Boardroom catches up with On co-founder Caspar Coppetti to learn what’s been working for the popular Swiss running brand.
On Holding, the 15-year-old Swiss running shoe and apparel giant, reported record net sales and profits in its third quarter earnings on Wednesday. Net sales spiked 24.9% year over year, and gross profit increased by 35.5%. Net sales through direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and sales in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas are all up double digits, as are sales of shoes, apparel, and accessories.
In short, everything is working for On right now, all built around what the company calls its premium business model.
“We cater to the very discerning, ambitious, and affluent consumer,” Caspar Coppetti, On’s co-founder and executive co-chairman, told Boardroom. “It’s a testament that our hard work and our premium strategy are really resonating in the market and we’re able to, even in a holiday season like now, stay full price where most of our competitors are really price competitive.”
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On doesn’t begin with a price point in mind when building products, Coppetti continued, but builds products for people who want the very best.
“If you think about how much a lot of lifestyle items like a breakfast or a hotel have increased in price over the last 10 years, it’s crazy,” he said, “but running shoes seem to be around $120-140. And at that price, you just cannot make the best possible product. So we’ve liberated ourselves from that, and what we’ve seen is that our fans have really come along on this journey. They say, ‘This is a brand I want to be associated with.'”
Fans saw Hellen Obiri run the New York City Marathon in 2:19:51 in On’s new LightSpray racing shoes, breaking the 22-year-old course record by nearly three minutes. And consumers notice what equipment the stars wear and how fast they run in it, Coppetti said, claiming that running shoes can give racers a 2-6% advantage when competing. On’s goal is to take this technology designed for elite athletes and roll it out for the more casual runner who may only go out once a week.
“We’re not talking high performance,” Coppetti said, “but they’re still going to feel the performance benefits.”
There are also numerous benefits to On selling at premium price points, most notably being less impacted by tariffs than some of its competitors in the space, such as Brooks, Hoka, Asics, and, to a lesser extent, Nike and Adidas. Coppetti said that not only was On not impacted by increasing prices in July, but it was well received by consumers and that demand actually went up, positively impacting the bottom line shown in Wednesday’s earnings report.
“We typically see that there’s no price sensitivity in a more affluent customer,” he said. “And it gives us confidence that pretty soon we can move past the $200 price point. We even have things that we’re working on that will warrant a $300 price point.”
Of course, On is trying to sell a lot more than just high-performance running shoes. Endorsement deals with tennis stars Ben Shelton, Iga Swiatek, and João Fonseca, as well as high-profile collaborations with Zendaya, Law Roach, and JW Anderson‘s Loewe have helped apparel grow from 2-3% of revenue to roughly eight, according to Coppetti. You don’t have to look far to see the trend across fashion that has blurred the distinction between athletic performance and lifestyle apparel, with even luxury brands getting in on the action.
What On is going for in lifestyle, Coppetti said, is an elevated aesthetic that extends the scope of its clientele.
“On sits at this very interesting intersection where performance innovation can lead to better results on the racetrack or on a tennis court or can just make you feel comfortable and elevated in your everyday,” Coppetti said. “The notion of what is fashion and what is lifestyle has evolved, and the zeitgeist is really benefiting what On are doing.”
That evolution of fashion and lifestyle extends to On’s retail locations, which are designed to more emulate a luxury shopping experience than evoke a standard sporting goods store. The company, Coppetti said, heavily recruits from running stores for their employees, who are often talented and experienced runners themselves, so they can assist customers with the proper knowledge base.
“Our stores are beautiful. They’re not stuffed with merchandise,” he said. “Our whole approach is premium.”
On opened 25 stores this year, including in Tokyo’s trendy Ginza district and at the Hong Kong airport, and plans to open another 25-30 locations in 2026. And stores around the world will soon be stocked with the same LightSpray technology that helped Obiri shatter the NYC Marathon record, scaling up premium products for runners willing to pay top dollar for On’s performance footwear.
Unapologetically selling shoes at above-market, premium prices has led to record sales and profits for On, and it’s quite apparent that Coppetti and Co. are not slowing down from that strategy any time soon.
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