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2020 French Boardsports Market Insight Roundup

At the end of 2019, France experienced wide-scale social mobilisation following the government announcement on their planned pension reforms. Black Friday only worked as well as it did in 2019 because a lot of people had anticipated the disruption and got their presents in advance. The outcomes from the end of 2019 were actually pretty positive in fact. By Benoit Brecq.

Despite the tense social climate during this key holiday period, visitations and sales in shops were pretty good. The lights seemed to have turned green for the start of 2020 and retailers were feeling quite optimistic… But in spring 2020, France and the rest of the world was hit by an unprecedented health crisis that paralysed the whole planet, a crisis which left no-one unaffected, bringing with it an economic crisis on a planetary scale. Europe was easily the continent the most affected by COVID-19 and France was sadly in the top 5 most grief-stricken countries per population.

Faced with this extraordinary, unprecedented situation, the French government imposed strict lockdown measures from 14 March 2020, leading to a total duration of 8 weeks confinement and paralysis for the whole economy. On 14 March all non-essential shops, i.e. all retailers in the boardsports sector, had to close. Schools, colleges and universities as well as cafés and restaurants and any venue receiving the public had to shut their doors. Only essential businesses were allowed to stay open, provided they adhered to specific rules and protective measures. To counteract the lockdown and ensuing economic shutdown, the French government provided support packages aiming to safeguard existing jobs and businesses. It was an unheard of, a comprehensive support plan put in place by a government reacting to the urgency of the situation, softening the immediate impact of hitting the pause button on economic productivity at a national level.

For surf shops and coastal shops, the sudden closure on 14 March put the brakes on the normal summer season launch and of course our snowboard shops lost six weeks of solid business, including the busy Easter period. The summer season, and the tourism associated with water-based activities, generally kicks off in France during the Easter holidays but this year there was no tourism because everyone had to stay home and all shops were closed. Even though some shops tried to get themselves organised by setting up drive-in collection systems, shops suffered enormously overall from the closures and were in fear for their futures. At the same time, for shops with a strong online presence, Internet-based sales didn’t really slow down during lockdown. While consumption was slightly down in the first two weeks of lockdown, it did pick up again quickly from the start of April onwards.

The ‘deconfinement’ (end of lockdown) and the reopening of shops took place on 11 May 2020. All shops could reopen their doors so long as they adhered to the rules and implemented the special protective measures. For themselves as well as their customers there was hydro-alcoholic gel, social distancing and masks strongly recommended but not obligatory. At the start of June the beaches reopened and the activities that go along with that were also allowed, meaning that people were going back into the shops to get kitted out.

This economic uptick, sparked by the end of confinement, accelerated during summer in France with productivity showing signs of dynamism in all sectors. In fact, France saw the strongest economic upturn in Europe, much faster than Germany or even the United Kingdom. As for welcoming customers back into shops and how that worked, the story was the same from all shops: the regulations established by the government were all respected and accepted, by customers and shop staff alike. Shops got themselves organised and all applied the government recommendations: hydro-alcoholic gels available at the shop door, displays showing the protective measures in force and, even though the vast majority of shop staff already wore one before 20 July, face coverings for all became mandatory and was also adhered to.

Confinement had created a deprivation effect in consumers, igniting a strong desire to rediscover freedom and outdoor activities. The situation benefitted our open-air sports and therefore our industry. Foreign travel was still partially-limited this summer, which forced French people to take their holidays in France, leading to increased local spending. While it’s true that foreign tourism was hugely down this year, shops had their hands full with customers from within our own borders. For the coastal shops, this worked quite well with an increase in visitors compared to previous years. It was predominantly the technical sections that worked best, no doubt because people couldn’t wait to do these nature sports again after the period of restrictions. There were a lot more customers with an above-average basket price this year. The coastal shops saw a big boom as soon as they reopened with unheard-of visitations and sales for the time of year. Buying habits also changed, before people would take a lot longer to think it over and gather information. This year purchases were more instinctive, the fear of tomorrow perhaps.

At the more urban shops, skateboarding and especially the street segment gained mass appeal. Skateboarding had been sharply on the rise for two years already but the post-COVID period heightened this craze with sales more like that of Christmas. People were looking for alternative means of getting around. Even though tourist visitation numbers were much lower this year in the large towns, the summer season was really good with this “skateboarding boom”, and it was mainly hardgoods and shoes that sold the best despite numerous shortages in equipment at suppliers. There were loads of new skaters or old skaters taking it back up after a long hiatus. And just like in the last few years, the number of women skateboarding is constantly on the rise.

Overall the boardsports market and, more specifically technical equipment, seems to have flourished amidst this sanitary and economic crisis. But France has remained on alert with the health situation continually morphing, watched closely by a government constantly changing the protective measures in force. Faced with the arrival of the second wave, on 30 October a new, month-long lockdown was imposed by the government to try to slow the epidemic’s resurgence. All non-essential shops, and so boardsports retailers, were forced to close once again. Here’s hoping that the winter season can go ahead in our resorts anyway, and that it turns out something like the summer season on the French coast. Watch this space…