Guidance, Relevance, and New Impulses for Sports Retail:

ISPO presents exclusively the Future Playbook Sports Retail

ISPO and BBE Handelsberatung publish a new whitepaper on sports retail ++ The Playbook delivers exclusive trend insights on market, consumers, and industry ++ The study identifies key areas for immediate investment

Sport moves people—in private life as well as in business. ISPO supports sports retailers in positioning themselves for a prosperous future. In times of profound change, the ISPO Retail Club project team, led by Carsten Schürg, together with Prof. Dr. Philipp Hoog, Partner at BBE Handelsberatung, provides valuable guidance. The Future Playbook Sports Retail—Impulses for a Successful Transformation paints a clear picture of the current state of the sporting goods retail sector, defines key fields of action, and offers hands-on inspiration for the future.

At its core lies the BBE Trend Radar 2025, which highlights the latest consumer, retail, and sports retail trends. It provides members of the Retail Club with a compact, curated, and practical outlook on the sports retail sector of tomorrow. The Future Playbook Sports Retail thus provides sports retailers with the key areas of action for a successful transformation: How can retail spaces be designed to deliver experiences? How can efficiency be secured through digitalization and KPI management? And how can succession, expansion, and new revenue models be successfully implemented?

Tracking the day after tomorrow

The new whitepaper shows why sports retail is heading into an exciting yet demanding decade. Market data is analyzed, the twelve most significant challenges are outlined, and concrete solutions are presented.

The BBE Trend Radar offers retailers valuable orientation, showing when these developments are likely to have the most significant impact. Key findings include:

• Consumer trends: Experience orientation, generative AI, and sustainability are already shaping consumer behavior, changing how purchase decisions are made.
• Retail trends: Retail media, social commerce, and data-driven processes define the new retail logic—with community building as the key driver.
• Sports retail trends: Circular economy, smart retail, and longevity will gain massive relevance in the years to come.

“German sporting goods retail faces the challenge of reinventing itself in a dynamic market environment. Rising customer expectations, the pressure of digitalization, and the need for sustainable business models require bold decisions. Only those who create experiences, act on data, and respond flexibly to market changes will succeed in the long term,” stresses Prof. Dr. Philipp Hoog of BBE Handelsberatung.

The trend radar by BBE Handelsberatung is a compass for the sports industry. It shows when certain developments have the strongest influence on markets—and how retailers, brands, and communities can respond to them. “Those who are aware of these insights are better equipped to set the course for tomorrow,” says project manager Carsten Schürg.

Shaping the future together

Retailers who are members of the ISPO Retail Club learn how to sharpen their positioning, rethink experiential spaces, optimize processes, and harness digital opportunities through AI and omnichannel logistics. The Future Playbook Sports Retail makes clear that experience delivery, service orientation, and community building will be key success factors for staying competitive.

“The Retail Club is not an add-on to the trade fair visit or an exhibitor presence. When we founded it, our ambition was to provide added value for retailers throughout the year. With the Future Playbook Sports Retail whitepaper, we are delivering the first of these offerings to our members,” emphasizes ISPO Exhibition Director Lena Haushofer.

The whitepaper is available free of charge to ISPO Retail Club members. It serves as a strategic tool, offering brands and partners valuable impulses to remain successful in the long run—thereby contributing to growth across the entire sports market. Complementing the Playbook, ISPO will also offer deep-dive formats such as webinars and masterclasses. Download the whitepaper and find more information about the Retail Club here: https://www.ispo.com/retail