About the Client

The client- a leading player in the sports equipment space.

Predicaments Faced 

The sports equipment industry client was facing aggressive competition across the industry and the risk of vertical integration from retailers. This put the pressure on the company’s supply chain. As a result, the client wanted to create a baseline for their current supply chain and identify the areas of improvement. The principal objective of the client was to achieve greater operational efficiency.

Solutions Delivered 

To aid the client in achieving their goal of greater operational efficiency, SpendEdge tailored a comprehensive research methodology. The research approach comprised of primary and secondary research coupled with qualitative and quantitative data collection procedures.

During the course of this supply chain analysis engagement, the sports equipment industry client focused primarily in terms of sale, order quantity and consolidation at the origin. This helped them reduce logistics and financing costs. The client also reduced the interest on working capital and improved time to market as the importer shifted the cost of transportation to the retailer and received payment earlier.

The priority business improvement areas implemented resulted in savings of over 15 million. The improved inventory turnover also yielded savings of 1.6 million for the client as supply more accurately matched demand and inventory levels decreased.

Overview of the Sports Equipment Industry

Over the past few years, the sports industry has gained importance both as an active and passive source of entertainment and consumers are progressively spending more on sports equipment with a significant share of the expense constituting of athleisure equipment and accessories. Also, the sports equipment industry is thriving and characterized by the swift adoption of newer technologies and openness to changing trends. Moreover, the industry is thriving immensely on e-commerce, which is an accessible retail medium nowadays that also offers consumers the benefit to compare all the available brands of sports equipment at their fingertips.

Let’s look at some of the fundamental factors that will influence the growth prospects of the sports equipment industry in the coming years.

• Effective Inventory Management: Effective prediction and forecasting in the sports equipment industry is imperative in the sporting equipment industry. This is because retailers face the challenge of avoiding any dead inventory or losses due to the unavailability of inventory.
• Getting Out of Touch: The sporting equipment industry is one of the most dynamic industries with constantly changing trends and product interests. An e-commerce platform can help sports equipment retailers deal with these trends and interest by giving customers an alternate channel to reach their customers.

These factors are forcing companies operating in the sports equipment manufacturing industry to leverage the use of supply chain analysis studies. Supply chain analysis helps firms operating in the sports equipment space to diagnose and create competitive advantages in terms of both cost and differentiation. These studies also help firms reduced delivery times and strengthened relationships with suppliers.

 Get in touch our experts for detailed insights on supply chain analysis.