EVOC Snow Safety 2024/25 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Snow Safety FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Evoc
Interviewee: Jan Sallawitz – Head of Marketing

What are the key trends in the snow safety market?
Still more and more people head to the backcountry and of course they need snow safety equipment. Snow safety is all about reliability and usability. When you are out in the backcountry you need equipment, you can rely on. This has always been the case, so this might be an area that is probably not as trend-driven as other areas in winter sports or one could say trends are more long-lived. So this plays very much into our cards as EVOC being a brand with very functional and reliable products strongly rooted in our DNA. effect that there is more people heading to the backcountry and of course they need snow safety equipment.

What were your biggest sellers in 2022/23 and why?
As we are famous for protector backpacks it was definitely our LINE PRO collection. The LINE PRO offers an integrated back protector that protects your back -which we regard as the most crucial safety feature for ambitious freeriding. All of our SNOW backpacks have a separate pocket for safety equipment with a quick access and emergency plan, are extremely comfortable and fit perfectly. That way you almost don’t feel that you are wearing a backpack on your freeride adventures.

How are you segmenting your snow safety products? In which segment do you expect your biggest growth?

Protector Backpacks with the LITESHIELD PLUS back protector (LINE PRO 20 and LINE PRO 30)
A.S. ready Avalanche Backpacks that can be equipped with Mammut’s leading removable airbag system 3.0. Available with a back protector (LINE R.A.S. PROTECTOR 32 and LINE R.A.S. PROTECTOR 22) and without a back protector (LINE R.A.S. 30 and LINE R.A.S. 20)
For the upcoming season we expect a stable situation for all protector backpacks a slight growth for avalanche backpacks as the number of variant freeriders still grow.
But the biggest growth we expect in the segment of light and cut-down touring backpacks that offer the essential needs for all alpine adventures. Very functional – reduced to the max, so to say….

What are the technical highlights of your 2024/25 avalanche backpacks?
We love the fact that with our LINE R.A.S. PROTECTOR combines the best technologies of 2 worlds. We thing the MAMMUT R.A.S. is still one of the leading avalanche airbag systems and we are very proud that we were able to develop our own back protection technology here in Munich: Our LITESHIELD PLUS back protector offers not only excellent impact protection (EN1621-2; Level 2), but is extremely lightweight, too as well as flexible thanks to its +-segmented design. And most important for wintersports: Its damping properties are not sensitive to any temperature changes. So no matter of cold straight from the car or after some intense riding – it offers the same comfort and protection.

What are your marketing stories for 2023/24?
For 2024/25 we focus on our new superlight and cutdown touring backpack series, the SUMMIT. Of course it has safety features like and avalanche compartment and an emergency plan but it´s mainly optimized for comfort on challenging alpine adventures. So the stories will be around ambitious winter touring And of course we will still highlight our PROTECTION WEAR with the newly developed LITESHIELD FLEX technology. As mentioned earlier, the new PROTECTION WEAR is a real game changer in terms of comfort and freedom of movement. As protection has always been one of our most important pillar stones, we are going to focus on presenting and explaining the new technology and give deep insights into the whole development process that went into creating this new, outstanding technology. Plus – and this is new- we closed the gap in our cradle-to-cradle circle. With the help of the German recycling technology supplier RITTEC we are now able to take all used PROTECTION WEAR back and bring it back to the production cycle with the help of a chemical Polyester Recycling process.

How are you helping retailers to sell this category?
The safety category is one that requires more explanation and information. We offer a lot of information on our technologies and use videos to better explain technologies and usability as for example on how to fold the avalanche airbag. Apart from extensive information material we have a retail program with a modular, individually customizable display system, sales promotion concepts, presentation aids and sales tools with a large complementing selection of graphics, pictures, and product information. When it comes to digital support, we’ve upgraded our B2B shop and integrated an extensive download center where you have 24/7 access to all digital media assets like pictures, videos, texts, guidelines etc. And we’re also working on further expanding and making our instruction material more serviceable and easier to consume for retailers and their sales staff.

What’s your situation regarding stock and deliveries?
Stock situation and deliveries are up to normal and running reliably again. Of course the general economic situation could be way better. But a lot of early snow seems to be very inspiring for customers…

PROTECTION WEAR with the brand new LITESHIELD FLEX technology. Highest comfort and maximum protection – made as responsibly as possible with recycling materials and coffee. We offer 100% recycling for all products of this line! :

PROTECTOR-VEST-LITE-MEN

LINE R.A.S PROTECTOR – The only backpack with an avalanche airbag and an integrated back protector, offering maximum impact protection for your spine.

LINE-RAS-30

New touring backpacks SUMMIT 20 and SUMMIT 30: super light and cut down minimalist solution with maximum comfort for challenging alpine adventures.

LINE-PRO-20