Swiss Boardsports Market Insight, Autumn 2018

For the moment, 2018 is looking like a year with real seasons. We’ll see what autumn has in store, but for now, a rough winter, a fairly moist spring with a few sunny spurts, followed by a hot summer means that all of the elements are falling into place for a successful year. Retailers are hoping to see solid sales and will have to find fault with something other than the weather if that’s not the case. The retail market in Switzerland, like elsewhere is reinventing itself – looking for answers to questions posed by an ever-changing marketplace. Some are succeeding, while others are not. Sure-fire formulas for success from the past aren’t necessarily such a sure thing today.

Generally, it’s been a good summer, the weather has encouraged people to get out there and do the activities that interest us. According to Matthieu Rouiller from Lévitation in Martigny, skateboarding is making a strong comeback, especially street. Probably due to skateboarding being back in fashion with the youth, but also due to a push from the construction of lots of new skate parks in a large number of towns across Switzerland. For Matthieu it is the Châble skatepark (between Martigny and Verbier), which has helped his business. But he says it’s just having a skate park close by that does it. As with all boardsports, you have to be involved constantly, all year long, on the internet and in public as well, hosting parties, demos and product testing, putting special events on and more. This help create a spirit that online platforms can’t provide, which in turn helps to gain and maintain customer loyalty.

Matthieu has a small bone to pick with brands that have decided to do direct B2C sales via their websites. Brands using this distribution channel isn’t a problem itself, but when it becomes clear that everything is geared to go in this direction in the future, and effort is no longer made to service retailers, it’s hard to swallow. There are numerous examples, like having more items in stock in B2C than for retailers and much shorter delivery times for direct customers (often 2-3 days) than for shops, who often have to wait up to 10 days. Obviously, this is not a general rule and does not concern all orders, nor all brands, but isn’t just a question of a few isolated cases either. Faced with such a situation, his dismay is understandable and after asking other shop managers, it is evident that he is not the only one to be upset by the situation.

For Balazs Bodonyi at Surfmachine in Bulle, like in Martigny skateboarding is doing well with more and more people buying boards, helping to maintain a good level of sales. Full set-ups from Globe are selling very well, and Jart decks are also best sellers. Sales of cruisers and surfskates are stable, but sales of longboards and downhill boards have declined significantly. As far as apparel is concerned, classic boardshorts have not sold through well because clients have trended towards hybrids between bathing suits and walk shorts. This summer, the beach poncho is an accessory that has sold very well. Originally designed for surfers, it has become a common sight at lakes across Switzerland or wherever people are spending time on the water. The brand After seems to be leading sales in the category at Surfmachine, as well as at TipToTail in Bern.

Blue Tomato is continuing its expansion in Switzerland, and they opened a store in Lausanne, with the intention of continuing to open new stores. Also in Lausanne, it is sad to see the closure of Escape Shop. After 20 years of good and loyal service, Escape had become a reference in the Swiss-French skate and snowboard scene. We can never thank Manu, Sacha, Claude and the other people who played a part enough for all they did over the course of the last 20 years in a what was for many much more than just a simple shop. I wish them the best of luck for the future!