Tips for retailers

The changing face of the hiking market

In the pre-Monsoon weather window during May this year, no less than five South Africans made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest.

One of those five was Sibusiso Vilane, who had already achieved widespread recognition when he became the first black person to summit Everest in May 2003. Another was well-known Joburg mountaineer Alex Harris, whose success on Everest made him the second South African to complete the much coveted Seven Summits, a challenge to climb the highest peak on every continent. The local outdoor industry was represented by Mark Campbell, who put some of the gear distributed by his partner, John Fontyn of Eiger Equipment, to the test.

But these five were not the only locals who’ve been peak bagging recently. In February this year a team of four South Africans, led by Alard Hüfner clambered to the top of Cerro Torre, a fearsome tooth of rock and ice in Patagonia, which is considered by many to be one of the most challenging climbs in the world. And last month Brett Burnill of Leisure Holdings reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Clearly South Africans are getting a tad more adventurous!

"It’s true," agrees Leni Hamilton of Hikers Paradise in Centurion. "We’ve seen a big increase in the number of people going off to do adventurous trips."

By far the most popular is Kilimanjaro. "It’s amazing – Kili has become what the Otter Trail was 10 years ago," says Leni. "People see it as very accessible...and the cost doesn’t seem to be an issue at all."

Indeed, a stronger rand is allowing South Africans to travel once again, and for many this is an opportunity to explore the more rugged corners of the globe. "We’ve had groups going off to climb in the Karakoram and South America. And Everest Base Camp is also incredibly popular."

Interestingly, most of these people have little or no hiking experience. Where has all this interest in climbing mountains suddenly come from?

"The public media has definitely helped fuel it," suggests Leni. It’s not uncommon to open an outdoor magazine these days and find an article on trekking in the Himalayas or hiking the Inca Trail.

There has also been an increase in the number of climbing-related programmes on television and in film, and while many of these still paint a picture of mountaineering being a daredevil pursuit, some have started to present it as an exciting holiday alternative, something you and your wife can enjoy on your annual summer vacation, instead of going to Mauritius (Carte Blanche even aired a piece a while ago about a disabled man who attempted Kilimanjaro in his wheelchair!).

It has also just become hugely trendy to climb mountains. A few years ago yuppies were impressing their friends with their latest mountain biking and adventure racing exploits. Now it’s not unusual for Sandton dinner party conversations to include talk of Kili, and possibly even Everest.

Whatever the reasons for this growing interest in climbing mountains, there’s no doubt that this new trend offers a huge opportunity for outdoor retailers.

Gauteng outdoor specialists like Hikers Paradise and Drifters regularly get a lot of aspiring Kilimanjaro summiteers asking to be kitted out from head to toe. "Many of these people are complete novices — they get a kit list from their tour operator, but they don’t have any of the gear," agree Leni and Richard Turkington of Drifters.

So they pop down to their nearest outdoor store with wallet in hand. And people don’t seem to be shy about spending!

Even just buying the basic kit for a Kili trip can set you back R5000, and it is not uncommon for one person to spend between R8000 to R12 000.

With literally hundreds of South Africans heading up Kilimanjaro each year, and many others jetting off to the Himalayas and South America, clearly this can be a very lucrative business to be in.

But, this growth in trekking and mountain climbing is just a small part of a much bigger picture, one which shows a global interest in outdoor products and clothing.

"What we’re seeing in SA now, is exactly what happened in the overseas market a few years ago," says Ken Lazarus, Marketing Director at Cape Union Mart. "Outdoor clothing suddenly became fashionable."

Trendy Europeans, who previously liked to be seen in leather jackets and Levis, started wearing North Face soft shells and convertible trekking trousers. South Africans, it seems, are starting to follow suit and, let’s face it, this is where the real money is to be made.

This shift has created a potential boom for the outdoor retail industry, but it has also resulted in a number of challenges. Perhaps the biggest has been the entry of the large fashion chains who, eager to get a piece of the pie, have begun offering their own soft shells and convertible trekking trousers, usually with price tags much lower than those found in the independent stores.

Many are concerned that this competition from major chains spells disaster for the smaller specialists.

Andy Baxter of Capestorm disagrees. "There’s no doubt that the specialist stores are being put under pressure, but if you look at what happened in Europe, you’ll see they do ultimately recover."

Why? "It’s the big companies who have the budget to advertise and promote the outdoor lifestyle, so what the chain stores ultimately do is create awareness, which in turn grows the market and benefits the smaller guys."

Of course, the independent stores will never be able to compete directly with the big companies, but, says Baxter, they shouldn’t try anyway. "Independents need to focus on carving their own niche, creating something that the larger stores can’t."

And there are a number of things the smaller stores can offer: value adding (such as custom made products and repairs), product differentiation (in other words, a greater variety of specialist brands) and – very importantly – good, informed service.

Indeed, it is the latter that many people believe set the independents apart from the larger retailers, who always have a high turnover of staff and struggle to offer the same level of service and expertise that one finds in smaller retailers.