Outdoor sports are said to trend in 2022.

The second wave has risen again because the domestic tide hasn’t gone down yet.

Outdoor Sports as Trending Product

Europeans and Americans have always done outdoor sports like cycling, fishing, and camping.

Alibaba’s AliExpress says more domestic products would be exported in 2022. Outdoor gear is included. eBay’s “Sports Outdoor Category Going Overseas Guide” demonstrates that two-wheel sports are popular overseas. The category has international sales potential. The category has a lot of sales potential in other countries.

Chinese sellers that sell internationally have always been able to spot outside consumption patterns swiftly and rely on a strong domestic cluster of world factories to respond at the end of the supply chain. China now has outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, hunting, and catching big fish. Brands go overseas. Leaders, can latecomers copy what successful cases have done? Where should they start when the market is changing?

Starting Outdoor Sports Category

In the past two years, the global outdoor sports industry has grown less quickly than it did before. This is because the macro environment has changed. Statista says that by 2022, the global e-commerce market for outdoor sports will be worth 210.7 billion US dollars. By 2025, it is expected to be worth 248.5 billion US dollars. Outdoor activities’ popularity reveals what lifestyle and outdoor products foreigners buy.

Every year, from May to August, people who like outdoor sports will buy the most from domestic cross-border sellers. Businesses in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Yiwu are the best at making, exporting, and making outdoor sports goods. People say that Guangzhou is the king of rolls because it exports mostly bicycles, outdoor gear, and water sports goods.

Many Chinese outdoor goods enterprises have modified their positions to compete globally. Some have switched from B2B to stand-alone, and others focus on exports.

Scott

Hugo Cross-Border learned that Scott has been exporting bicycle parts since 2015 and that B2B offline agents make up 90% of his company’s business.

Before two years, overseas e-commerce affected in-person sales. In traditional B2B sales, there isn’t much shelf space, therefore store owners prefer well-known names. It fits cross-border e-commerce consumer choices.

Traditional international trade manufacturers can’t develop the market through OEM after understanding the benefits of cross-border e-commerce. Scott wanted to promote his items, so he started an independent station.

Mugaodi

Mugaodi is a company that makes outdoor travel gear. It sells OEM/ODM camping tents to places like Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the United States. It has two overseas production bases in Vietnam and Bangladesh. In the first half of 2022, Mugao Di made 867 million yuan. 518 million yuan of that came from exports, which was a record for the most money ever made from exports.

Mugaodi reported stable OEM/ODM partnerships with foreign customers in its 2022 first-half financial report. Its good reputation in process design, material quality, production efficiency, and supplementary services offers an intangible brand advantage.

Popular outdoor sports will boost cross-border sales. Changing, increasing, or transitioning from OEM to brand production takes time. In this phase, it’s necessary to determine the layout’s country and region, find out what users desire, and establish the brand.

How do sellers of outdoor sports go overseas?

Even while the outbreak has affected how people travel and have fun in other countries, it’s also crucial to compare pre- and post-epidemic demand for outdoor sports products. Scott told Hugo Cross-border that outdoor sports goods demand has altered this year, especially in Europe. The epidemic makes it difficult for people to buy stuff since they can’t control where their money comes from.

“Consumption depends on a person’s current income,” says Keynes’s “absolute income consumption theory.” But the unit price of each product in the popular outdoor sports market is not low. What should cross-border sellers focus on right now to get customers’ attention and a place in the overseas market?

Men buy eight times more outdoor sports equipment than women internationally. 21- to 30-year-olds are interested in outdoor sports, while 20- to 50-year-olds buy outdoor sports equipment.

As outdoor sports gain popularity, consumers have higher expectations for outdoor gear. They care about durability, functionality, comfort, and water resistance. New cross-border retailers must combine their offerings to differentiate them. If not, it will be challenging to overcome short-term market advantages gained by competitive items when trying to catch up with foreign products.

Scott initially evaluated US-market bikes and parts. These goods were also sold in Nichia. Nichia’s performance surprised Scott. He assumed it was because the product met the needs of Japanese and Asian buyers.

This changed Scott’s perspective. Regardless of what they sell or how much they price, cross-border retailers must have at least one advantage over local sellers in Europe and the U.S. Even though the pricing has an advantage, if the items are identical and its own prices don’t reach a specific gap with competing products from other nations, it’s hard to change the situation or encourage people to change their minds.

If Scott is a Chinese company that does business internationally, fishing and hunting, which has always gone the brand path, is another.

AliExpress has supplied fishing gear to over 200 nations and regions for almost ten years. Shi Hongxiang, who handles fishing and hunting, said AliExpress focuses on huge markets. Fishing and hunting focuses on markets including South Korea, Russia, and the U.S.

Yuhun sells waterproof reels, drop reels, fishing lines, bait, and lures on AliExpress. Details are distinct from other items on the market. Director Shi Hongxiang believes Fishing and Hunting has a higher cost-performance ratio than local brands.

Most shoppers value price. Yuhun was initially aimed at the middle to higher market. The two AliExpress stores with the highest unit pricing were US$23 and US$29.

Shi Hongxiang stated middle- to high-end products prioritize functionality. More features and newer designs are available in fishing and hunting stores for the same price or less than locally. Customers will buy fishing gear even if quality and price rise.

“Machine buyers in other countries have higher standards. When the price is right for the product and the service after the sale is done well, it is easy to get praise. Shi Hongxiang added.

When pricing isn’t an advantage for outdoor sports equipment, selling point, cost performance, and usefulness may be.

The basic idea behind building a brand in outdoor sports

At the moment, more international sellers agree that brands go overseas. But there are also sellers who are likely to make a mistake when setting up a new platform or starting a new track: they want to become a brand right away.

Scott thinks that many sellers today would rather be traders. The advantage is that they know how to run the platform, how to get in touch with customers, and how to communicate with factories to get goods, but they don’t know how to build a brand from 0 to 1.

Scott said straight out that going overseas has changed the tests or requirements for most sellers in the outdoor sports market. For example, they now have to be able and willing to switch from being a trader to being a brand. The impact of the entire business can only be bolstered and expanded by the regular practice of outdoor activities when a product or brand is genuinely acknowledged by consumers.

But it takes time to develop this kind of willingness and skill. The above-mentioned Mugao Di has been making professional and stylish gear and clothes for outdoor sports and lifestyles for a long time, and it has gradually opened up overseas markets as it has built up its business and built up its brand culture.

Brands must not only understand the culture of the target market and learn about consumption trends, but they must also constantly change based on data feedback to meet the changing needs of consumers. For example, fishing is a big part of the outdoor consumer market. However, each country has different fish species and ways to fish, and consumers have different preferences and needs for fishing gear.

If these fishing gears are light, they will be more popular. People in the US, Brazil, and other American countries are more interested in the gear. The requirements aren’t as strict, and they care more about how long-lasting and colorful the fishing gear is.” After seeing how different markets’ needs are, fishing and hunting in key markets will develop new products based on how consumers’ needs vary. improvement .

Iterative updates to products with technical barriers are very good for the brand. Shi Hongxiang told Hugo Cross-border, “Before designing a product, Yuhun will talk to its cooperating Internet celebrities, well-known bloggers, and market researchers.” After getting enough information, the prototype of a first product has pretty much taken shape. First-generation items are updated every two years after being released. During this time, the product’s look, design, and function will be improved depending on factory process improvements, market demand, and data feedback.

Even though, in an iterative process, the price of the product will have to go up because the costs are going up. Shi Hongxiang thinks that a product’s price can go up within a certain range if the market has been positive about it.

Improving the supply chain is another important step for brands that want to expand overseas. Shi Hongxiang said, “Many foreign trade factories depend more on low prices and bidding to get orders at the beginning, and they may not pay attention to the quality control of their products.”

Yuhun invested in a factory that makes fishing lines three years ago. “When the factories we used to work with had a lot of orders, they sometimes didn’t keep an eye on the process, which made it hard to meet the quality requirements of fishing and hunting. Their own factories can not only understand quality and technology better, but they can also respond to market demand quickly. Shi Hongxiang talked about the original plan for starting the factory.

Building a brand is hard, and now Scott has more problems. This is because local brands have an edge over domestic sellers when it comes to marketing and getting new customers. It is possible to imagine what will happen in the end if there is no innovation in products and no experience with brand promotion, he said.

Scott can do specific research before making a new product. He can also take advantage of the benefits of independent sites to talk to consumers directly and find out what they want. He also came up with a plan for marketing, which involved using both TikTok and overseas social media together.

Every year, fishing and hunting spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing.

fans, prospects, and partners through social media and email. “On Black Friday, we’ll also work with Internet celebrities to get the word out ahead of time, promote publicity, and give out coupons and gifts so that the big sale can have better interactive effects and sales.” Shi Hongxiang told what was going to happen during the busy season.

Conclusion

Head brands like Yuhun have a better understanding of their products because they have learned more about what consumers want and have had a lot of experience. At the same time, some sellers are in the same situation as Scott, where the product is in the early stages of change or soon after testing the water. Even innovations that shake things up can only do so much to make people like a brand. Due to high market demand right now, it may take a lot of time and effort to learn about trends, product upgrades, and channel marketing, but it is a good place to start.