Pro Content

Spain Market Insight: The Age of Online Discounts

As Spain navigates economic ups and downs, the board sports industry faces shifting consumer habits, with specialty stores fighting to stay relevant in the age of online discounts. By Rocio Enriquez.

The Spanish economic outlook for 2025 can look hopeful or challenging depending on the angle you are looking from. Spain keeps leading the European growth charts, thanks to increased employment rates, better salaries, and lower interest rates on mortgages, all of which should boost spending. However, the persistently high cost of living is impacting the average Spaniard, who sits in the lower end of the income spectrum. Houses for rent are scarce and very expensive, and persistent inflation keeps prices of basic goods high. Many Spanish families are prioritising essentials and cutting back on extras.

This tightening of budgets is also reshaping consumer behaviour in the board sports scene. Specialty brick-and-mortar stores are losing customers to appealing online discounts. Overall the popularity of board sports remains strong. Skate has gone quiet, but surf keeps growing, although the demographics have changed. Middle aged newcomers are outnumbering kids. This could be the result of a post-pandemic mindset. Middle aged men and women have realised they are capable of activities they thought were only for the young a few years ago. Kids, on the other hand, are favouring team sports with higher levels of popularity, like football. It has been a good Winter for snowboarding too, with many more people on the slopes. Snow came late but plentiful, and the combination of a late Easter with the lingering cold promises a good Spring. People keep practising board sports, but sales have slowed down, especially for hard goods. Board rental has increased both in surf and snowboard. For Tito Moro, with one of his iconic Hawaii surf shops sitting in front of a popular break in San Sebastian, this offers an opportunity for the client to try out different boards before buying. With forty-five years of history at the helm of his business, he relies on his expert guidance to transform the rental experience into a sales opportunity. “The internet cannibalises prices. My advice is the only way I can differentiate myself. Making sure that the client is buying what suits his needs is the best way to generate loyalty”, explains Tito. Unable to compete with online prices, the appeal of the specialty store relies on the expert advice and sense of community only they can offer. Accessories and textile goods appear to be the best-selling categories, and the ones that offer most earnings too, due to their juicier mark-up. Mark-ups are the main concern of board sports retailers. Jordi Sánchez, Protest Brand Manager for Megasport distributor, describes this as a constant struggle: “Brands, distributors, and stores need to be on the same page”. An appropriate mark-up is what keeps physical stores going. Physical stores are key to maintaining a sustainable growth of board sports overall. This requires a long-term view that not every brand has. The pandemic boom of board sports led to excessive manufacturing and buying that destabilised the market. The last couple of seasons have been tough due to high levels of stock excess. This led many brands to provide significant online discounts, resulting in unfair competition with physical stores that

sell their products. “Brands need to establish a strong policy that enables co-existence of online and physical stores, keeping the market coherent”, says Jordi. Other helpful policies include the limitation of sales of premium and special edition products to physical stores. This not only drives sales to the shop but also contributes to building and sustaining the right brand image where it matters most. “Some big brands who have disregarded their image with online discounts and cheap products have ended up alienating their consumers and losing their share of the market”, says Tito. Passion for board sports keeps shops and distributors fighting the good fight. The long-term health of the industry depends on these ambassadors spreading their passion on mountains and beaches.

The recent imposition of US tariffs on European Union imports will have a direct impact on Spanish surfboard and skateboard makers selling in the American market. The response of the European Union to these tariffs will determine the impact on sales of American product in Spain. Many brands are tackling the uncertainty with a safety early and bulk delivery of preorders. However, brands working with an in-season ordering policy might see their orders reduced. “We have stopped all orders of American surfboards for the time being”, says Tito Moro. According to him, there are good Spanish makers of boards that can replace them. The main challenge will be the pricing of the American textiles and shoes next season. “We’ll have to play it by ear, there is ongoing uncertainty”, says Tito.