探路者，中国户外用品第一股用极致守护见证“高光”时刻

“可上九天揽月，可下五洋捉鳖”是如今的中国，也是中国运动服饰品牌创下的功绩。从中国南（北）极考察队的企鹅服，到珠峰测高队员的高海拔攀登连体羽绒服，再到中国航天员的舱内工作服，这背后都有着同一个身影——中国户外用品第一股探路者（300005，SZ）。

探路者自成立以来，一直严格把控产品品质，并建立有效的质量标准体系，严格制作并执行内控标准达50多项，参与起草国家标准和行业标准25项。财报显示，2020年探路者研发投入为4200余万元，占营业收入比（研发强度）为4.63%。

“自2015年以来，冰雪运动、冰雪文化旅游相关的产业迎来蓬勃发展。探路者也充分利用这一宝贵资源，通过签约知名代言人推广滑雪运动和装备，赞助和举办专业、大众滑雪赛事，参与重点科技项目等方式开展系列推广。”在探路者集团户外副总裁、品牌管理部负责人韩晔看来，随着疫情常态化、东京奥运会和北京冬奥会的相继举办，大大激发了大众对健身的需求，像探路者这样以科技力为核心的户外品牌正迎来“最好的时代”。

从2008北京奥运开始十五年极致守护

早在2008年，探路者便成为唯一入选北京奥运会特许供应商的户外用品企业。借助北京奥运会的影响力，一举拿下中国市场同类产品销量和市场占有率第一宝座。

2020年，探路者参与了科技部“科技冬奥”重点研发计划和“冬季运动与训练比赛高性能服装研发关键技术”项目的两项子课题。历经6个月研制、数十次对比测试后，共筛选出三种100%国产化、耐低温、防护等级达到国际Level 1的防护材料配方。特别是根据运动员和保障人员实际需求，参与攻克耐低温保障服装的关键技术，研发出仿鹅绒结构的高保暖絮片，既提升了絮片的保暖性能又降低了絮片的重量，以达到轻量保暖的效果，性能优于目前国际一线品牌产品15%以上。

“这些研发成果可以让冰雪运动健儿在备战和参加比赛时，穿着具有自主研发核心技术的比赛装备，让工作人员、裁判、技术官员有更加轻薄且保暖的装备保驾护航。”探路者集团副总裁韩晔表示，“同时，我们希望能够帮助大众更科学、安全、健康地参与到冰雪健身中，助力‘三亿人参与冰雪运动’，为群众性冰雪运动及其产业提供更多的社会服务和科技保障。”

把握市场动向打造时尚科技户外运动装备

近年，运动和户外元素以及功能材料已经成为整个时装和服装行业的一匹黑马。很多休闲装甚至男女装都会使用到户外服装里一些常用的配件，比如绳扣、绳索、D字环，以及拉链卡扣等来作为时装的时尚要素使用。一些户外服装中常出现的口袋设计、3D立体裁剪的版型也成为了新兴的设计元素。

作为中国老牌的户外用品集团，探路者敏锐地捕捉到这一市场动向，把运动和户外的一些有标识化的设计元素和功能性同大众审美需求有效结合。期望打造出更加符合大众审美需求，具有功能性的，更偏向于时尚化的户外产品。除此之外，探路者还将尖端科技融入产品之中，例如将航天服中的细菌抑制技术（Tief Fresh）运用在运动鞋服上、复刻南北极科考服的极地防寒服，以及与中国航天合作的“航天探路者”联名系列时尚产品，都得到了市场的广泛好评。

中国品牌强劲發展沉着应对市场挑战

改革开放四十年来，随着我国综合实力和国际话语权的提升，以及体育综合实力的增强，中国运动品牌整体上有了飞速的进步。在企业规模、科技创新、品牌塑造、市场份额等方面都有了和国际品牌竞争的资本，在国内外大型赛事的现场也有着越来越多的中国运动品牌出现。

在发展阶段和防控疫情常态化、中外大型体育赛事集中举办的背景下，体育用品业拥有利于发展的宏观环境的同时，一场市场话语权争夺战也悄然打响。面对来自国际国内品牌两个方面的激烈竞争，韩晔表示探路者将从三个方面做战略部署：首先是实施‘多品牌’战略。目前公司的品牌矩阵由Toread（主品牌）、Toread.X（运动时尚品牌）、Discovery和Toread kids（童装品牌）构成。四个品牌满足不同细分市场的各类需求，为消费者提供科技化、专业化、时尚化的运动装备。其次是打造‘国之重器’。与国家重大战略合作，如中国航天、南北极科考、珠峰测高。探路者的装备随着神舟、天舟飞船升上太空，搭乘雪龙号抵达南北极，极致保护测高队员登顶珠峰。相关合作不仅积极对接了国家战略，也增强了公司的科技研发能力，提升了公司品牌形象和美誉度。最后是注重自主科技研发。从2008年探路者研发中心创立，目前中心面积已超7000㎡，是亚洲最大的户外运动研发中心。仅在2020年，公司就获得了20项行业大奖，取得专利共8项。其中自主研发的极地仿生科技Tief得到了深化发展，已取得了包括防水透湿科技、防晒科技、干爽科技、保暖科技、多功能防护科技、凉感科技、防静电科技、智能光变科技等多项自主研发成果。这些科技也让探路者在激烈的市场竞争中能够脱颖而出。

机遇与挑战并存数字赋能或成新前景

“从需求侧来看，更多人参与冰雪运动意味着更多的需求和更大的市场。目前来看，许多参与者还属于初次体验和初级消费阶段，培养大众对滑雪运动的喜好和消费的不断升级是各方面需要共同努力的；从供给侧来看，装备制造商要以顾客需求为导向，注重细分市场，抓住‘三亿人参与冰雪’带来的良好机遇。

受新冠肺炎疫情影响，许多中高端消费回流至国内，为国内品牌提供了机遇。“双循环”新格局、体育强国建设和健康中国战略、人均可支配收入的提高、疫情引发大众对健康需求的提升给体育用品业提供了利于发展的环境。但同时，疫情导致的停工停产、经济下行，以及国际品牌的竞争和能否顺利完成数字化转型，都将成为本土品牌未来将要面临的重要挑战。在这个机遇与挑战并存的时代，只有不断创新、提升品牌实力、把握好“变”与“不变”才能够稳步前行。

“戶外运动产品将借助中国冰雪运动的蓬勃发展继续提升消费黏性，未来将会结合人工智能、虚拟现实等技术，以及元宇宙概念下运动新场景，注重科技创新和数字赋能的应用。”对于探路者今后之路，韩晔说。

Chinese sportswear brands have made remarkable achievements in recent years. From the penguin suit of China’s South （North） Polar expedition， to the one-piece down jacket of the Everest surveying team， and the cabin work clothes of Chinese astronauts， there is the same figure — Chinese outdoor brand TOREAD （300005， SZ）.

Since its establishment， TOREAD has been strictly controlling product quality and establishing an effective quality standard system， strictly producing and implementing more than 50 internal control standards， and participating in drafting 25 national and industrial standards. TOREAD’s R&D investment in 2020 was more than 42 million yuan， accounting for 4.63 percent of its operating revenue， according to the financial report.

“Since winning the bid in 2015， the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games has generated huge business opportunities， with booming industries related to winter sports and culture tourism. TOREAD also makes full use of this valuable resource to promote skiing and equipment by signing well-known spokespersons， sponsoring and holding professional and mass skiing events， and participating in key scientific and technological projects.” In the view of Han Ye， vice president and director of brand management department of TOREAD， with the normalization of the pandemic and the holding of the Tokyo Olympic Games and Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games， the public’s demand for fitness has been greatly stimulated， and outdoor brands like TOREAD， which take science and technology as the core， are ushering in the best era.

From Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to High-tech Olympics， fifteen years of technological innovation

As early as 2008， TOREAD became the only outdoor products company selected as the official supplier for the Beijing Olympic Games. With the influence of the Beijing Olympic Games， it won the first place in the sales and market share of similar products in the Chinese market.

TOREAD participated in two sub-projects of the Key Research and Development Plan of High-tech Olympics of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Key Technology of Research and Development of High-performance Clothing for Winter Sports and Training Competitions in 2020. After 6 months of development and dozens of comparative tests， three kinds of 100 percent domestic protective material formulations with low temperature resistance and international Level 1 protection grade were screened out. In particular， TOREAD participated in the development of key technology for low-temperature resistance clothing， and developed the interlining for warming batts of goose down-like structure according to the actual needs of athletes and support personnel， which not only improves the warmth retention performance of wadding but also reduces the weight of wadding， so as to achieve the effect of lightweight and warmth retention. The performance is more than 15 percent better than the current international first-line brand products.

“The research and development results will enable athletes to wear competition equipment with self-developed core technologies when preparing for and participating in competitions， so that staff， referees and technical officials can have lighter and warmer equipment.” “Meanwhile， we hope to support 300 Million People Participate in Winter Sports in a more scientific， safe and healthy way， and provide more social services and scientific and technological support for mass winter sports and its industry，” Han Ye said.

Grasp market trends， to create fashionable technology outdoor sports equipment

Sports and outdoor elements and functional materials have become a dark horse in the apparel industry in recent years. Many casual wear and even men’s and women’s wear use some accessories commonly used in outdoor clothing as fashion elements， such as buckles， D-rings， and zipper. The pocket design and 3D draping that often appear in some outdoor clothing have also become emerging design elements.

As a well-known outdoor goods group in China， TOREAD has keenly captured the market trend and effectively combined some iconic design elements and functions of sports and outdoor with the aesthetic needs of the public. They hope to create outdoor products that are more in line with the aesthetic needs of the public， functional and more in fashion. In addition， TOREAD incorporates cutting-edge technology into its products， such as the bacterial inhibition technology （TiEf Fresh） of space suit were used in sports shoes and sportswear， and the fashion products jointly named Space&TOREAD in cooperation with China Aerospace， which have been widely praised by the market.

Chinese brands enjoy strong growth， calmly respond to market challenges

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up， with the improvement of China’s comprehensive strength and international voice， as well as the enhancement of the comprehensive strength of sports， Chinese sports brands have made rapid progress and competed with international brands in terms of enterprise scale， scientific and technological innovation， brand building and market share. More and more Chinese sports brands appear on the scene of largescale events at home and abroad.

In the new stage of development， with the normalization of pandemic prevention and control， and the hosting of Tokyo Olympic Games and Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games， the sporting goods industry has a favorable macro environment for development， while a battle for market discourse power also started. Facing the fierce competition from international and domestic brands， Han Ye said that TOREAD made strategic deployment from three aspects： the first is to implement the multi-brand strategy. The company’s current brand matrix consists of TOREAD （main brand）， TOREAD.X（sports and fashion brand）， Discovery and TOREAD Kids（children’s wear brand）. The four brands meet the various needs of different market segments and provide consumers with scientific， professional and fashionable sports equipment. The second is to serve the major national strategies， such as China Aerospace， Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Expedition， Everest surveying. TOREAD’s equipment went up into space with the Shenzhou and Tianzhou spacecraft， and travelled by the Xue Long to the North and South Pole， and protected surveying team to reach the summit of Mount Qomolangma. Related cooperation not only positively matches the national strategy， but also enhances the company’s scientific and technological research and development capabilities， and enhances the company’s brand image and reputation. Finally， to focus on independent scientific and technological research and development. TOREAD R&D Center was established in 2008， with an area of over 7，000 square meters， which is the largest outdoor sports R&D center in Asia. The company won 20 industry awards and obtained a total of 8 patents in 2020 alone， among which， TiEf， the polar bionic technology independently developed， has been further developed， and has achieved a number of independent research and development achievements， including waterproof and moisture permeability technology， sun protection technology， warmth retention technology， multifunctional protection technology， cooling technology， anti-static technology， intelligent light change technology and so on. These technologies also support TOREAD stand out from the fierce market competition.

Opportunities and challenges coexist， digital empowerment to bring new prospects to companies

“From the demand side， more people participating in winter sports means more demand and a bigger market. Many par- ticipants still belong to the initial experience and primary consumption stage at present， to cultivate the public’s preference for winter sports and the continuous upgrading of consumption is the joint efforts of all aspects； from the supply side， equipment manufacturers should be customer-oriented， pay attention to market segmentation， seize the good opportunities brought by the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games， but also strengthen the ‘post-Olympic Winter Games era’ market research and judgment.”

Many mid - and high-end consumption has returned to China due to the COVID-19 pandemic， providing opportunities for domestic brands. The new pattern of double circulation， the construction of sports power and the Healthy China strategy， the increase of per capita disposable income， and the improvement of public health demand caused by the pandemic have provided a favorable environment for the development of the sporting goods industry. But at the same time， the shutdown and economic downturn caused by the pandemic， as well as the competition of international brands and whether the digital transformation can be successfully complete， will become important challenges for local brands in the future. In the era of opportunities and challenges， only by constantly innovating， enhancing brand strength， and grasping “change”and “unchanged” can we move forward steadily.

“Outdoor sports products will continue to enhance consumer stickiness through cultural communication of winter sports with the influence of the hot spots of the Olympic Winter Games. In the future， TOREAD will combine artificial intelligence， virtual reality and other technologies， as well as new sports scenes in the concept of Metaverse， and pay attention to the application of technological innovation and digital empowerment.” This is what Han Ye says about TOREAD’s future.

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