VAUDE - strong in Europe

VAUDE is particularly strong in the German and European markets. While this is partially based on the company’s history, it is also due to the fact that with a market share of around 26 percent, Germany is the largest European market in the outdoor sector.

VAUDE stands on three pillars: the strongest - and the roots of the company - is Mountain Sports. Following this are Bike Sports and Packs 'n Bags. The percentage distribution of these segments has not changed for several years. The distribution of revenue across multiple business segments is intended to give the company stability. Significant growth rates have been achieved in all segments in recent years.

With 63 percent of sales, apparel is our largest product group. It has grown disproportionately in the last five years and is now slightly above the EU average for apparel in the outdoor market, which was, according to EOG data in 2013, at about 53 percent.

The second largest group is backpacks. This is well above the EU average of six percent. Backpacks were VAUDE’s first product, and are represented in all three market segments in roughly equal proportions. In many countries, VAUDE is still perceived as a backpack brand. About 20 percent of our backpacks are manufactured in Germany at the company headquarters.

Following Germany, our Objective-1 countries are Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium. Great Britain is strongly represented in backpacks and tents. In general, we want to expand our export share, especially with a focus on Europe. VAUDE has grown rapidly both in Germany and in Europe in recent years - double digits over many years. Therefore, it was difficult to increase the share of exports significantly.

Overall, VAUDE delivers to approximately 50 countries. VAUDE sales organizations exist in the Netherlands and Spain. In other EU countries, VAUDE works with agencies, while in non-EU countries it works with distributors.

Top 10 countries based on sales excluding outlets

Sweden, United States of America, Canada, Finland, Japan, Singapore, Norway, Luxemburg, Israel, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Denmark, Estonia, Columbia, Slovakia, Thailand, Hungary, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Greece, Ukraine, Tenerife, Andorra, V.R. China, Venezuela, Poland, Romania, Mongolia, Italy, (Livonia), Bulgaria, Nepal, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Brazil, Peru, Portugal.

VAUDE delivers exclusively to (specialized) retailers - not directly to consumers.

In addition, VAUDE operates a range of VAUDE Franchise Stores. These are also retail partners. The franchisor is VAUDE Franchise GmbH, whose second shareholder (in addition to VAUDE) is also a retailer.

Exception: the outlets operated by VAUDE itself.

In addition to a team of salaried sales representatives in Germany, VAUDE has sales partners almost everywhere in the world.

In the division of retailer groups, our three market segments clearly reflect where VAUDE operates. Turnover percentages are also in line with market segment ratios. It is clear that the Packs 'n Bags segment is strongly distributed through the leather goods trade, especially in Germany.

In our Mountain Sports segment, sports retailers play an important role alongside outdoor specialists. In addition, it is clear that there are significant overlaps, especially between Mountain and Biking segments in terms of sales of the product ranges. This concerns mainly apparel and backpacks.

The international outdoor market today is characterized by cut-throat competition and strong concentration processes. This is also reflected in the customer base at VAUDE.

Numerically, a relatively small number of customers are responsible for a large proportion of VAUDE sales. Although the A-customers represent only about ten percent of our total customer count, they are responsible for around 70 percent of our revenues. This is a general trend in the market. It is the mid-sized customers whose share is decreasing.