Although this year's 618 is not completely over, it is a foregone conclusion that the performance of categories such as sports, outdoor fitness and fitness has soared.

In addition to the traditional sportswear field, sports products such as yoga, fitness mirror, fascia gun, household ellipsometer, exquisite camping, Luya fishing, water surfing, online celebrity beaches, light body diet and other sports products have all received capital attention.

Sports products are very popular in 618.

Compared with last year's category transaction data, sports outdoor, together with large household appliances and 3C digital, has become the fastest growing category of Tmall 618 transactions this year. Especially the domestic sports brands ushered in the highlight moment.

Data show that the pre-sale turnover of Guochao sports brands in 2021 increased by more than 500% compared with the same period last year, and membership increased by more than 60% compared with the same period last year. Anta, Li Ning Co. Ltd., Peak, Xtep and 361° occupy the top five of brand and store turnover. Demand for brands BODYDREAM (the sports brand founded by bodybuilder Lu Chenhui), accurate, Ankorau, MAIA ACTIVE and Anta soared, occupying the top five of the brand list.

Tmall overseas said that the overseas sales of the five major domestic sports brands all exceeded 50% compared with the same period last year, and the overseas demand of the three major sports trendy brands Li Ning Co. Ltd., Anta and Huili was hot; as cutting-edge domestic sports brands, mobile and keep also rose rapidly.

According to JD.com sports data, as of June 16, the turnover of the family fitness module, the turnover of treadmills increased by 19 times compared with the same period last year, the turnover of sports bicycles increased by nearly 8 times, the turnover of horizontal and parallel bars increased by 200%, the turnover of dumbbells increased by 100%, and the turnover of boxing supplies increased by 100%. The overall turnover of the sports Guochao brand on the platform increased 9 times compared with the same period last year, of which the turnover of the Peak pole series increased by 210% compared with the same period last year, and the turnover of more than 40% of sporting goods merchants increased by more than 100%.

In the first 15 minutes of JD.com 's exercise, the turnover of intelligent household fitness equipment increased by 485% compared with the same period last year, in which smart exercise mirror, intelligent rope skipping and intelligent motion bicycle became the most popular TOP3; consumer category of intelligent fitness items, while the turnover of sports trousers and sports vests increased by 500% over the same period last year. JD.com 's turnover of running shoes increased by 400% over the same period last year, and the turnover of basketball shoes increased by eight times.

Many new sports brands and minority items have achieved good results in this 618 promotion.

Cutting-edge sports brand Keep, by upgrading its crowd operation strategy, saw a 500% increase in the number of new customers at the start of the year compared with the same period last year.

The category of intelligent fitness mirror is also popular. FITURE, an intelligent fitness company, has just launched a new product, the Magic Mirror flagship, which was launched in Via's studio and 1500 units sold out in 10 minutes.

The performance of listed sports and fitness companies soars

ANTA Sports Products shares closed up 6.41 per cent at HK $176 on Thursday and now have a market capitalization of about HK $470 billion, the best weekly gain since November 2020.

ANTA Sports Products continued its growth in the first quarter of this year, with sales of all its major brands growing by more than 10%, while retail sales of other brands, including Archaeopteryx, rose 115% to 120%. The group expects net profit to soar by more than 65 per cent in the six months to June 30.

Xtep International announced on June 15 that Hillhouse will invest US $65 million (HK $506 million) in the global operations of Xtep Global's "Galaxy" and "Paladin" brands. In addition, Hillhouse also signed a subscription agreement for convertible debt issued by Xtep International, with a total investment of HK $500m.

On the day of the announcement, Hong Kong stock Xtep International opened sharply higher, with an intraday rise of 30%, hitting HK $11.58, with a market capitalization of more than HK $30 billion, up 20.72% at the close of the day, with a market capitalization of HK $28.1 billion. As of Friday, Xtep International closed at Rmb13.16, rising to an all-time high of HK $13.70, up 34.31 per cent from the day of the announcement.

On April 30 this year, Shuhua Sports, an A-share listed company, released its quarterly report for 2021. According to the report, the company's operating income from January to March in 2021 was 322 million yuan, an increase of 48.2 percent over the same period last year. The net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 12.7353 million yuan, an increase of 23.62 percent year-on-year, and earnings per share was 0.03 yuan.

In addition to some full-category sports and fitness listed companies, some sports brands that are more niche than running are also doing well.

For example, lululemon, a retailer of mid-and high-end yoga clothing and sportswear, has sold more than 4000 pairs of yoga trousers this month at Tmall's flagship store.

Earlier this month, lululemon released results for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, which ended May 2. In the first quarter, revenue was $1.227 billion, up 88% from a year earlier, gross profit was 57.1%, and net profit was $145 million, up 406.3% from a year earlier. In fiscal year 2021, lululemon expects revenue of between $5.83 billion and $5.91 billion, which means that lululemon's rapid growth will continue.

Investment and financing of sports and fitness products are hot

In the past year, the business of nearly 200 cutting-edge businesses has grown rapidly, more and more consumers have increased their awareness of fitness, and the family fitness scene has been accepted by more people.

Fiture, Keep, Gudong and other new brands respond quickly to consumer demand, and have launched online fitness mirrors, fascia guns, household ellipsometers and other trend categories, which have also been favored in the capital market. Fiture received $300m in round B financing, while KEEP received $80 million in round E financing.

NASDAQ-listed company Anderma CEO Patrick Frisk expects consumer demand for sportswear to continue to grow this year, and the frequency of online shopping will also show an upward trend. Given that Anderma e-commerce accounts for nearly 50% of direct retail channels, the group is cautiously optimistic about full-year results, annual sales will achieve high single-digit growth, operating profit margins may return to double-digit percentage.

In addition to the direct products related to exercise and fitness, light and healthy diet products are also favored by the capital side.

High dietary fiber beverage brand "Leti Control" recently completed nearly 100 million yuan A round of financing, led by Bu Capital, Innovation works, Tiantu Capital, this is the second round of financing since its establishment. In October 2020, one year after its establishment, Le Sports Control, which is still being tested within the product, received angel round financing from Sequoia Capital and Tiantu Capital. At present, the main products of Le Sports Control include body-controlled water, fruit-flavored sparkling tea and sparkling tea, all of which are added dietary fiber on the basis of 0 sugar and 0 fat.

What's more, some companies saw the fire in the fitness category and went so far as to "deviate" from the main business directly. According to App, recently, LUCKN COFFEE DRC (China) Co., Ltd. applied to register the trademark of "lucky tide" and "tide". The international classification includes daily chemical products and fitness equipment, and the current trademark status is under application.