Author Topic: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.  (Read 13492 times)

surf4food

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From John Beausang of The Distressed Mullet:

"The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.

So many people have asked us what we think of the sport after attending the Outdoor Retailer Expo in Salt Lake City. Is it growing or is it dying? What's going on? Did the bubble burst?

The best way to describe it is to consider that in the beginning, there was a pool of 100% of potential accounts for companies to sign and service. As the sport grew, so did that pool. It went beyond surf shops to paddle shops, outdoor outfitters, Kayak and Canoe shops, then marinas and resorts, clubs, camps, hotels. It was BOOMING. Now, there not only aren't as many potential new accounts, there are fewer non-traditional accounts. That 100% is probably somewhere around 5%. Anyone who would carry SUPs, probably is at this point. But everyone who might paddle, doesn't already own a board. Granted, there are opportunities at resorts and seasonal camps, new shops and expansions of existing chains. BUT, it's not like it was.

Those companies that relied on that massive volume and flow of new accounts are now in trouble. Those who assumed that the purchasing of a new shop represented how they would purchase in the future, are now in trouble. Those who based their production and staffing on existing accounts, allowing for cycles for rentals and seasons are ok. It is the culling of the herd right now. That has nothing to do with the growth of the sport. It has to do with the health of the industry.
 
The good news is we have seen an enormous increase in the sale and purchasing of used boards on our site nationwide. This is great because it means people are selling old boards to buy new ones, and this in turn lowers the cost of entry into the sport for new people. We see definite growth. New races are popping up and there are new and growing pockets of paddlers. More people are giving it a try and it is still exciting. Even if Orlando Bloom didn't SUP naked, there's a bump in awareness and a desire to try it.

Advice: Keep growing the community. Keep looking for non-traditional customers. Look to the Northeast and midwest for 2017. It's too late for 2016. Look to Canada. Work on your branding. Work on customer loyalty programs. This world wants to root for a team, to be identified with a team. Football, Baseball, Soccer, whatever. People tell a story by what they wear and they want to tell that story through paddling. Help them. Give a sticker, shirt and hat with every board and you have someone on your team. Connect with them. Meet them. Celebrate your customers and service them. Loyalty will keep you afloat when others are sinking.

Keep paddling,
John

John Beausang
Publisher
Distressedmullet.com"
The Mullet magazine

Easy Rider

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2016, 09:12:26 AM »
Read that on the Mullet.

All valid points. 
The industry is shrinking - much like snowboarding did in late 90's. 
The sport continues to grow - but there was a "culling of the heard" in terms of brands / suppliers. 
Same is happening in SUP. 
The only thing different to snowboarding is that SUP has the "CCC" (cheap china crap).  The CCC is doing more harm to the sport in general than anything else.  Sure it is making low cost product available - but for the majority of paddlers (inland, flat water) once they get a CCC that is most likely it.  They will only paddle a few times a summer - and a CCC board will last them for 5 years - at which time they will have moved on so some other sport / recreation. 
The CCC brands do nothing for the sport.  The host no events, do not advertise in industry channels (if at all) and typically sell to retailers that do not give anything back to the sport either.  They (the CCC companies and retailers) are also not educating their customers - about anything.  It is just another widget to them. 

For the sport to not only survive, but indeed thrive, the "word" needs to get out to the masses to support those that support the sport. 

just my 2¢.
Easy Rider is the name of my store in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
My name is Warren Currie . . . and we SUP Surf indoors . . . in a shopping mall!

JimK

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2016, 09:48:38 AM »
PLUS 1 to Easy Rider & Surf for Food

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing

addapost

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2016, 11:12:35 AM »
I have no clue how this will play out but from what I've seen on the retail end here in southern New England, board sales have come to a screeching halt this year. One thing's for sure right now, it's a buyers market.
Bunch of old shit

Admin

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2016, 08:04:36 AM »
New accounts may be one indicator, but certainly not one to base industry health on.  That is a complex beast.  Demand is also very hard to gauge these days as many are motivated not to report sales and traditional selling channels provide very partial information.  Even participation numbers are murky at best. 

"So many people have asked us what we think of the sport after attending the Outdoor Retailer Expo in Salt Lake City. Is it growing or is it dying? What's going on? Did the bubble burst?"

Really?  Who were they?  Retailers, Consumers? 

Google would indicate that search interest in the USA peaked in 2014 and is down 6 percent now.  At that point (2014 was their last reported #'s from their 2015 report) the ACA had 81% of participants paddling 11 times or less per year and 70% of participants paddling 5 or less times a year.  Is the industry addressing this well? Is 81% of the focus and 81% of production based on this very casual participant?

http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf/ResearchPaddlesports2015.pdf

« Last Edit: August 15, 2016, 09:05:01 AM by Admin »

TallDude

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2016, 09:22:19 AM »
As SoCal said, the sport appears to still be growing. I see the beginners that are doing flat water paddling in our harbor and crowding it up at DoHo and Dog Patch. It's busier than ever, and a lot more owners than renters. A lot more Wavestorm's which is safer at busy breaks. Our local race scene schedule was like a clogged toilet a couple of years ago. Just about every weekend had a race within driving distance. To many events even for a water sport area the size of Southern California. Most people just want to paddle around the harbor or out in the ocean on a nice calm day. The few real serious racer are willing to go across the county to race. I personally do maybe 3 local races a year now.

With sup surfing there are definitely more than ever in the line-up and it's a younger mix. Cool to see two 14 year old buddies out surfing, one sup and one prone. They switched after a few waves. Then there's the junior race kids that I see training everyday in the ocean with their coaches, that's the future. The seeds are planted and they are becoming part of the new growth of water sports.
Another growth area related to paddling is the local outrigger clubs. Kids see Danny Ching and Rob Rojas competing in a sup race then jumping in to and OC-1 and racing those in the next event. The Honohono is an eye opener for those not familiar Outrigger Canoes. We have a lot of teenagers joining 6 man crews to improve their paddling technique, so they are faster sup racers. I believe there is growth in the outrigger sport because of sup. They compliment each other.
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clinto

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2016, 09:37:28 AM »
I agree that it is growing. Almost everyone i know that tries my board wants one now. The used craigslist market is where most people go for a first board IMO. I would love to see more outriggers around. I want to get into OC paddling but have none within 100 miles to try out before that huge purchase.

Night Wing

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2016, 09:41:02 AM »
My brother, sister-in-law travel the state of Texas and they both said they're seeing lots of standup paddleboarders paddling on rivers and lakes especially on the lakes around Austin, Texas. My eldest niece noticed the same thing.

On Lake Conroe which is a 22,000 surface acre lake just north of Houston, Texas; seeing a standup paddleboarder is not an uncommon sighting anymore. I've seen one lone paddleboarder on Lake Woodlands which is a very small lake inside of The Woodlands, Texas.

Most of the paddleboarders I've seen look to be in their 30's and 40's age wise.
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robon

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2016, 11:04:26 AM »
Read that on the Mullet.

All valid points. 
The industry is shrinking - much like snowboarding did in late 90's. 
The sport continues to grow - but there was a "culling of the heard" in terms of brands / suppliers. 
Same is happening in SUP. 
The only thing different to snowboarding is that SUP has the "CCC" (cheap china crap).  The CCC is doing more harm to the sport in general than anything else.  Sure it is making low cost product available - but for the majority of paddlers (inland, flat water) once they get a CCC that is most likely it.  They will only paddle a few times a summer - and a CCC board will last them for 5 years - at which time they will have moved on so some other sport / recreation. 
The CCC brands do nothing for the sport.  The host no events, do not advertise in industry channels (if at all) and typically sell to retailers that do not give anything back to the sport either.  They (the CCC companies and retailers) are also not educating their customers - about anything.  It is just another widget to them. 

For the sport to not only survive, but indeed thrive, the "word" needs to get out to the masses to support those that support the sport. 

just my 2¢.

Good comment. I'm also wondering about CCC brands with paddlers and resale values for used boards. I've sold a few boards and always get the same comments from a lot of prospective buyers. "Well, I can go down to (insert big box store here) and get an SUP with a paddle for much less than what you're asking". I was patient and told them to go fill their boots with a CCC if they want, but I'm not budging. I wonder how many paddlers are lowering prices on their used boards because of the CCC influence?
« Last Edit: August 15, 2016, 11:07:47 AM by robon »

surf4food

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2016, 11:12:32 AM »
I’m not in the industry and don’t really follow it closely, but I DO see more people out paddling than ever before, so this article makes sense to me.  Also in the area of central Illinois where my wife is originally from, boards are starting to make a presence.  Even my in-laws who still live there have tried it this Summer and are interested in purchasing some boards.  In the surf not so much (that seems to be in decline), but maybe I’m just looking on the wrong spots.  I remember lots of surf shops carrying SUPs for awhile but now I see very few.  Also it seems a lot more actual surf companies jumped on the SUP band wagon but that seems to have shrunk significantly also.  I think what is happening is the demand is still there and perhaps growing but it’s narrowed to more specific brands that specialize in SUP.  Initially someone (a complete non surfer) might get the cheap Wavestorm from Costco or Jimmy Stykes from West Marine and if they like the sport enough to commit more time and effort (or they just outgrow the cheap board) they will graduate to a Naish/Starboard/Riviera etc.  Also as others noted, the sale of used boards has exploded, which means more people are interested in at least giving it a try and the people who are selling the boards are moving on to a higher quality

SaMoSUP

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2016, 11:22:28 AM »
It would be interesting to see how the SUP participant demographics in the outdoor research matches up with the Zone. I'll start a different thread so not to hijack this thread.




SUPflorida

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2016, 12:25:34 PM »
I see a ton of boards on top of cars...hardly any on the water...except rentals..I would say it's the skank coming out of lake Okeechobee (byproduct of big sugar dumping waste) that's scaring them off...but it's been pretty sparse for the last couple years on the intercostal...not that I'm complaining...when it comes to soaking up nature less (people) is more.😉

Weeble

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #12 on: August 15, 2016, 12:38:52 PM »
Robon,  my wife and I have never had to lower the prices on our used boards that we have sold.  And, we do not put up ads on craigslist... way too many creeps and scams.  Luckily, 4 or 5 years ago when we got into SUP, we rented tons of boards, did demos, talked to people, etc and learned as much as we could about the brands and models.  Pretty much, any board that we have (right now I think it's a mix of 8 surf SUP, 12.6 & 14s), either one of us can paddle.  Any board that we have bought, we made sure it was a good quality and known brand so that we would be able to resell.  I can't count the amount of ads I've seen for people trying to offload their SUP ATXs and having to drop their prices to compete with the others.  We've always come up with a fair price that we knew would stand and that no one in our SUP community who knew the buyer could say "you got screwed".

We've sold off a 14' Fanatic raceboard, two different Boga Tsunamis (my wife loves them), a Boga all arounder, Kings 12.6 race, a Starboard cruiser, and a custom Bark Prone 12' without any issue.  Sometimes we had to wait a couple of months, but we always got our fair asking price.  Hell, the guy that bought our prone was so jacked up to be buying it that he was ready to just take the bag and go.  I told him to hold up and let's get it out of the bag.  He loved it,  then I said, "wait, let's roll it over"... and sure enough, while in the garage and in a bag, it got dinged.  We took 75 bucks off the price so that he could get it repaired and hooked him up with our repair guy.  So, as he pulls away, we recount the money and he went ahead and gave us the full price.  We called him and he said that he appreciated our honesty and to keep it all.  We called our repair guy and told him to fix the board and charge us.
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blueplanetsurf

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #13 on: August 15, 2016, 02:00:14 PM »
Hawaii is one of the most mature SUP markets and although growth has slowed, it seems to still be growing.  Several of our competitors have downsized or closed, which along with our new parking lot probably has more to do with our solid sales growth and record breaking sales this summer than growing demand.  Race participation in the smaller local races seems to have peaked two years ago, there is a solid group of hard core paddlers but not as many new SUP racers.
Looking at the most recent Google trends, it seems there is still a small growth in interest, with July 2016 at 100 vs. July 2015 at 98, see chart.  Our blueplanetsurf youtube channel is still seeing strong growth in views although the growth has slowed a bit and we are putting out new videos every week.  The most popular videos by far are those aimed at beginners.  I think our sport is still small and young and just being discovered by many.
Beginners don't know much about what to look for so they focus on price.  We try to educate them but often they will end up with a cheap board, like a wavestorm or "CCC" as their first board and then come to us when (and if) they are ready for a real board.
From talking to other industry insiders, I think many companies ended 2015 with too much inventory which has led to discounting and many have reduced their production orders for 2016.  Several contract manufacturers have gone out of business over the last year and many of the upstarts that were looking to make a quick buck seem to be dropping out.

Robert Stehlik
Blue Planet Surf Shop, Honolulu
Hawaii's SUP HQ
http://www.blueplanetsurf.com

PonoBill

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Re: The sport is still growing. It's the industry that is shrinking.
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2016, 07:49:28 AM »
Of course Cheap China Crap is actually what everyone is selling. With the exception of Wardog I don't think there are many retailers who aren't selling Asian boards. Starboard, Naish, etc--all Asian. Most retailers who have a private label brand are selling locally shaped, asian produced boards--or just labelled generics.  I have no idea why an aggressive Asian company hasn't bypassed the distributor/retailer model and built a quality board to sell directly. If they aimed it specifically at the larger market (NOT us) they'd probably do fine.

I think search demographics work really well in an emerging market but start to fall on their face as understanding of the product spreads. Do you need to search for SUPs to buy one at REI or Costco?
« Last Edit: August 16, 2016, 07:51:06 AM by PonoBill »
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