Please read the details and accept the service to enable rating function managing director of Bergzeit and before that long-standing manager in the sports industry finally demands more cooperation from the industry instead of sliding deeper and deeper into a competitive situation Image credit: BergzeitBergzeit is one of the leading online shops in mountain sports in German-speaking countries the company is also at home in the classic retail business What challenges are retailers currently facing and how is the business changing as a result of digitalization We talked to Maximilian Hofbauer, Managing Director of Bergzeit for almost three years. He knows the sports business better than anyone else: As former DACH boss of The North Face and European head of Icebreaker, he understands the needs of industry and retailers alike and is increasingly critical of the cooperation. ISPO.com: You know retail just as well as industry: How has cooperation changed in the course of digitalization?Maximilian Hofbauer: I know both sides very well and I deliberately decided to leave industry and switch to retail because I do not support some developments in industry. I believe that industry has reached a dead end as far as its cooperation with trade is concerned. Although everyone is still talking about a partnership relationship with trade, the reality often feels different. Read here: These are the Challenges in Sports Retailwindow.adEntity = window.adEntity || {queue: []}; window.adEntity.queue.push(document.getElementById('ad-entity-lUmkt8MbwZk'));The trend in the industry is of course towards direct marketing and now it is increasingly important how the brands actually implement their multichannel strategy The fact is that there is far too little coordination between industry and trade at present We pretend that we are still living in a partnership but we now have a real competitive situation in many areas The question is: Does a brand really need five ten or more online merchants selling the same product the more difficult it becomes to meet the same service standards If brands then also start to participate in sales the value of the products continues to fall So what would you like?When I went to Bergzeit I thought I knew the challenges of retail and then realized that the challenges posed by digitalization are even greater The industry has not yet understood some of these requirements and often still works far too strongly according to the classic wholesale model Digitalization has not yet penetrated the wholesale business Collaboration must become more efficient and cost-neutral with fewer touchpoints and more verticalization in processes It is also clear that not everyone can digitize so the industry must be careful not to suddenly lose an entire sales channel in view of the current retail erosion Just working on your own digitisation will not help the brands would have to become more creative! I would like everyone to be a little more honest about their goals and practices The next few years will be a challenge for all sides The brands are not yet good at handling this resulting imbalance, polarisation and monopolisation correctly. It will therefore be a challenge to act calmly in view of the current nervousness and over-excitement in the market and also in view of price transparency. Instead, we would have to coordinate better. In my opinion, the top 10 suppliers in particular should show more openness. Working with online platforms and marketplaces is becoming increasingly relevant. Is that an issue for you? We have been active on marketplaces since 2016 - on Amazon, Ebay and Galaxus, each in different countries. We have to be where the customer goes. Marketplaces are a topic that is currently developing very well. Even retailers become marketplaces, is that an option for you?We are of course discussing this, but it is still too early to make a statement here. It will mainly depend on how the industry develops. Basically, it makes sense to unite more strongly as a trade, and of course one must pay attention to all developments. lifestyle appeals to more consumers because it is simply less specific The problem is always that the brand core is diluted I see further potential in the area of marketplaces in internationalization and in further improving our job with customers in order to achieve higher shopping baskets with our customers What is your goal for the next five years?We want to be perceived in Europe as the competent mountain sports platform that every online customer in this segment must find Platform is not meant here as a market place but as a contact point for different offers from the product over consultation and service up to information and experiences around the mountain sports The TimesThe luxurious former residence of the leader of the SS has been converted into a hotel and restaurant that claims to promote tolerance and openness acquired the villa about 30 miles south of Munich in 1934 and used it as meeting place for senior Nazis have invested €1.5 million in revamping the 130-year old villa and say they have transformed it into a place where people can enjoy fine dining The friends leased the 20,000-square metre villa this year which is now a hotel restaurant called Blyb (bleib means “stay”) The villa was formerly a meeting place for senior NazisALAMY“We feel the responsibility that belongs NEUSTADT an der Aisch and GMUND AM TEGERNSEE Business cards and stationery printed on finest "Onlineprinters Art Classics" papers Onlineprinters has added four new premium papers made by Gmund Papier to its product range These papers are exclusively available for customers of Onlineprinters "We provide our 600,000 customers with printed products in long and short runs at affordable prices Such a large clientele certainly has growing demand for special printings We want to accommodate this demand by expanding our product assortment with exclusive products," says Julia Voigt The four new paper types have been available in the online shop since April 2017      (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/512479/Onlineprinters.jpg ) Combined under the umbrella term of "Onlineprinters Art Classics" all papers were named after style-defining art periods: "Renaissance" The illustrious names were inspired by the papers' special qualities "Gmund has manufactured papers already since 1829 the paper manufacturer's product range comprises more than 100,000 paper creations The papers of the "Onlineprinters Art Classics" collection are unique and have been designed exclusively for Onlineprinters with regard to their combination of colour paper weight and surface texture," says Gabriele Bellendorf the trend-setter for finest papers "Made in Bavaria" The premium papers are available for business cards (4/0 and 4/4) in the formats 8.5 x 5.5 cm and 9.5 x 5.0 cm and for stationery in the formats A4 "Gmund Papier and Onlineprinters are connected by tradition innovation and a fascination for high-quality paper and professional printing We are very pleased to make our papers available to even more customers thanks to the 'Onlineprinters Art Classics' collection," Gabriele Bellendorf comments on the new partnership Onlineprinters expands its range of premium products with the addition of the Gmund papers the online print shop has also offered letterpress business cards These business cards stand out by their relief-like imprint created by printing on traditional letterpress machines Gmund Papier has been synonymous with paper culture and the ecologically sustainable production of communication media made of natural paper since 1829 At its development and production site in Gmund am Tegernsee the company designs customized solutions for sustainable brand images Around 75 percent of the papers are exported Gmund Papier is a family-owned enterprise managed by Florian Kohler in the fourth generation Onlineprinters GmbH is one of Europe's leading online print providers the company distributes printed products to 600,000 customers in 30 European countries through its 16 web shops the company is known under the brand name "Onlineprinters"; in Germany The product assortment comprises 1,400 printed products from business cards brochures and large format advertising systems The formula to successfully producing customized printings in terms of Industry 4.0 is based on three pillars: online sales fully integrated production from ordering to shipping and combined run printing The latter uses so-called combined blocks to collectively produce print jobs to minimize costs and reduce the environmental impact Options such as same day printing (produced on the same working day) climate neutral production and custom size specification are available for selected products The company was recognised for its German online shop by DIE WELT The video "A look behind the scenes of Onlineprinters": https://youtu.be/1uIQE_QFYIs?list=PLEriQeICU0iuXDVlzuMg8mXs75QhR8tGa Press contacts: Onlineprinters GmbH Patrick Piecha Head of Press & Public Relations Tel.: +49-9161-6209807 +49-174-3077250 press@onlineprinters.com http://www.onlineprinters.com Büttenpapierfabrik Gmund GmbH & Co. KG Sabine Huber Public Relations Phone: +49-8022-7500-73 shuber@gmund.com http://www.gmund.com Do not sell or share my personal information: Fast-paced downhill runs are not only to be found in the Alps Hardly anything is as much fun in winter as shooting down the hill with the kids The longest and fastest toboggan runs can be found on the 50-meter-high Olympiaberg but the city also has some steep hills to offer: there aren't that many reasons to get out of Munich - but the mountains are definitely one of them the most popular ski resorts for a sporty winter excursion are close by family or ski beginner - every winter sports enthusiast will find the right slope Skiing through the parks is possible in Munich but it takes a fair amount of snow for the trails to be groomed. Fortunately the surrounding area has some nearby alternatives - even in the evening you can still cross-country ski under floodlights Die bayerische Wasserwacht und die DLRG warnen eindringlich davor Aufgrund der frostigen Temperaturen hat sich vielerorts eine dünne Eisschicht gebildet von außen ist es aber praktisch unmöglich zu erkennen was bei diesen Temperaturen lebensgefährlich ist muss unverzüglich der Notruf unter der Nummer 112 gerufen werden © 2025 Portal München Betriebs GmbH & Co KG - Ein Service der Landeshauptstadt München und der Stadtwerke München GmbH