As 2024 comes to an end, at PadelPROShop they are preparing to close the year with a remarkable trajectory marked by growth, adaptation and consolidation.
In Padel Addict we have been able to interview its founder, Dioni Ugalde, to review the advances that the company has experienced, its recent change of brand identity, the incorporation of new brands to its e-commerce, and the efforts to maintain its leadership in customer service.
In addition, they give us a preview of their expectations for the Black Friday and Christmas campaigns, two of the most important times of the year. Through their words, we discover how this company has worked on its structure, logistics and communication to stay at the forefront of a constantly changing sector.
Interview with Dioni Ugalde, founder of PadelPROShop
1. With just two months to go until the end of the year, how would you assess 2024 for PadelPROShop in terms of growth and financial results?
To analyse the 2024 results, we saw that growth had gone from around 9.5 million to 20 million. It was a success that a medium-sized company became a big company, but, above all, that company structure that we are achieving is what makes the difference, of people involved with love for padel who want to do things well, elegant and very close.
2. 2024, a year of big changes in PadelPROShop and one of the most notable has been the change of brand identity. Although the new identity was launched in August, what has this big change meant for the brand?
The change of brand identity has meant going from being a start-up company, or as I like to say, a well set up little beach bar, to being a large company with values, brand image, a change that has only just begun. We have not yet seen the full potential of this new corporate image, design and everything like merchandising, for example, that is yet to come and that we want to do around the new brand identity.
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3. What have been the main economic challenges faced by the company this year?
The main challenges for the company this year revolve around supporting such a large and rapid growth. It is difficult to control the cash flow because at the end of the day, not having an investment fund behind you and with zero liabilities, you have to be very careful to have an increase in stock that goes hand in hand with the increase in sales.
4. In addition, PadelPROShop has incorporated some new brands into its catalogue, by that I mean Kombat, Endless or LOK. Have you identified any trend or change in the padel sector these last two years? And on the users’ side, have their buying and/or consumption habits also changed?
If we look at the market, what we can see in the last 4 years is a growing centralisation of brands, that is to say, before there were many brands that took part of the cake and today there are 6 main brands that take more than 60% of the market.
Therefore, we see this gentrification in the main brands, which are the ones that invest the most in marketing. As I was saying, the brands we have brought in to grow our catalogue are leading brands, such as Endless, which has excellent quality, and also helps us to attack the female target public, which today is a main and essential public in terms of the percentage of textile sales.
5. If so, what has PadelPROShop focused its investment efforts on in 2024?
PadelPROShop has mainly focused its investment efforts on human capital, i.e. investing in a stronger, bigger and more stable team, both in logistics and in marketing and purchasing. In addition, a big investment has been made in UX/UI to improve the web experience, in logistics, in order to improve and speed up the shipping process and in customer service. I believe we are the padel shop with the best customer service in the industry, or so Trustpilot and Google reviews prove.
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6. What are your expectations for the end of 2024 and how are you preparing for the beginning of 2025?
At the end of 2024 we are expecting a turnover of around 18 million, which was a little bit the final target for the year, it is true that we are still missing the Black Friday and Christmas season, but if everything follows a normal flow we should reach those figures, which would mean doubling the turnover again in just one year.
7. What does Black Friday, PROShop Thursdays or Christmasmean for PadelPROShop in economic terms ?
The month of November, or more specifically, the last week of the month, BlackWeek, is the strongest month, or so it was last year, as this October we have exceeded in sales the month of November last year. Therefore, we hope that, with this growth in sales, November will once again be the strongest month in sales in the history of PadelPROShop. This, therefore, means extra preparation in all markets, in all campaigns, in being ready to sell an indecent amount of stock and material.
8. We know that Black Friday is one of the key dates for PadelPROShop, what campaigns or promotions do you have prepared for this occasion?
For us, BlackFriday is the time of the year when we clean Sotck and the customer can find economic offers. Therefore, we extend the BlackFriday day by 8 days and we start the BlackWeek on Monday 25th until Tuesday 3rd. Throughout this week we offer the same offers every day so that the customer can access these advantages throughout a whole week, that is to say, the customer who buys on Monday has the same options as the one who buys on Friday, to take care of the consumer to the maximum.
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9. What will be the most outstanding products or those with the biggest discounts during Black Friday?
The world of padel is very interesting because it has suffered some years with a lot of stock and other years with little stock for Black Friday. And this 2024 I would say that it is a time that there is not too much stock, the brands have suffered over stock, therefore, I think that what will be most sold this year on sale will be both Siux and Bullpadel, Nox and Adidas on this Black Friday.
10. How does PadelPROShop prepare itself logistically to manage the increase in sales and demand during this type of campaign?
At a logistical level we have been preparing and working on a logistical increase all year, therefore, we have the team trained and prepared for what may happen in this most powerful week of the year. We all know that it is a week that we have to work hard and work, work and work, so that’s what we are doing and that’s what we are going to do, give it all a go and start and try to get all the orders out on time, as has happened today.
11. Compared to previous years, how has PadelPROShop’s advertising strategy changed during the Black Friday campaign?
Regarding the advertising strategy I don’t think we have to change anything, I just think that we have to follow the strategy we did last year and from there do things a little better. I don’t think we have to make them incredibly extraordinary, but do the ordinary extraordinarily well. So the same applied to the Black Friday campaign, if last year it worked well doing normal things, we are going to continue doing normal things very well, offering very good products, very good services, a very nice website without doing crazy things because we don’t need to do them.
12. While last year’s Christmas campaign left no one indifferent, could you give us a preview of the Christmas 2024 campaign?
While you say last year’s campaign was something more humorous, funny, which worked very well, this year I think we are going to take a turn and we are going to attack the heart of the players and that point of Christmas that is so beautiful with a spot that we will all like. We’ll look for that beautiful part of Christmas where people are happy and consider it such an important time.
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13. In terms of results, what is the biggest lesson learned from previous years in terms of Black Friday and Christmas campaigns?
Overall, lessons learned from last year’s Black Friday I would say was don’t underestimate the demand for product that exists in the online market. It’s crazy how many people are browsing the internet and how many people can buy from us.
14. To finish, in an exercise of imagination, if you could imagine PadelPROShop in December 2025 it would be…
If I have to imagine, although imagination is very good, if I had to think in December 2025 I see PadelPROShop growing 70% more, with a more solid team, very focused on many markets, with a great website, a very good product, that is, having very optimized what the customer is looking for, how to deliver it, in what way and be the best possible. And, above all, recognised as a shop where you buy, you are treated well, they deliver quickly and it is a local shop.
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