Tennis point and local service? A difficult story
Diversity in the selection of items in online and brick-and-mortar retail? That could soon be a thing of the past. The regional specialists are threatened with extinction.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Dec 16, 2021, 06:33 am
Five times HEAD ( Novak Djokovic , Alexander Zverev , Andrey Rublev , Matteo Berrettini , Jannik Sinner ), two times Yonex (Casper Ruud , Hubert Hurkacz ), once each Technifibre ( Daniil Medvedev ), Babolat ( Rafael Nadal ) and Wilson ( Stefanos Tsitsipas ) : Of the big tennis brands, only Dunlop is missing from the club manufacturers in the current top ten. Dunlop plays a much bigger role in the ball market than in the rackets.
But the bottom line: There is something for every racket taste among the top ten players in the world, so just stroll into the nearest pro shop in the local tennis club or an online portal we trust and find the device that best suits your needs from the wide range fits the style of play, doesn't it? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. Even online, this is no longer possible in many shops. As derstandard.at explained in a detailed report a few weeks ago, a predatory competition is currently taking place on the tennis market. The focus: The dealer Tennis-Point.de. And the Wilson and Dunlop brands.
Low margin offers
Because the rackets from Tsitsipas and Roger Federer , the official balls of the US Open, but also the balls from Dunlop will no longer be found in smaller shops. Wilson, for example, has reportedly made purchase commitments that the small, stationary retailers cannot meet. If Wilson alone has to purchase goods worth an entire annual turnover in order to be allowed to carry the brand at all, then this is an exclusion criterion for the "normal" pro shops.
Not so for Tennis-Point. The online market leader in German-speaking countries can easily meet the demands of companies. And naturally carries all common brands. The market power combined with the large product range enables Tennis-Point to work with very low margins in some cases and to make offers to its customers that hardly any competitor can afford.
Contribution to positive development
Fritz Steinhauser, for example, who runs online trading himself, complained about this in the standard article. At the moment, Tennis-Point is still luring customers with discounts. “But after two years they set the price,” says Steinhauser, who will no longer have any Wilson or Dunlop items in his shop from 2022.
Raimund Stefanits, former ÖTV Vice President and one of the largest tournament organizers in Austria, is in the same direction. "Every monopoly is ultimately at the expense of the end consumer, because prices are determined without competition. Small and medium-sized specialist retailers are put under pressure with extremely high advertising expenditure. Unfortunately, the associations and some branded companies also play a role. Individual support and professional service are essential but extremely important in tennis and need well-trained regional specialists. "
Jannik Lütkemeier, Chief Marketing Officer of Tennis-Point, cannot accept these arguments. “We know how important a local presence is in our industry. Tennis-Point is represented in Austria with shops in Salzburg, Vienna, Graz and Linz. This is part of our successful strategy. In general, the tennis industry is consolidating worldwide. However, our goal is to enlarge the market as a whole. We cannot understand information from competitors about our strategy and our business model. Tennis-Point's market position makes it possible to make an intensive contribution to the positive development of tennis in Austria. "
The fact is, however, that four flagship stores across Austria do not establish a "local presence". Because if a tennis player in Klagenfurt or Innsbruck breaks a string, several hundred kilometers would have to be covered to the next point of contact at Tennis-Point. Tennis needs more than ever the local specialists and partners of the clubs who support the tennis boom with their service and know-how.
Brands operate "channeling"
David Tews, Head of Marketing International at Hervis, sees developments on the tennis market as a reflection of what is happening in other sectors as well. The fact that some brands with premium products concentrate on certain trade channels is also evident in other sports. "That's not unusual," Tews told tennisnet.com. “Many brands operate“ channeling ”and concentrate on their preferred sales channels. We and Tennis-Point have to work with these conditions. "
Nevertheless, Tews is convinced that Hervis offers the best solution for the mass of tennis players. Throughout Austria, every player will find a Hervis store within a radius of 30 to 40 kilometers where most wishes can be fulfilled.
Focus on service as a strategy
Peter Lehrner, long-time companion of Thomas Muster and an internationally recognized authority in matters of service and tuning, sees the situation in a more nuanced way. He has been in the business since 1977 and has experienced many phases, said Lehrner in an interview with tennisnet.com. Tennis-Point has built a dominant market position with great skill - and is now putting the smaller dealers under pressure.
According to Lehrner, what Tennis-Point cannot provide is the service that you used to get from specialist dealers. No tennis racket is like the other, in terms of balance or swing weight there are production-related fluctuations of up to ten percent in the same models. From Lehrner's point of view, specialist retailers would have to invest in their staff again in order to be able to offer customers better service. The outsourcing of this core competence to tennis coaches and private stringers has not proven itself.
Boom through Thiem and Zverev
The successes of Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev have triggered a boom, which has also increased demand. In addition, tennis has grown as one of the few sports during the corona pandemic, in Austria currently over 600,000 people play tennis regularly. David Tews once again: As a specialist retailer, you have to ask yourself whether you can and want to meet this demand. In any case, Hervis has invested and shoveled free space for tennis.
But if you ask where this tennis boom should lead to an improvement in the economic situation, namely the local specialist dealers and experts, you tend to hear the opposite. "Sales have increased, but they will not stay in Austria," explains Christian Walter, owner of the Tennis Pro Shop in Schwaz / Tyrol. "This is why all companies are cutting the budgets for their sales partners in Austria. Across all brands. Sales are moving to Germany. As a result, many trainers and young talent in Austria have lost their support in recent years. There is a critical cycle originated: The local specialist dealer sells almost no more clubs - and then also supports the clubs and young players to a much lesser extent than before. "