Arc'teryx’s new Dragon jackets go viral, indicating China’s rebounding outdoor sports market

Recent premium price of Arc'teryx ‘s new ALPHA SV hardshell jacket, a special series featuring the Chinese Dragon designated for the coming Chinese Lunar New Year has sparked heated discussion among consumers. On some platforms, the retail price of this Arc'teryx outdoor gear jumped from 8,200 yuan ($1,143) to 12,000 yuan ($1,673).

As of Tuesday, the price of the Dragon series remain elevated across online second-hand markets. Despite doubts over its high price and controversial “hunger marketing tactic”, some analysts believed that the limited editions are products with special symbols and meanings added to them, in fact, their prices have exceeded the cost of materials and the item’s proper value. 

“This year's Dragon series is hard to purchase, maybe I will buy it at a flea market," said a customer surnamed Li who queued in line for six hours outside a flagship store at WF Central, a popular shopping location in Beijing, just to buy Arc'teryx apparel. In fact, this is not the first time the brand has launched Chinese zodiac jackets to woo local consumers.

The brand has enjoyed massive popularity in China. On lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, contents with the hashtag "outdoor jackets" garnered 1.3 billion views, and there are 1.57 million daily posts sharing diverse experiences related to Arc’teryx. 

Meanwhile, the number of Arc'teryx registered members in China has grown from 14,000 in 2018 to over 1.7 million as of September 2023. Arc'teryx was even listed in one of the most popular brands for middle-aged Chinese consumers.

According to media reports, its parent company Amer Sports owed by China’s Anta Sports earlier this month filed an initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange. Amer Sports was acquired for 4.6 billion euros ($5.2 billion) by a consortium led by Anta Sports in 2018.

Amer Sports said in its third-quarter financial report that the expansion in Chinese mainland has been one of the major factors in the success of Arc’teryx, which obtained a total revenue of $940 million, an increase of 65.3 percent year-on-year.

Arc'teryx has become a must-have fashion for many middle-aged outdoor enthusiasts and affluent urbanities. However, as the price has been inflated, a 5,000-yuan premium price driven by fervent demand has sparked controversy over its worth. 

“Although some buyers have equated the better quality with a higher price, the truth is the brand premium is definitely high on Chinese second-hand market,” said one Chinese netizen who is also a regular buyer of the brand, saying that the average price for an Arc'teryx jacket is between 7,000 to 8,000 yuan, and some special series are over-sold at 20,000 yuan. 

Moreover, a popular Arc'teryx Beta LT shell jacket, which sold for over 6,000 yuan last year, has seen a price increase in a few months, according to a post on Xiaohongshu, some third-party stores list this flagship jacket for as much as 17,000 yuan. 

Meanwhile, the brand is reportedly to adopt a “very limited distribution strategy” to keep its products rare on the market, however, the Arc'teryx buying craze never materialized in overseas markets, as reported by Beijing Business Today.

The price hike also reflects Chinese consumers’ growing appetite for outdoor sports, as many outdoor gear brands are gaining popularity, and their revenues continue to grow in the Chinese market, Liu Dingding, a veteran internet industry observer, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

China’s expanding middle-class and emerging outdoor lifestyle have combined to contribute to the growth of the outdoor sector, Liu said, adding that sneakers and jackets have turned into chic collections for the younger generation of consumers in the country.

At the end of 2023, China's e-commerce sports and outdoor products market is expected to be the world's largest market, with revenue expected to reach $3.35 billion, according to a development plan from the General Administration of Sport issued in October, 2022.

On Chinese e-commerce platform T-mall, the outdoor wear market has grown by 20 percent for two consecutive years. In 2022, outdoor jacket market size spiked by about 50 percent.

Data from its parental company VF Corporation showed that the American outdoor brand North Face posted revenues of $3.63 billion by the end of fiscal year 2023, up 11 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the company is set to invest an additional 30 million yuan ($4.19 million) to upgrade its operational center in China, according to the annual report of fiscal year 2023.

Both the North Face and Arc'teryx have been the beneficiaries of China’s strong outdoor sports market, Chinese experts noted. 

The development plan indicated that the number of people participating in outdoor sports had exceeded 400 million at the end of 2021, with the outdoor sports market expected to exceed 3 trillion yuan by 2025, thepaper.cn said.