Market Challenges: Seasonal nature of surfing

One of the key challenges faced by the surfing board market is its highly seasonal nature. Surfing is an activity that is dependent on weather conditions and availability of waves. Most surfing activities are concentrated in certain months of the year when weather conditions are ideal for generating good waves. The demand for surfing boards is thus highly seasonal with peak sales seen only for a few months. This leaves manufacturers and retailers with unsold inventory for most part of the year. They have to plan production and procurement well in advance based on forecasts of seasonal demand peaks. However, demand can vary significantly year on year depending on actual weather patterns. This leads to risks of over or under production. Storing unsold inventory also leads to warehousing costs. The seasonal nature of surfing thus poses supply chain challenges for players in surfing board market to adjust according to volatile demand patterns.

Market Opportunities: Emergence of E-commerce

The growth of e-commerce platforms is opening new opportunities for the surfing board market to address its seasonal demand challenges. Online retail channels are helping to reduce the impact of seasonality by enabling sales throughout the year instead of only in the peak seasons. Surfers and enthusiasts can now purchase surfing gear online according to their needs without having to wait for the local stores to stock up. Manufacturers and retailers are also able to reach newer customer segments in non-surfing destinations. The emergence of robust e-commerce platforms and rising internet penetration globally is enabling the surfing board market players to market and sell their products online beyond the peak season locations. This is helping them better utilize production capacities as well as manage inventory more efficiently with demand spread over multiple seasons instead of clustered in only a few months. The e-commerce channels are thus emerging as an opportunity for the seasonal surfing board market to overcome its traditional challenges.