As people's lifestyles continue to change, and the importance of health is also increasing, sports have become one of the mainstream leisure trends. In recent years, the slogan of the national movement has resounded throughout the country, and only by actively spreading a healthy and progressive lifestyle can we inject more surging sports power into the comprehensive promotion of a healthy China. The heat wave of sports has set off marathons and other activities at home and abroad, which has directly driven the running shoes market.
The penetration rate of the running shoe industry continues to rise
Continental is one of the largest running shoe markets in the world. Since 2015, some sports brands focusing on running, hiking and walking have grown rapidly, and the mainland sports shoes market has a strong upward momentum, with the industry penetration rate rising from 9.7% to 16.2%, and the market size is still expanding.
In addition to our familiarity with brands such as Adidas, Nike, and ASICS, several up-and-coming high-end sports brands have emerged one after another, such as On, HOKA ONE ONE, Altra, and so on.
These manufacturers started a little later than the big brands, but each brand's products have their own characteristics, which are not only favored by the market, but also recognized by runners.
Among all the sports brands that have risen later, the Swiss high-end sports brand On Holdings has shown a tougher strength. Some time ago, Angpao released its financial report for the first quarter of 2024, with sales exceeding 500 million Swiss francs (about 4.055 billion yuan) for the first time in the quarter ended March 31, an increase of 20.9% to 508.2 million Swiss francs over the same period, an increase of 29.2% at constant exchange rates, a record high.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland
Founded in 2010, ON has a history of 14 years. The founders of the brand are Olivier Bernhart, Caspar Coppetti and David Allemann. One of the founders is Olivier Bernhart, who has won the International Biathlon and Ironman Super Triathlon championships, focusing on product development; Caspar Coppetti was a friend of Olivier Bernhart and worked as his agent for a time, focusing on sales; David Allemann is responsible for marketing and design.
Since the establishment of the brand, the three of them have cooperated very tacitly, and On has always adhered to the belief of "bringing a revolutionary running experience to the world", and adhered to the product design concept of cushioned landing, light texture and strong rebound. Over the years, ON has been committed to using Swiss craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology to design and create innovative running equipment, and all of its shoes are equipped with patented CloudTec® technology on the soles, which emphasize light touch on the ground and fast bursts, making runners feel like running in the clouds, bringing a great experience and enjoying the thrill of jumping up and down.
In the early days of its establishment, the response after its debut was not good, and it can be said that no one cared about it. However, after a period of development, ON has been able to build a strong retail network by working with distributor partners in the European and North American markets, as well as running shoe franchises. It is precisely because of this that ON has successfully opened the running shoe channel and entered the US market, competing with well-known professional running shoe brands such as Nike, New Balance, Brooks, and ASICS.
In the future, with the continuous emergence of new brands, the competitiveness of the running shoes market will become more and more competitive. In the context of greater competition, only the design and production of running shoes for the needs of different users can truly gain a foothold in the market.
Nowadays, the demand for shoes in different scenarios is differentiated, and the demand for functional points of running shoes by runners with different abilities and levels has become larger, and for manufacturers, the continuous refinement and deepening of the running shoe matrix is one of the trends of the deep cultivation industry, which is not only conducive to occupying more market share, but also conducive to realizing the differentiation of high, medium and low-end pricing, and consolidating the brand position.
In the future, ON will also have breakthrough innovations, important collaborations and seize the opportunity of the Paris Olympics to expand brand awareness and influence.