Rollers are training devices where bicycles are fitted to pedal in a fixed, indoor location, causing the rear wheel or both wheels to move without advancing. Almost as old as bicycles, these rollers are commonly used to warm up before competitions or to train when weather conditions do not invite cycling on the street. And, obviously, it was a product that was rediscovered during lockdown, opening up the possibility of using the bicycle when one could not leave home.
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Tradeinn, a company from Girona dedicated to selling sports products online in more than 200 countries, registered a peak in demand for rollers in April. It sold thousands and in one month matched the revenue for this product obtained in the last four years. But this was not the only Tradeinn product that triumphed; in fact, all of them did, considering that sport became one of the few activities that could be carried out in 2020, from home or outdoors.
For its CEO, David Martín, the pandemic has served to accelerate online purchases, not only of sports products but of all kinds, considering that this sales modality had already been gaining followers for some time. "There are more and more online shoppers, but this time it has gone even faster because there were people who had no choice because everything was closed," he explains in statements to The New Barcelona Post. "All the e-commerce businesses I know, whatever their category, and the service companies for online stores have grown. Everyone has done it. What would have happened in two or three years anyway has advanced, but now it has happened all at once," adds Martín, who believes that many of these new virtual shoppers will remain loyal to the change and will not return to physical stores.
"All the e-commerce businesses I know, whatever their category, have grown. Everyone has done it. What would have happened in two or three years anyway has advanced, but now it has happened all at once," states Tradeinn CEO, David MartínThe company, based in Celrà, closed 2020 with a turnover of 288 million euros, almost 55% morethan a year ago, when sales stood at 188 million euros, and registered around four million orders, 60% more. "Every year we are growing a lot. What happens is that this year perhaps we have grown a little more due to covid. But before covid we were already growing 40% and now we have ended up growing 55%", he clarifies. Likewise, its workforce has also increased, to 450 workers, 30% more than in 2019.
Looking ahead to 2021, the goal is to continue growing. "Our philosophy is always to grow as much as possible. I don't know how much we will grow, I don't know what the figure will be, but I do know that we have the opportunity to grow a lot," says Martín. Framed within this growth is the expansion of its facilities in Celrà, which will go from 15,000 square meters to 35,000, with an investment of six million euros.
Manresa-based Deporvillage also soars
Deporvillage is the sports e-commerce company, also Catalan, that closely follows Tradeinn. 2020 was a record year for this Manresa company, which invoiced more than 120 million euros, 106% more than in the previous year, and registered 1.4 million orders. "We have exceeded all the forecasts we had made, as we expected to close 2020 at around 75 million. During the second quarter of the year we detected the boom in online sales, intuiting that we would achieve the goal and could even exceed it," says its founder and CEO, Xavier Pladellorens.
"We have exceeded all the forecasts we had made," says Xavier Pladellorens, founder and CEO of Deporvillage, which closed 2020 with a turnover of more than 120 millionThis growth has been a challenge for Deporvillage, which last year implemented a new, more agile and efficient order preparation line, and reinforced its staff, exceeding 100 workers. For co-founder and Product Manager, Ángel Corcuera, "success also lies in having been able to respond to customer demand, obtaining stock of products that have become strategic, such as rollers." Deporvillage, like Tradeinn, registered a peak in demand for rollers and has sold almost 20,000 units.
For 2021, Corcuera is confident in continuing to attract new customers. "We are focused on continuing to offer the best products, as well as increasing the offer by strengthening ourselves as a partner for sports brands," he emphasizes. This year will also serve Deporvillage to focus on the development of its own brands.