So the SUP market seems to have peaked last....

....last year or so or maybe not??? Where to next?

Will be interesting to see how all the brands go if the current action on the good old ASX and other indices around the globe turn into a full on and accepted bear market.

Love the action.

If the big names want to keep selling boards, then they'll have to find ways to make them more affordable. There's more than a few people coughing at the thought of $3000+ for a board...

There comes a point where most of the people who are gonna SUP have a board. And then it's a question of why they should buy a new one. I'm seeing diminishing returns in buying a new board, and the lighter constructions are too expensive, and so I'm looking at cheaper ones now. Most beginners are buying inflatables, and as they improve there is less incentive to get a hard board. The sport is also becoming too specialised and too serious for a lot of people, and this puts them off. These days you feel like you are a total lard-ass loser in a race unless you are following a strict diet and doing boring training drills 5 times a week. For many people worldwide (it may be different in Oz) there are too many serious race events and not enough fun social and family-friendly or adventure ones. All these sorts of factors are probably reducing sales.

But the missed opportunity here is in "lifestyle" gear surrounding SUP. Where are the SUP-specific wetsuits, clothing, etc? This is a relatively undeveloped side but for surfing of course it pretty much keeps the sport going. If you look at a sport like golf, well, golfers will buy just about anything that is vaguely golf-related or have a golf theme, and will pay through the nose for it too. Sailing too. SUP is a similarly affluent market. We just aren't being offered and marketed much stuff other than boards and paddles. Mostly we buy surf wetsuits, wear kayak or sailing PFDs etc and there is little SUP related clothing etc.

But with a bit of ingenuity the sales should be there. Take curly calf-leashes for instance. 7 years ago the sales of them must have been tiny. Now we all have them. Next it will be waist leashes. But there's a market for less directly water-related stuff too IMO. It just needs the right branding and marketing. If I want to buy some seat covers for my car and there are some SUP-branded (marketed) ones and some non-SUP branded ones at similar price, I'll probably buy the SUP ones. Stupid of course, but that's human psychology.

Ask a windsurfing retailer how much clothing they sold. I would guess bugger all, would barely cover the manufacturers minimum quantities for production.

Whassup - well it's all about knowing your market. Who wants to be associated with windsurfing? That was something people did in the 70s and 80s, isn't it? ;)

I live in a small village with crap surf that has two surf shops that sell clothing, and they do just fine. All us SUPers shop there because there's no option. The windsurf and kitesurf shops generally don't even bother trying to sell clothing.

At the moment if you sold mail order you'd have the entire market to yourself, and that is a very hard thing to find in any retail business. It's an amazing opportunity to establish a brand name before everyone else piles in IMO.

^^^ Agreed..^^^

What an interesting topic. Sales v what the consumer really wants or thinks he wants, that's if he really knows what he wants, given where he is at in his/her sup evolution.
I went the skinny race board option, a 24.75" fanatic falcon as a novice, & then at 87 kilos & it was a struggle for me, however with time it was ok on the flat & gave me a lot of confidence to ride any race board. However on the ocean, it was too much for me, so moved it on. Your ability v what you think you can ride are at completly different ends as a novice.
All the more reason to demo boards & talk to people with experience opposed to rushing into a sale.

As for the SUP board market, I suspect the racing scene has plateau'd and in many areas we are seeing a decline. I wouldn't want to be trying to enter that market with a new brand as it appears to be very much over saturated. On the other hand, the surf and social flat water market does not appear to be showing any signs of slowing down.

I'm not entirely convinced as to whether race events have any influence one way or another over how the retail market is going when it comes to buyers who just want to go for a paddle or a surf. The older I get, the more I've come to appreciate that many people choose not to compete and especially not to race into their 40s and 50s for reasons other than physical ageing. I think most people get to a point of maturity and peace within themselves when they no longer feel the need to prove anything to others. It's tremendously liberating. If I was running an event and my aim was to attract maximum numbers, I'd just about ditch racing and organise other paddling activities based around socialising and participating in new aspects of the sport that many people don't get the opportunity to try.

But getting back to the subject - the challenge for retailers is selling to a mature and/or social mindset. You can't have some 20-something testosterone fuelled clown promising all sorts of performance enhancements and benefits to someone who doesn't care about that stuff. All you can do is sell lifestyle and enjoyment.

Look out for our family friendly SUP Vic event at the end of Feb PT in the wild west. The main event focuses on participation as opposed to speed & ability....

PT - I was suggesting a primarily internet-based business selling directly rather than one that would expect to fill shops. And it would be aimed specifically at the SUP market, not at "hangers-on". A boutique brand if you like, with a certain cachet. Something that identifies you as a SUPer to other SUPers, but perhaps not to outsiders. That is the kind of cult identify thing that made the surf brands popular before they went all mainstream and ruined it. The idea would be to create a brand rather than a clothing company, since the margins on clothing are not high. The kind of thing I have in mind is epitomised by the Finisterre surf clothing brand here in the UK. I think the way they have created the brand for a particular niche (well-off middle-class surfers with a strong environmental orientation etc) has been very clever. By contrast the "pile 'em high sell 'em cheap" surf clothing approach is dead. I have masses of Quicksilver, Billabong etc t-shirts that are years (sometimes decades) old, and I feel faintly embarassed to wear them these days -mostly those of us who actually surf are actively avoiding these big brands because it marks you out as a naff tourist. But I'd definitely buy something from a brand that was like a Finisterre for SUP. Although the Finisterre prices are getting a bit much these days. But if you live in London and dream of surfing at weekends you'll pay just about anything to maintain that attachment to the dream.

Anyway, this is a sidebar. I think the other points, especially by DJ and those relate to it, are spot on. Racing is becoming - albeit slowly - a niche activity for the competitively obsessed person with time on their hands and few commitments. Most people do it for a season or two and then give up, rather than it being a long-term sustainable activity. PT is right, that the older SUPer, who has the most spending power, is often turned off by the latent aggression of the racing scene. Many of us older guys work hard all week in competitive working environments, so the last thing we want to do at the weekend is enter another competitive fray. Life is too short. We want a fun, relaxed and social environment where we can enjoy ourselves and get fit without it feeling a chore. I think this is what appeals most to the female market too.

Personally, I see ultra-competitiveness as a kind of personality flaw. That kind of person is never happy. They always want more, and are driven by the need to beat other people in order to feel good about themselves, rather than co-operate with others in order to achieve a greater good, and get enjoyment out of another person's enjoyment. I think this is not at all an unusual attitude amongst my demographic, and it is my demographic that is buying all the SUP gear.

Basically, I think DJ is spot-on. And also about the board recommendations thing. Boards that are too difficult for you are evil. They completely ruin the activity for you. They make you feel bad about yourself and turn something fun into a chore. The "you'll grow into it" thing is usually WRONG. Most people do not grow into a board that is too hard for them. They don't have that much time to spend on the activity. Instead they just get frustrated and give up. Sell the board to the person that matches their ability and needs, not yours. It's not hard!

Yeah it's looking like the racing numbers for women might be taking a sudden dive in the UK this year too. It's too early to tell for sure, and each place has their own local factors at work, but I'll be surprised if the numbers match last year, never mind grow.

One new area that is doing well however is in triathlons where the swim leg is replaced with a SUP one. Of course, in a cold climate like ours, this is quite appealing, but it has really caught on. The format, although nominally a competition, also de-emphasises the competiton aspect by each person having a time window in which they can leave, and you use a timing chip. So there are no mass starts and the general fight of a swim leg. They are held in pretty environments, and the bike section is mtb not road racing, which again changes the dynamic and appeal. They are extraordinarily popular now here in the UK. This is an example perhaps of how thinking outside the box for SUP events can work well.