Springboard to success

"With outdoor products, buyers are more demanding when it comes to safety, fashion and comfort. We tend to concentrate on incoporating fashion elements, even as we keep products functional, " Bai says.

Salewa, for its part, is focusing more on its new joint venture, Salewa Trading (Beijing) Co Ltd for growth in the burgeoning Chinese outdoor sports gear market.

Since 2010, the Italian brand has made inroads into China through its agent, with whom it has now set up its joint venture. The first shop opened in 2011, and sales in China have reached more than 20 million yuan last year.

"We are aiming at doubling our business this year," says Li Yun, general manager of Salewa Trading (Beijing) Co Ltd.

Since mass consumers dominate the Chinese market and outdoor activities are regarded more as a lifestyle, Li says his company will pay more attention to balance the functional needs and fashionable elements.

New niche

But when it comes to fashion, traditional sports brands are still better placed to do better than the bigger names. Faced with overcapacity and the shop closures, many of these companies now regard outdoor products as a lifeline.

German athletic footwear and apparel brand Adidas has taken aim at the outdoor marketplace since 2011 with the acquisition of Five Ten, the US brand known for its rock climbing shoes.

Its inroads in China's outdoor industry began with aggressive expansion plans. During the past year, the Adidas outdoor category has opened 30 stores in China.

Jens Meyer, vice-president of marketing with Adidas Sport Performance in China, says the company began to set up franchise stores in several Chinese cities last year.

"It is a key step for Adidas in fully developing the Chinese outdoor market," says Meyer. "I believe it will further contribute to the company's global business."

Meyer says that he cannot disclose any earnings as the German company plans to issue its full year figures soon. However, earlier reports say Adidas' outdoor business is aiming for a turnover of 500 million euros by 2015.

Chinese sportswear giant Li Ning made a splash in the outdoor sports gear market with its new line of products styled Li-Ning Adventure in 2011.

Though currently the outdoor brand Li-Ning Adventure has only five stores, it plans to have 60 to 70 more franchised stores in different parts of North China, where consumers put more emphasis on quality and function of winter clothes.

Nathan Hu, general manager of Li-Ning Adventure, who has been working with Li Ning for more than 10 years, says that though the outdoor sector is a niche market, consumer trends are increasingly being driven by aspects like quality and practicality in daily use.

"Outdoor products are becoming increasingly popular among professional outdoor enthusiasts and urban white-collar workers," he says. "They give a higher priority to the clothing's practical side rather than style, which is the big difference between sportswear and outdoor sports gear."

Hu says the target group consists mostly of individuals aged 25 to 50, with a high income and keen fashion sense. Many of them also consider outdoor sports gear as equipment to participate in special occasions.

Backed by a global distribution network and an international design team of the US-based Concept 21, Hu says his company has seen a growth of 30 percent in the past year.

However, the outdoor products market in China is still in its early stages of maturity. In 1995, Beijing Sunwind Outdoor and Sporting Goods Company was founded. It is believed to have been the first outdoor products company in China.

As international brands and sports brands flock to China, industry experts are also skeptical about the challenges it poses for domestic companies.

"The outdoor equipment market is a relatively new thing in China," Antonino Laspina, Italian trade commissioner and coordinator of the Italian Trade Commission in China, says. "With economic growth and improving standards of living as a whole, outdoor products and recreation have become general public needs."

He says that is why foreign companies that are keen on tapping the market should come as a consolidated group rather than as single entities.

"The challenge doesn't only come from the competitiveness of other brands, but also from within the company itself."

"China is a very complicated market with huge growth potential. It is hard for a small and medium-sized company to fully understand the market, develop the distribution channels and build up the franchise stores by itself."

Contact the writers at yaojing@chinadaily.com.cn and lvchang@chinadaily.com.cn