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Munich/Neustadt (Wied), 20 February 2017

BIRKENSTOCK GETS SPORTY: DEBUT ON THE ISPO

Oliver Reichert, CEO of the BIRKENSTOCK Group, explained in a conversation with the trade publication SportFACHHANDEL, how the company wants to position itself in the sports sector.

In early February, BIRKENSTOCK exhibited for the first time at ISPO, the leading international trade fair for all aspects of the sports business. In this context, Oliver Reichert, CEO of the BIRKENSTOCK Group, explained in a conversation with the trade publication SportFACHHANDEL, how the company wants to position itself in the sports sector.

As an ISPO newcomer, what attracted BIRKENSTOCK to this exhibition?

As the inventor of the footbed, people’s well-being is particularly near and dear to us. Sports, well-being, and healthy living are all topics close to the core of our brand. When we brought out the first Birkenstock sandals in the early 1960s, the “Madrid” model, we released them as “gymnastics sandals.” That says a lot about our brand’s origins and self-image. Furthermore, sports, fashion, and lifestyle are becoming increasingly intertwined, as you can see at the ISPO. As a global fashion and lifestyle brand with functional roots, Birkenstock obviously can’t miss out. What we like about the sporting goods industry is that specialty retailers are used to selling functional products. In addition, sports retailers are extremely innovative when it comes to developing new retail concepts. This interests us, since as a brand, we want to get even closer to our customers.

BIRKENSTOCK wants to establish itself in the “Before and After Sports” areas. What does this term mean and what role do retailers play in this regard?

You won’t see a performance shoe from BIRKENSTOCK any time soon. But we definitely offer the right products today for the period of time preparing for and recovering from athletic activities. Everyone that exercises a lot or plays sports at a high level of intensity should occasionally give their feet a break. And nothing is better suited for doing so than our anatomically designed footbed. Many athletes use our footbed insoles to take the pressure off their feet and joints during athletic activities. With our EVA collection, we offer articles that you can wear at the pool or during the recovery period in the sauna. These are all products that are a good fit for sporting goods retailers.

Which products are you exhibiting at the ISPO?

We’re presenting a cross-section of the entire BIRKENSTOCK product universe. Our EVA collection is one of our main areas of focus. These are reproductions of our bestsellers made from particularly light and elastic EVA material – cool lifestyle products “made in Germany,” that are perfect for spas and the outdoors. In addition, we’re also showing off highlights from our fall-winter 17/18 collection. This includes stylish redesigns of our classic sandals, but also trendy closed-toe shoes for active outdoor enthusiasts. We’re also exhibiting sandals and casual shoes for children. Besides footwear, at our booth we’ll also be presenting our first collection of bags, which we recently released, as well as highlights from our new legwear collection. I’m certain that the range of products on display will surprise many visitors and will correct the antiquated image of our brand that some people may still have.

Do you think this market does still hold a potential or do you recognize rivals?

I’d like to answer this question as follows: for the fourth year in a row, we are seeing an enormous demand for our products, which our production can barely keep up with. That says a lot about the appeal of the BIRKENSTOCK brand. And this isn’t only because we’re currently getting a big push from the fashion world, but also because we listened to our customers and enhanced and expanded our collections accordingly. This equally applies to our shoes as well as new categories, like legwear, bags, sleep systems, and natural cosmetics. We offer excellent, high-quality products all related to the topic of well-being, and obviously strike a chord with customers. This is particularly true for people that are physically active and like to get outdoors.

How do you intend to support the sports goods retailers and, how to win their trust?

Retail is built on strong brands. When it comes to BIRKENSTOCK, customers know what they’re getting – an excellent product, produced from the best raw materials from sustainable resources. Experience shows that once someone purchases one of our products, they become a repeat customer. And most of them bring new customers with them – friends, acquaintances, neighbors. Recommendations from satisfied customers are what allowed our brand to grow to its current size. It goes without saying that we help retailers increase sales with measures like shop-in-shop solutions or product presentations. With major partners, we also carry out special promotions or implement larger in-store and display window presentations.

Which role does the specialized (shoe) trade play in BIRKENSTOCK’s sales strategy?

As a functional brand, specialty retailers, with their brand expertise and expertise in advising customers, play a key role. But we are obviously also taking changes in the sales landscape into account. As such, we are working hard to better adapt to the specific requirements of individual sales channels in the future – for example with special training concepts or developing more specific products. In this process, it helps that we have access to our own production process. Many people aren’t aware of the fact that we manufacture our sandals in our own production facilities in Germany. To ensure that it stays this way, we are investing a significant amount in expanding our production and in new technologies.

How is BIRKENSTOCK positioned at the European level? How active are you in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland?

BIRKENSTOCK is a democratic brand. As a result, our products are available everywhere our customers are. In other words – we use every sale channel available. In most countries, we work with distributors. Germany and Aust­ria are two of the markets we serve directly. Responsibility for supporting our retail partners lies with our outside sales team, which visits retailers at their places of business or advises them at our order centers. In addition, we launched our own online store last summer, which is available in the most important European countries. Since wholesale makes up an unusually high percentage of our sales, online is a key channel which gives us the ability to present our collections in all of their facets and collect direct customer feedback.

BIRKENSTOCK recently presented interesting new stores of its own that target a young, trendy audience. What do you hope from these?

Our own retail stores act as models which we use to provide retailers with an example of how to present our brand as well as to give end consumers a complete view of the brand and the entire collection. No more, but also no less. We are light-years away from a ubiquitous presence. We’re currently talking about 35 of our own stores. We’re certainly going to expand in this area, but the focus of our retail expansion is clearly in Asia. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, specialty retailers are currently and will remain an important channel. Many mono-brand stores are operated by partners. Our shop-in-shop solutions, whose appearance is inspired by our new store concept, are especially suited to sporting goods retailers. These are available in a variety of sizes. As a result, every specialty retailer has the ability to integrate the BIRKENSTOCK world into their retail space.

What’s in store for the future, what plans do you have for further expansion?

We’re not at all worried about growth. Demand for our products remains high, with no end in sight. It goes without saying that we will continue to support this trend through the development of new products. In this context, important topics for us include EVA, closed-toe shoes, and children’s products. But at BIRKENSTOCK, quality has a higher priority than growth, which means we won’t pursue growth at any price. In addition, we are diversifying the brand as it pertains to our range of products by entering into new areas of business. But we are acutely aware of our capabilities here as well. We are not going to allow ourselves to get side-tracked. In this context, it helps that BIRKENSTOCK is on sound footing from a business perspective, which means we can carefully consider each option free of financial pressures.

PRESS CONTACT

Birkenstock GmbH & Co. KG
Corporate Communications

BIRKENSTOCK Campus
D-53577 Neustadt/Wied

E-mail: media@birkenstock.com

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