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Portuguese Boardsports Market Insight 2021
Portugal has been on lockdown for two months since mid-January until 15th March. It was one of the worst winters in the country’s public health history with the number of COVID infected out of control, overcrowded hospitals and ambulances on the waiting line outside some of the main hospitals. By Nuno Príncipe.
Portugal was leading the ranking of the worst countries in the world in number of deaths and infections per million inhabitants. Letting families get together in Christmas was government’s deadly mistake that claimed many lives and along with the new British variant of the virus forced the country to close the economy again. After the tsunami and to avoid making the same mistake again, the government opted for a slow reopening similar to what happened in May 2020 divided into four stages starting March 15. April 5 is an important date for surf/skate shops because they will reopen their doors if everything goes according to plan. Rules are the same as before with a limited number of customers inside, social distancing of 2m, customers and staff wearing masks and alcohol-gel for hand hygiene.
Due to this new shock on the economy the government launched a 7-billion-euro aid package for companies, 16% of which is non-refundable, that is, 1160 million euro. Companies that benefit from this financial support won’t be able to fire employees in the next three months.
After having good sales in Christmas last year, the new lockdown forced retailers to close in mid-January. They’ve put back into practice the marketing strategies used last year to encourage online commerce through websites, social media, free shipping and delivery door-to-door.
Surfers Lab is one of the most iconic surf shops in Sagres in the Algarve since 2013 that has expanded their business to Peniche in 2019 opening a new store. During the lockdown they’ve faced many challenges but with positive signs on the horizon. “The demand was high and we’ve increased online sales, though we can’t compare the numbers as if we had our doors open”, said the Marketing Manager, Maria João. “We had to adapt quickly to this new reality with a team more focused on Facebook and Instagram, so we could keep our loyal customers happy. Our shops are already recognized for the extreme care we put into our customer service and even in lockdown we wanted to maintain standards. We are one of the top core hardware shops in Portugal with some of the best brands in the world and we made the huge effort to keep everyone happy. We are confident that we will hit our goals in 2021.”
In the case of Samadi Caparica Surf Center, one of the most important surf shops in Costa de Caparica, the lockdown was hard to deal with because there were low online sales, even with free shipping above 50 euros, which is the reason why almost all of its employees were furloughed. “We felt the lack of stock happening worldwide and our online sales were hurt”, said Samadi’s General Manager, Rico Moser. “The demand is mainly on hardgoods because people are locked at home so they don’t feel the need to buy new shoes or apparel”. With one week away to reopening doors, the lack of stock is their main concern. “We’re worried because we think there will be a boom in demand similar to 2020 in skateboard and surf hardgoods. But the big difference is that now there’s low stock in hardgoods while in May 2020 there was plenty of it allowing us to have the best year in sales of the past ten years.”
As we can see right now there’s a lot of mixed feelings among retailers when we’re just one week from reopening. In some stores there’s lack of stock so there’s concern. But on the other hand, they’re busy finding solutions to guarantee enough product so when doors reopen, they will work at full speed in spring/summer and recover from the loss. Uncertainty is in the air.
