In recent years, although the global fitness craze has gradually emerged, it is undeniable that the United States still has the highest national fitness rate and is also one of the largest home fitness equipment markets in the world. Cross-border fitness brands from all over the world want to enter the US market to get a share of the pie.

However, with the development of modern trends and consumption downgrade, even the US home fitness equipment market is not easy to operate. But the overseas brand SupeRun from Hangzhou, China has managed to carve out a new path by focusing on niche tracks and unique marketing strategies!

Not only are sales booming on Amazon, but after entering Tuke, single product sales exceeded 10,000 units in just a few months! It has truly become a top seller in the sports equipment track!

Image source: SupeRun official website screenshot

1. Exercise is monotonous, so combine it with software

SupeRun's main product is the treadmill, which is common in gyms, but in real households, treadmills are often seen as dispensable exercise equipment. After the initial novelty wears off, they are often abandoned and left to gather dust, with low usage frequency.

But SupeRun has solved this problem by combining hardware and software.

SupeRun's treadmills come with a smart APP, allowing users to compete one-on-one in a virtual space, or organize and participate in multi-person marathon races.

Image source: SupeRun official website screenshot

This immersive experience cleverly solves the problem of users feeling bored during long runs, while introducing multiplayer competition gameplay. It not only effectively encourages existing users to invite new users to join, but also maintains user stickiness for a longer period and stimulates users' enthusiasm for exercise.

As a result, it quickly became popular on Amazon, with monthly sales exceeding 8,000 units and sales reaching $1.6 million, successfully making it onto the platform's BS list.

But with this alone, SupeRun is only somewhat famous on traditional e-commerce platforms. To become a top seller in the industry, its popularity is not enough, and with the high unit price of treadmill products, it is not easy to achieve greater sales.

Image source: Amazon screenshot

2. High unit price, rely on social media promotion

To solve this product pain point and expand the market, SupeRun began to lay out on social media platforms such as Tuke, Instagram, and Facebook. By collaborating with influencers, the products are promoted to a wider consumer group.

In addition, SupeRun's cooperation strategy is different from other brands. They prefer to work with well-known influencers who have a large fan base. According to research, these influencers have an average of over 100,000 followers, with the largest influencer having as many as 500,000 followers.

The reason for this choice is obvious: SupeRun's products have a high unit price, and ordinary small influencers may find it difficult to effectively promote these products to their audience, while large influencers with many followers have greater influence and persuasion.

It has also opened a Tuke Shop sales channel, and through precise marketing, a treadmill priced at $139 launched last October achieved total sales of 14,000 units, becoming the store's best-selling product.

According to store data, this product has accumulated more than 900 user reviews, with an average rating of 4.4. Many consumers have left comments expressing their love for this treadmill, praising it: "Walking 10,000 steps on it feels like a blink of an eye."

This achievement not only proves the market appeal of SupeRun's products, but also highlights its unique approach to social media marketing.

Currently, the topic of SupeRun on Tuke has received more than 6 million views, and its official account has successfully attracted more than 10,000 followers. SupeRun has also provided a dedicated cooperation email in its profile to facilitate contact with influencers interested in collaboration, fully demonstrating SupeRun's high regard for influencer marketing.

In addition, SupeRun is actively building its own independent site, providing fans with a convenient shopping channel. On the independent site, SupeRun not only sells its own treadmill products, but also offers downloads for the accompanying smart APP, providing convenience for users.

Moreover, SupeRun has placed reviews from well-known overseas media such as CBS, NBC, and Yahoo in prominent positions on its independent site. With endorsements from these well-known foreign media, the brand's credibility is greatly enhanced.

3. Multiple top sellers have emerged in the sports equipment track

As a Chinese overseas brand, SupeRun's success is inseparable from its own efforts. But it is undeniable that the warming market has indeed provided it with a significant boost, as people are paying more attention to their health.

Data shows that from 2022 to 2023, the global home fitness equipment market size has doubled to $11.6 billion. It is expected that in 2024, this number will grow to $12.1 billion, and in the coming years, it will continue to expand.

The global home fitness equipment market continues to grow. Image source: fortune business insights

With the continuous development of the global e-commerce market, online channels are gradually becoming mainstream, and the online market for home fitness equipment has thus experienced strong growth. Many sports equipment brands, like SupeRun, have benefited from this boom.

For example, the American brand Crossrope, which mainly sells jump rope products, and the Chinese brand BalanX, which specializes in full-body electrical pulse wearable devices for fitness enthusiasts. Both are top sellers in their tracks, having developed earlier than SupeRun.

Crossrope Image source: Google

With the global fitness craze continuing to heat up, this track will surely see more top sellers in the future. At that time, whether it is independent B2C brands or B2B companies specializing in supply chains, they will have the opportunity to reap more benefits.

Digging deep into consumer needs, expanding social media presence in advance, and accumulating potential customers are what cross-border brands in this track need to do now.