Recently, South Korea’s large outdoor apparel companies have successively begun research and development of new product lines, hoping to use a diversified business portfolio as a new engine to drive sales growth and tap new growth points in the market. Last year, outdoor clothing brands successfully targeted young people who like camping activities. This year, these apparel brands will once again capture sales opportunities for specific products driven by emerging sports.
K2, a Korean outdoor apparel company, started its hiking shoe business in 1972. This fall, the company plans to launch a golf supplies brand to meet the needs of high-end users. In terms of product selling price, the brand’s clothing prices will be lower than those of other companies. A sales representative of the K2 brand pointed out: “Although the Korean outdoor market is still growing, there are now signs that this market has become increasingly saturated and sales growth may slow down in the near future. So we hope to launch a new product line , respond to market saturation by enriching product types.”
In addition to K2, at the end of 2013, Youngone, the manufacturer and exporter of The North Face, acquired 20% of the shares of the Swiss ScottSports brand. As early as July 2011, Youngone Holdings supplied bicycles and related equipment to the ScottNorthAsia brand, and subsequently expanded its products into the field of outdoor products. Starting this year, the ScottNorthAsia brand will import bicycles from Youngone and sell them through the brand’s 84 stores in South Korea. The Swiss parent company will continue to produce bicycles and other sports equipment.
At the same time, BlackYak, another clothing brand founded in February 1973, also began acting as an agent for Swiss ski clothing brands in November 2013, hoping to expand its product categories. “We want to offer our customers a wider range of products. The introduction of Swiss ski brands will boost our sales,” said a brand representative of the company.
According to statistics, in the past few years, South Korea’s outdoor clothing market has expanded significantly, maintaining double-digit growth every year. In 2013, South Korea’s outdoor clothing market sales reached 6.4 trillion won, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%. Industry analysts say that at present, South Korea’s outdoor clothing market is close to saturation, and local outdoor brands may introduce new product types or act as agents for foreign brands in order to gain a place in the fierce market competition. It is expected that such initiatives will continue for some time in the future.
