Intersport Germany continues to grow in 22/23

With sales of €3.5 billion in the 2022/2023 financial year, Intersport Germany, with over 1,400 associated doors, is building on the record sales figure of the previous year, when it exceeded the €3 billion sales mark for the first time. Online, Intersport Germany posted record sales and growth of 20 percent despite the tense development in the e-commerce environment.

“We are proud and very pleased about how strongly our sports retail network has developed since 2019 – both in the area of cooperation partners and with our Intersport-branded retailers,” said Dr. Alexander v. Preen, CEO Intersport Deutschland eG. “Following the sale of Sport Voswinkel at the end of 2023, we have even greater financial strength. We are particularly pleased that – despite the multi-crisis environment – we have clearly achieved our ambitious growth targets and, at the same time, grown qualitatively and profitably. We outperform the market in our omnichannel business and across all sales channels! This is clearly demonstrated by the growth of our more than 400 Intersport-branded stores, among other things.”

Multi-million investments in retail space

With the introduction of the new CI contracts in 2019, the pledged enhancements of service and quality standards were implemented. Securing and strengthening the joint “Intersport” brand on the market in the long term will remain a national and international strategic focus. 

In this past financial year, Intersport-branded retailers invested a further €12 million in renovations, modernizations and expansions under the Intersport brand. In 2021/2022, €12.5 million had already been invested in their retail spaces. This investment offensive results in a high-quality and sustainable market presence of the Intersport brand for customers and strategic partners.

2022 marked the beginning of an expansion offensive for Intersport Germany, on the one hand through new openings, e.g., by taking over locations from competitors, and on the other hand through new retailers who want to gain a foothold in sports retail through the advantages of membership in the association. For this purpose, Intersport has developed the ”Self-employed with Intersport” business start-up program. It is aimed at people with relevant professional experience in sports or retail, as well as university graduates from the fields of economics, sports science, and retail who are looking for an independent career in sports retail. The initiative also offers suitable entry opportunities for career changers. The program is flexibly tailored to the needs of the participants and provides the right framework to facilitate the step into self-employment.

As of Sept. 30, 2023, the Intersport network comprised over 400 Intersport-branded stores.

Flagship concept

In the 2022/2023 financial year, Intersport Germany also presented the new Intersport Flagship Concept: “The concept is positioned even higher than our high Intersport CI standard,” explained COO Frank Geisler. As part of the flagship concept, the criteria that qualify retailers for the new Intersport logo include a special radiance of the brand regionally, the brand awareness of the store, an exclusive location in city centers, a broad reach and a large catchment area with supra-regional business activities, an outstanding product portfolio and service promise as well as unique experiences for customers. In addition, the sales area for sporting goods in the flagship stores must be at least 2,500 sqm.

Best in Sports: Up for Future

Part of the strategic action areas of ”Best in Sports: Up for Future” is to ensure that the entire value chain – from suppliers to the head office and all Intersport retailers through to customers – can be mapped digitally. “We want to offer the most attractive omnichannel experience for our customers. We have made progress in both the overarching IT infrastructure and the digital supply chain: this reduces our risks, increases our efficiency and performance and leads to greater resilience,” emphasizes Storck.

The further development of IT services into an increasingly integrated system landscape includes system-supported order processes to control options based on sales data.

“Thanks to our omnichannel approach, we have achieved our goals across all sales channels in a weak market environment for purely online retailers. In 2022/2023, we achieved the record year to date for the cooperative retailer platform Intersport.de and grew by over 20 percent in contrast to the shrinking online market. Our Intersport Club plays an important role in our growth in the omnichannel area. It is growing rapidly and now has a sports community of around 2 million. Club customers are buying more often and spending more on average,” said Thomas Storck, CFO and Vice Chairman.

Outdoor, running and team sports still on the rise

“Winter sports continue to be an important and popular sport for our customers. In the future, there will be more and more overlap between winter and outdoor sports. We are seeing a growing interest in all outdoor sports - at any time of year,” analyzed COO Geisler.

The sales development of the individual categories confirms this. Clear trends in the 2022/2023 financial year continued to be outdoor, running, and sports, which are still on the upswing with increases of 9 percent, 11 percent, and 5 percent, respectively, compared to the 21/22 financial year. Due to catch-up effects, sales in the team sports focus category increased by far the most (+19%). Team sports experienced a renaissance. “In general, the fusion of lifestyle and sport, sport style, is increasingly becoming a natural part of everyday life and an expression of individuality,” said Geisler.

Sustainability: Joint task for the sports industry

Within all categories, the focus remains on sustainability. “For our own brands, we are focusing heavily on circular product criteria and more recyclable product ranges for the future. In the spring/summer 2024 collection, 71 percent of our own-brand products have sustainable components, and 21 percent even meet the high requirements of our own Green Series label. Together with our partners in the industry, we want to continue to set standards here. This development can only be achieved together, as we want to be able to offer our customers more and more ecologically and socially responsible products with an attractive price/performance ratio. We will expand our product ranges accordingly,” emphasizes Frank Geisler. “Product development, energy concepts and digitalization: when the sports industry works together for more sustainability, it creates a win-win situation for everyone,” confirms Storck.

Outlook

Intersport Germany is pursuing an ambitious organic and inorganic expansion strategy until 2030 as part of its strategic development. With new concepts, Intersport Germany and its members aim to gain over 100 new Intersport-branded stores for the group by 2030.

Inorganic growth opportunities that arise in the sports retail market will also be systematically examined and addressed. New cooperation partners are to be acquired and strategic cooperations examined. Intersport Germany plans to grow more profitably than the market, both stationary and online, and to achieve qualitative annual growth of well over 5 percent by 2030.

By 2030, Intersport intends to expand its position as a quality market leader for all aspects of sport and health. The aim is to further develop as Germany’s most competent sports marketplace – with the top brands and a unique portfolio of private brands.

编辑：Ariel