The "Ice and Snow Economy" continues to heat up, and sports products are very popular on the cross-border platform SHEIN

In the winter of 2024 in the northern hemisphere , from Yabuli skiing in Heilongjiang to the snowy resorts in Colorado, USA , conquering an ice and snow resort with a cool and unique pair of snowboards and a colorful and beautiful ski suit is becoming an enviable winter vacation method.

Skiing is not only popular among young people in China, but also on the overseas social media Tik Tok , young people abroad have created a topic #skitok specifically for "skiing short videos", which is becoming a hot topic with nearly 10 billion views. The consumption vitality released by the hot "skiing craze" not only stimulates the development of the tourism industry, but also a series of sports products related to ice and snow sports, such as gloves, socks, goggles, and protective gear, have also shown a continuous rise in "heat". The reporter learned that in the past month, on the fashion cross-border e-commerce platform S HEIN , the search volume for products related to "winter sports" has increased by nearly 40 % , and winter sports products from Chinese factories have become the choice of overseas outdoor sports enthusiasts.

The peak ski season has ignited the hot sales of outdoor products

Winter sports usually refer to outdoor sports that can only be carried out under the unique temperature and environmental conditions of winter, such as skiing, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, sledding, skating, ice hockey, etc. According to statistics from the overseas authoritative organization Statista, skiing is one of the most popular winter sports in the world. In the United States alone, there are nearly 15 million skiers and more than 400 professionally operated ski resorts.

For ski enthusiasts, professional equipment, handy tools and warm and beautiful ski clothes are indispensable. After three seasons of rest, their expectations and enthusiasm for skiing are first conveyed through their purchasing enthusiasm.

On the SHEIN platform, many Chinese sellers have already put a large number of winter sportswear, equipment and protective gear on the shelves, from thickened snow hats, non-slip snowshoes, self-heating gloves, to fully armed masks. This batch of sports goods has seen a sales increase of more than 20% in the past month, igniting a "fire" in winter on the cross-border platform. The SHEIN platform also provides consumers with matching combination suggestions for winter sports shopping, such as ski suits with ski gloves, etc., and makes more recommendations and matches for consumers in terms of style and function in a scenario-based way, which not only enriches the ice and snow consumption choices of foreign friends, but also creates new "display windows" and sales opportunities for sports products from China.

From socks to gloves, small accessories tap into the "ice and snow economy"

Yu Qiang is a new seller who joined SHEIN in the fall of 2023. He mainly sells ski socks and gloves. In half a year, his sales tripled. Ski accessories have become his gold mine in the sports category.

Yu Qiang said that at first, he thought cross-border e-commerce was "very difficult to do". He felt that he was not educated enough, could not speak foreign languages, and had never been abroad, so it was hard for him to imagine selling products directly to foreigners. By chance, Yu Qiang saw S HEIN 's seller backend page in a friend's company: the simple page and clear instructions, plus many short free courses, made Yu Qiang feel that "the threshold was not that high".

Since he already had a supply of winter sports equipment, Yu Qiang started preparing for the ski season at the end of the year after cooperating with S HEIN . From ski gloves of different thicknesses and fabrics, sports socks of different patterns and lengths, to small accessories such as ski masks, the products he tried out quickly received positive reviews from the market.

Through rapid new product launches, on-time delivery and high-quality products, Yu Qiang's store sales have increased month by month in less than half a year. Currently, S HEIN 's business volume accounts for more than 70 % of the company . He is very optimistic about the future sales of sports products. He told reporters: "Our products have all received five-star reviews in the US market. We hope to make ice and snow sports accessories in autumn and winter, and outdoor and cycling accessories in spring and summer, enrich more products and categories, and strive to increase sales by more than five times by 2024 ! "

Seizing the breakthrough point during the peak season of ice and snow, Yu Qiang has begun to deploy more sports products, breaking through the restrictions of seasonality and achieving the ability to create hot products all year round. With the empowerment of the S HEIN team, he has begun to observe the sports trends and user preferences of the next season and create sports products with seasonal differentiation.

"Scientific sports" are popular, and protective gear products are full of "heat" in winter

Skiing enthusiasts often joke that "the end of skiing is orthopedics". The popularity of the sport is also accompanied by certain sports risks, and sports enthusiasts will also place more emphasis on the scientific nature and safety of the sport.

Sports and fitness bloggers and celebrity coaches overseas not only provide sports teaching and fitness training, but also continue to recommend various sports protective gear to more people. Sports products such as wrist guards, knee pads, waist guards, ankle guards, etc. have also become the "must-have partners" for every athlete. This niche track that is inconspicuous in China is ushering in development in overseas markets. According to data from the overseas authoritative organization Global Market Insights , the global sports protective gear market will be about US$ 8.4 billion in 2023. Driven by various international sports events and top sports stars, the sports protective gear market will continue to grow. And the Chinese seller Wu Jinsong entered this track early.

Wu Jinsong took over the sports protective gear business from his parents. In the early years, he connected with foreign trade customers by operating offline stalls in Yiwu. When few people in China were keen on fitness, they built a protective gear factory and sold their products all over the world through foreign trade orders.

As the second generation of foreign trade factory owner, Wu Jinsong has made two important business innovations. The first is to establish and register his own brand, strengthen qualification certification and standards, and expand and deepen the market; the second is to enter the cross-border e-commerce platform S HEIN , covering a wider range of overseas C-end customers and making the products more refined.

Wu Jinsong told reporters that overseas consumers have more mature sports habits and stronger awareness of protection, so their requirements for sports protective gear are becoming more and more professional: "If we only do offline foreign trade orders, our understanding of the products will be very limited; but S HEIN allows us to directly contact a large number of users from different countries. Their different body shapes, aesthetics and sports habits are making our product portfolio more comprehensive, suitable for more people, and more competitive in the international market ."

Compared with other platforms, Wu Jinsong believes that cooperating with S HEIN is an easier option. Compared with traditional e-commerce channels that require self-built logistics, operations, and customer service, S HEIN 's agency operation model allows Wu Jinsong to quickly put mature products on the shelves and sell them overseas directly, and to display his own brand with a more independent vision and concept. In the past year since he joined, Wu Jinsong's team has been "easy to operate" and has achieved sales of nearly one million yuan. The operational staff responsible for connecting with S HEIN have also received a 50 % salary increase , which other operational colleagues envy.

In Wu Jinsong's view, there is still huge room for development in the global sporting goods industry. Taking winter sports as an example, trendy, comfortable and professional sports products are constantly going abroad, providing consumers around the world with more professional and fashionable sports options.

SHEIN

Ice and Snow Economy

Sports Products