Abstract:China's outdoor sports industry is in a golden period of vigorous development, especially with the popularity of new games such as exquisite camping, ice and snow sports, frisbee and land chong, outdoor sports have gradually become a part of public life. In addition, the structure of outdoor sports participants is also changing significantly, showing the characteristics of younger, urbanized and feminine. The younger generation of consumers is more advocating a healthy and free lifestyle, urban residents are beginning to pursue leisure experiences in harmony with nature, and the proportion of female outdoor sports enthusiasts is also rising, which not only broadens the market base of outdoor sports, but also brings new growth momentum to the industry. Under the continuous improvement of national health awareness, the popularity and participation of outdoor sports will be further improved, and in this context, the outdoor sports goods industry will undoubtedly usher in a broader development space and more prosperous market prospects.
1. Definitions and Classification
The outdoor sports goods industry refers to the industry that produces and provides products for outdoor sports equipment, protective products, equipment and facilities, etc. Outdoor sports refer to all human activities carried out "outdoors" in a broad sense, and in a narrow sense, it refers to all sports with an adventurous nature or experience adventure based on the natural environment, including outdoor mountaineering, camping, hiking, skiing, diving, cross-country mountain bikes, etc., which are more challenging and exciting. According to the natural characteristics and combined with different resource types, outdoor sports supplies can be divided into water sports supplies, land project supplies, mountain project supplies, air project supplies, ice and snow project supplies, combined project supplies, etc.
Second, industry policies
With the deep integration of national fitness and national health, outdoor sports have gradually become a popular way for the people. In order to promote and expand sports consumption, meet the people's growing demand for outdoor sports and their yearning for a better life, and help build a new development pattern, the Chinese government has formulated a series of relevant policies. In October 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission and other five departments issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Construction of Outdoor Sports Facilities and Service Improvement (2023-2025)", proposing that by 2025, the construction of outdoor sports facilities and the supply and demand of service quality will be effectively connected, the participation groups will be more extensive, the event activities will be more abundant, the professional talent team will continue to grow, and the safety supervision policy system will be more sound. The development of outdoor sports with excellent supporting industries has promoted the total scale of the outdoor sports industry to reach 3 trillion yuan. This means that the market size of the outdoor sports goods industry will be greatly expanded, providing greater development space and opportunities for enterprises in the industry.
Third, the development process
The development of China's outdoor sports goods industry has gone through four stages. From 1980 to 2004, outdoor sports began to develop in China, and the risk factor was high, most of the participants were high-income groups, and the outdoor sports goods market was basically occupied by foreign brands. During the development period from 2005 to 2013, China's local sports brands began to enter the market, and outdoor sports gradually became known to the public from a niche sport, showing a blowout growth. During the shock period from 2014 to 2021, various outdoor sports were in full bloom, and light outdoor sports began to spread rapidly among mass consumer groups, but outdoor sporting goods companies were affected by inventory and category adjustments, and the industry began to enter a period of adjustment. In the mature period from 2022 to the present, the national strategic support will be superimposed on the climax of national fitness, and outdoor sports will be more subdivided, and the demand will continue to expand.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Barriers to technology and innovation
The outdoor sporting goods industry is an industry that is highly dependent on technological innovation and R&D capabilities. Companies need to continuously invest in research and development to improve the professionalism, safety and comfort of their products. The technical barriers are mainly reflected in the application of new materials, the innovation of product design, and the diversification of product functions. For example, high-end outdoor sports equipment often needs to have waterproof, breathable, wear-resistant and other characteristics, and the research and development and realization of these characteristics require enterprises to have strong technical strength and innovation capabilities. In addition, with the development of science and technology, the research and development of high-tech outdoor sports products such as smart wearable devices has put forward higher requirements for the technical strength of enterprises.
2. Brand and market recognition barriers
Well-known brands often have high market awareness and loyal consumer groups, which poses a big challenge for new entrants. Building a strong brand requires long-term marketing, excellent customer service, and ongoing product quality assurance. For new brands, to gain consumer trust and market share, it takes a lot of time and resources to build the brand image and enhance brand awareness and reputation through effective marketing strategies.
3. Capital and economies of scale barriers
Production in the outdoor sporting goods industry often requires a large initial investment, including production facilities, raw material procurement, R&D labs, etc. In addition, economies of scale are also very important in this industry, and large enterprises can reduce unit costs and improve market competitiveness through large-scale production. For new entrants, it is difficult to establish a production scale that competes with existing enterprises in a short period of time without sufficient capital support. At the same time, capital strength also directly affects the ability of enterprises in marketing, channel construction, R&D investment, etc., thus becoming an important obstacle to entering this industry.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
The upstream of the outdoor sports goods industry chain mainly includes raw material suppliers, providing raw materials required for the production of outdoor sports goods, such as chemical fiber fabrics, metals, rubber silicone, etc. Manufacturers of outdoor sporting goods in the middle of the industrial chain, including the production and manufacturing of outdoor clothing, outdoor equipment, outdoor machinery and accessories. The downstream of the industrial chain is professional retail stores, shopping mall stores and e-commerce platforms.
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