Open letter by Stefan Rainer: “We are postponing this season’s sales”.

Stefan Rainer, CSO of Grupo Oberalp, sent an open letter to Anna Ferrino, President of Assosport, and Günther Acherer, President of IOG – Italian Outdoor Group, about the immediate economic prospects of retailers in the sports sector, making a concrete proposal.

Dear President Anna Ferrino,
kind President Günther Acherer,

I would like to write to you on behalf of the Oberalp Group of Bolzano, owner of the Salewa, Dynafit, Wild Country, Pomoca, Evolv and LaMunt brands.

The fact that these weeks, which are so important for sales, are spending in partial or total lockdown, is certainly penalizing the sell-out of sporting goods, especially for those retailers who have specialized in consulting and offline sales. The limitations announced for mountain resorts and sports will exacerbate these problems for Alpine and tourist shops.

But in reality, a significant number of retailers have been in difficulty for several seasons. One reason for this is that too many sales are the result of excessive promotional pressure, which penalises marginality.

We are strongly convinced that in order to ensure a positive future for our sector it is necessary to ensure that the products displayed on the shelves retain their value as much as possible. This is why our proprietary brands Salewa and Dynafit have long since chosen the strategy of having a high percentage of carry over products, so that 75% of the current winter catalogue has been confirmed for the FW21/22 season. A positive sign is that more and more brands seem to appreciate and follow our strategy, focusing on an important continuous percentage of products (SKU).

However, we believe that, in addition to these long-term strategies, it would have a great positive impact if this winter sales were postponed by at least one month – i.e. to the beginning of February 2021.
This contingent but immediately achievable measure would give retailers the minimum time necessary to generate list price sell-out quotas (SRP), which would guarantee those margins that are vital to their business.

I am convinced that Assosport and Italian Outdoor Group could take this proposal forward and promote it through institutional channels in favour of our entire sector, counting on the full support of the Oberalp Group.

Sincerely yours,
Stefan Rainer
Group CSO Oberalp