On the cover Izzy Keene from Izzy’s Agency – Photographer, Nick Pumphrey

The passing of Britain’s longest serving Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II draws the curtains on a record-breaking summer of heatwaves for the UK and indeed the rest of Europe. The warm weather and high-pressure systems pushed tourists towards the beaches but unfortunately spelt a poor season of surf for all of Europe. Digging into retailer trends, the hot weather saw a poor season for neoprene sales and where Covid times saw lots of impulse purchases – spurred by big queues, face masks and awkward protocols – as restrictions eased, customers felt more comfortable in stores, meaning retailers had more time to spend with them and therefore higher average basket totals. Although quality of customer was up, quantity was down with the severe heat seeing tourists opt for long beach days and dips in the water rather than shopping in land.

Beach destinations on the Old Continent’s shorelines welcomed back foreign tourists in bulk this summer, whereas retailers in countries such as the UK and Switzerland, who benefited from staycations the past two years, noticed a drop-off in footfall as their domestic visitors finally ventured abroad again.

The initial surge in product demand caused by Covid led to widespread shortages, but now the industry’s faced with a glut in many product categories. The Ukrainian war plus a Covid hangover in the Asian manufacturing, supply chain and logistics markets means product deliveries have been all over the place. Late deliveries across the board have led to unstable retailer inventories and combined with rising inflation and interest rates, retailers placed conservative orders for SS23. Once again, those brands with healthy inventories will benefit from in-season sales next summer. But a good healthy business is one that’s built on solid forecasts informed by strategic buying, so we hope to see a return to normality within the supply chain soon.

We speak with three prominent women in the boardsports world for this issue’s BIG WIG, in Roxy’s Maritxu Darrigrand, Emilie Souvras & Stephanie Micci for some insight on how the brand has evolved its approach to their target demographic. We also speak with Nixon on their new company structure and have unrivalled market insight from retailers and boardsports experts from across Europe.

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