Affected by unfavorable winter weather, the European outdoor market managed modest growth last year, with weaker growth in the second half. The State of Trade report by the European Outdoor Group (EOG) found that the market was up by 2.1 percent in value and 1.7 percent in volume excluding Russia. The entire European wholesale market’s value was up by 1.4 percent, reaching €5.3 billion.
The EOG pointed to backpacks as a strong category for the European market in 2015. Excluding Russia, European outdoor apparel sales moved up by 1.7 percent in value, compared with 2.6 percent for footwear. France and the Netherlands were two of the countries that saw the strongest growth, with increases of 2.5 percent in sell-in for the year, while the performance of the British and Irish markets was below the European average with a rise of 1.8 percent.
However, the EOG added that sell-in appears to have improved in the first half of this year. A survey conducted by the association found that 48 percent of brands raised their European sell-in by 5.1 percent or more in the six months to June. Another market indicator, the EOG’s retail barometer, shows that 65 percent of the companies surveyed raised their sales in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same quarter last year, and 45 percent of these respondents even raised their sales by at least 5 percent for the three months.
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