Sports procurement and its impact on the sports retail market in Finland, case Millet
Lampinen, Tiina (2010)
Lampinen, Tiina
Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu
2010
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2010062912557
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2010062912557
Tiivistelmä
This thesis was written for an import and wholesales company Vandernet Oy. The study had three aims; the first was to provide Vandernet with a concrete guide to the Finnish sports retail market, which could be used in familiarizing new stakeholders with the market. Other two aims of the thesis were to define the main challenges of the outdoor brand Millet in Finland and find solutions to the problems.
The Finnish sports retail market is rather unique compared to a Central-European country. In Finland, 70% of the sport retail stores belong to a retail chain, which has many centralized functions. For instance, the chains use either central purchasing or point out which items should be bought to the store.
In this thesis, the case of French outdoor brand Millet is explored. The brand has been sold in Finland since 2003, but it still has not reached large sales. In order to gain deeper understanding of the market and the attitudes of the purchasers towards Millet, a qualitative research was conducted. Twelve Millet retailers were theme interviewed during the year 2009. Also, supportive data was collected from the Finnish sports industry’s professional magazine Sporttimyyjä.
The main challenges of Millet in Finland are the lack of brand marketing, low brand awareness among the consumers and insufficient natural demand. Also, it is difficult for a brand to get in to a store with out the spontaneous demand, especially when the demanded equivalent, Haglöfs, is widely sold at the market. In addition, as Millet’s products are not in a campaign of a retail chain, the retailers have to see first whether they have money left in the purchasing budget after the purchases required by the retail chain.
The key to enhancing the sales is to increase the brand awareness at the market. Millet needs active marketing and advertising actions, for instance, in the ladies magazines such as MeNaiset and in the outdoor magazine Retki. Unfortunately, the marketing budget in highly technical products like Millet is usually limited. Also, the sales conditions and sales support terms should be made clearer to the retailers.
The only way of reaching large sales volumes in Finland without compromising the brand image, is to sell wider selection to the existing customers. For instance, the backpack and sleeping bag ranges of Millet have good quality and reasonable prices; still they are sold to limited number of retailers in Finland.
The Finnish sports retail market is rather unique compared to a Central-European country. In Finland, 70% of the sport retail stores belong to a retail chain, which has many centralized functions. For instance, the chains use either central purchasing or point out which items should be bought to the store.
In this thesis, the case of French outdoor brand Millet is explored. The brand has been sold in Finland since 2003, but it still has not reached large sales. In order to gain deeper understanding of the market and the attitudes of the purchasers towards Millet, a qualitative research was conducted. Twelve Millet retailers were theme interviewed during the year 2009. Also, supportive data was collected from the Finnish sports industry’s professional magazine Sporttimyyjä.
The main challenges of Millet in Finland are the lack of brand marketing, low brand awareness among the consumers and insufficient natural demand. Also, it is difficult for a brand to get in to a store with out the spontaneous demand, especially when the demanded equivalent, Haglöfs, is widely sold at the market. In addition, as Millet’s products are not in a campaign of a retail chain, the retailers have to see first whether they have money left in the purchasing budget after the purchases required by the retail chain.
The key to enhancing the sales is to increase the brand awareness at the market. Millet needs active marketing and advertising actions, for instance, in the ladies magazines such as MeNaiset and in the outdoor magazine Retki. Unfortunately, the marketing budget in highly technical products like Millet is usually limited. Also, the sales conditions and sales support terms should be made clearer to the retailers.
The only way of reaching large sales volumes in Finland without compromising the brand image, is to sell wider selection to the existing customers. For instance, the backpack and sleeping bag ranges of Millet have good quality and reasonable prices; still they are sold to limited number of retailers in Finland.