Rivals warm to Aldi ski season deals

Skiers are being confronted with crowded mountains these days and German discounter Aldi can take much of the blame.

Snowgum store manager Mark Tipping. Picture: Aaron Francis

Ross Elliott really likes private school mothers. The boss of ski, snow and adventurewear retailer Snowgum counts on this affluent demographic to drive traffic in his factory store as well as online, where they scoop up ski and snow gear for themselves, their husbands and children in preparation for the annual trek to the snow.

He loved the recent cold snap that helped boost sales by as much as 50 per cent as people prepared the looming ski season.

Private school mothers form a key pillar of the nation’s ski and snow retail sector, estimated to be worth more than $2 billion a year.

Traditionally the steep prices of skis, snowboards, goggles, clothing and other apparel has typecast the hobby as a pursuit of the rich.

But residents of Toorak, Brighton, Vaucluse or Rose Bay are increasingly being confronted with a crowded mountain these days as they swoosh down the slopes. And, just as shocking, the families playing around in the snow aren’t even wearing designer snow gear.

German supermarket discounter Aldi can take much of the blame — or thanks — for this, depending on which side of the social divide you sit on, with the chain now Australia’s biggest retailer of ski and snow gear.

Its special winter snow sale draws thousands of shoppers each year.

It is not uncommon for fights to break out in store as Aldi shoppers pounce on bargain-priced snow gear, or for entire families to try on ski clothing in the aisles.

The Aldi ski and snow sale kicking off in a few weeks will trigger massive queues outside its stores. And for a third year Aldi, will run a competition giving shoppers the chance to win one of 10 Perisher weekend packages, including hotel accommodation, ski lift passes, lessons and ski or snowboard hire.

Just like its assault on Woolworths and Coles, the German retailer’s drive into ski and snow retail has helped push down prices and made the sport more accessible to people and families on limited budgets.

Elliott has in recent years refashioned Snowgum’s business model to retreat from shopping centres completely, closing down its 40-store network to focus on the factory outlet and an enriched online offer. But he believes lower prices for skis, clothing and equipment are helping to attract new consumers into the category.

“I think we are all aware of Aldi now and what happens across all the categories they cover, whether it’s hardware, cookwear or anything else. But I suspect they are actually opening up more consumers to buying better products,’’ Elliott says.“What I see is, it is the same thing as what Bunnings did in the hardware industry, where more people are buying more things than anyone ever thought was possible.’’

It also means people up in the snow are wearing more appropriate gear, Elliott adds.

“So what I see up at ski resorts, at weekends and day trips, is people wearing more appropriate clothing now than they would have 10 years ago. And perhaps it is more accessible now as they can buy at Aldi, and so we don’t personally feel it’s having any impact on our sales.

“Families that want to go with their kids once a year to the snow. They will buy a cheaper product at Aldi, for example, and use it once a year and that’s all it will be used for. So (they) just buy it once when it comes to kids’ stuff. Especially as they outgrow it by next year. But it gives them the opportunity to experience a day at the snow.

“And it also means they are better equipped than they otherwise would have been in the past, wearing gumboots to the snow and clothing that would see them almost freeze to death and have a horrible day. Now they will have a much better day.’’

Snowgum and others can’t compete with Aldi on price — a lesson Woolworths and Coles have also learned since Aldi first arrived in Australia in 2001 — but the specialist snow gear retailers can differentiate themselves on quality, range and service.

“We do try to be competitive but there is no doubt we can’t match their price for the few weeks of the year Aldi has its sale.

“But how we try to deal with that is to have a different product quality offer — to offer a range and width of range, as the Aldi offer tends to be narrower to the point that as a shopper you have to be happy with what they are offering and be able to get to the store at the time they have got it in.

“In contrast, we stock all the year round, so if you have an impulse and want to go to the snow this weekend you won’t get it at Aldi this weekend because they don’t have it yet.’’