explained that this was due to people paying more attention to their physical health during the current pandemic and choosing to stay active while at their homes.
The sporting goods retailer reported that since the first lockdown in March, they have seen an uptick in the sale of products such as dumbbells, exercise bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, skipping ropes, cross-training strengthening bands, and pilates and toning resistance bands.
“We were ready to cater to the demands of our customers, and we focused on delivering the products to their homes within 12 hours or less after the order was finalised,” said an official from Decathlon.
Similar to Decathlon, another well-known local sporting goods retailer reported a positive growth of around 60% when compared to last year’s sales. They explained that they saw an increase in sales in May, after the initial lockdown had ended, and by July had difficulty keeping up with the increasing demand.
“While our big machines and equipment were not moving, the smaller products which are suitable for home gyms were flying off the shelves. We had a very hard time catering to the demand and we had to restock certain items at least once a week,” they stated.
However, they said that after the third week of August, sales started to drop, adding that as of 7 November, sales are still better compared to last year’s sales in each respective month. They went on to state that they had to start taking in pre-orders for certain items to keep up with the demand, which is something they have never had to do before.
They attributed many of their sales to their online platform which actively promoted the idea of being active when at home. According to them, this was their first time moving into the e-commerce space, and it has proven successful as around 75% of their sales were done online.
Equipment retailers are not the only ones to benefit, as supplement retailers have also reported a growth in sales. Strong.LK, one of Sri Lanka’s biggest supplement retailers, stated that the supplement market during the pandemic had quite a rise through online sales post lockdown. They stated that particular products such as proteins and fat burners increased sales by at least 10% compared to the pre-Covid era.
“Once lockdown hit and people were confined to their homes, many were concerned over gaining unwanted weight and wanted to do whatever they could to stay fit. So many of them placed orders via our website and we were able to do deliveries. We had quite a number of orders per day for selected items,” an official from Strong.LK told The Sunday Morning Business.
They stated that they experienced a similar uptick in sales once the second cluster of cases were found in October, and that sales increased further when the second curfew in the Western Province was announced.
The reason fitness retailers are thriving during this period is not only because the people are spending more time at home. As observed through the above retailers, it is due to the industry recognising new customer needs and responding to them digitally by incorporating e-commerce into their business plans.
While very few companies were prepared for the prolonged closure of gyms and sport centres in the past few months, many brands have used this time to push the boundaries of what the fitness industry can deliver through e-commerce.
Globally, sports and fitness equipment-related clicks on online platforms have increased by 97% week-over-week (WoW) as consumers shift their fitness needs to home-based options, according to a Microsoft Advertising report on the current online behaviour of consumers. This has led to a year-on-year (YoY) fitness-related click growth of around 112%, with 75% going to cardio-related products and 25% to strength equipment.
“As more consumers are looking for remote workout options, home gyms are becoming more popular. The increase of home fitness equipment will continue to grow as the option to use fitness equipment at one’s own time and convenience has increasingly appealed to consumers,” the report reads.
Similar to these international markets, Sri Lanka’s sports goods-related retail has also seen an uptick since the pandemic broke out. Despite the relaxing of curfew measures and the reopening of gyms and sports clubs, one local gym franchise told The Sunday Morning Business that only about 25% of their members still frequent the gym due to health concerns.
Despite this, local sport equipment retailers have had a successful few months, as many consumers have opted to work out from their homes. Speaking to us, Decathlon Sri Lanka, a part of the global franchise which caters to the equipment demands of up to 50 sports in Sri Lanka, stated that they experienced a positive growth in sales since the pandemic period began.
They explained that this was due to people paying more attention to their physical health during the current pandemic and choosing to stay active while at their homes.
The sporting goods retailer reported that since the first lockdown in March, they have seen an uptick in the sale of products such as dumbbells, exercise bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, skipping ropes, cross-training strengthening bands, and pilates and toning resistance bands.
“We were ready to cater to the demands of our customers, and we focused on delivering the products to their homes within 12 hours or less after the order was finalised,” said an official from Decathlon.
Similar to Decathlon, another well-known local sporting goods retailer reported a positive growth of around 60% when compared to last year’s sales. They explained that they saw an increase in sales in May, after the initial lockdown had ended, and by July had difficulty keeping up with the increasing demand.
“While our big machines and equipment were not moving, the smaller products which are suitable for home gyms were flying off the shelves. We had a very hard time catering to the demand and we had to restock certain items at least once a week,” they stated.
However, they said that after the third week of August, sales started to drop, adding that as of 7 November, sales are still better compared to last year’s sales in each respective month. They went on to state that they had to start taking in pre-orders for certain items to keep up with the demand, which is something they have never had to do before.
They attributed many of their sales to their online platform which actively promoted the idea of being active when at home. According to them, this was their first time moving into the e-commerce space, and it has proven successful as around 75% of their sales were done online.
Equipment retailers are not the only ones to benefit, as supplement retailers have also reported a growth in sales. Strong.LK, one of Sri Lanka’s biggest supplement retailers, stated that the supplement market during the pandemic had quite a rise through online sales post lockdown. They stated that particular products such as proteins and fat burners increased sales by at least 10% compared to the pre-Covid era.
“Once lockdown hit and people were confined to their homes, many were concerned over gaining unwanted weight and wanted to do whatever they could to stay fit. So many of them placed orders via our website and we were able to do deliveries. We had quite a number of orders per day for selected items,” an official from Strong.LK told The Sunday Morning Business.
They stated that they experienced a similar uptick in sales once the second cluster of cases were found in October, and that sales increased further when the second curfew in the Western Province was announced.
The reason fitness retailers are thriving during this period is not only because the people are spending more time at home. As observed through the above retailers, it is due to the industry recognising new customer needs and responding to them digitally by incorporating e-commerce into their business plans.