15 Oct September 2013 Sports Footwear Overview
by Matt Powell of Sports One Spource
- September is always a month of great contrasts
- The first week is one of the largest weeks of the year; the last three weeks are some of the smallest
- September is the end of the back to school period and then begins 9 weeks of very low sales volumes, leading up to Black Friday and the Holiday selling period.
- As is historically the case, the last week of September was one of the smallest weeks of the year so far
- Sport Footwear sales for September grew in the mid singles in dollars and low singles in units resulting in a low single digit increase in averages selling price.
- Men’s and Kids sport Footwear grew in the mid singles while women’s was flat.
- Women’s sales were weakest in Casual (both Athletic and Dress/Comfort), down almost -25%. Women’s Running and Training kept pace with the other genders. Women’s Athletic Walking grew by three quarters.
- Basketball had a solid month, up in the high teens, although a weak Jordan release at the end dampened results.
- Running again had a high single digit increase for the period
- Sales of Outdoor footwear in sports and family retailers struggled again, down in high singles. In Outdoor specialists the results were better, up low singles. This does not bode well for the winter season.
- Of the Sport Footwear brands, Under Armour was again the hottest with sales up nearly 30%. Of note, Under Armour women’s footwear (a category of emphasis for the brand) declined in September
- Again, sport footwear outperformed the rest of teen retail in September.
- Premium products continue to drive the market. Sport footwear over $100 grew in the very high singles and accounted for two thirds of all the growth in sport footwear.
September Footwear sales by Channel
- Sales on the internet grew in the mid-teens and represented more than 10% of sales in the retailers we measure.
- Sales in Athletic Specialty/Full Line grew in the mid singles while the family channel had a decline. Family remains very weak in the women’s category.
- Run Specialty grew in the high singles.
September Footwear Brand share
- Nike brand gained more than 300 basis points in overall share to 44.9% on a low teens sales gain. Jordan grew in the mid singles and share held steady at 9.5%. Converse had a decline with 3% share. That gave Nike Inc. 57.4% share for September, the highest ever recorded for the month.
- Under Armour grew 30% as share expanded 40 basis points to 2.1%. Skechers grew 20% with 3.3% share
- Adidas sales were flat and share declined to 9.3%. Reebok sales declined about -25% with 1.8% share.
- New Balance continued to struggle
- The core running brands (Asics, Brooks, and Mizuno) all had a solid September, up in the high singles. Saucony had a small decline.
- The outdoor brands disappointed again. Keen and Columbia sales were up slightly. Merrell and The North Face had declines in the high singles. Timberland however had a high teens increase
September Footwear Top Selling Models
- M Nike FLEX RUN 2013, M Nike FREE RUN+ 5, W Nike FREE 5.0+, M Nike AIR MONARCH IV, M Nike AIR FORCE 1 LOW, W Skechers GO WALK, M Jordan RETRO 5, W Nike FLEX RUN 2013, M Nike AIR MAX+ 2013, M Converse ALL STAR OX, M Jordan SON OF MARS LOW, M Nike ROSHE RUN, W Nike REVOLUTION 2, K Converse ALL STAR OX, W Asics GEL-KAYANO 19, M Nike AIR MAX WRIGHT, M Nike AIR FORCE 1 MID, M Asics GEL-KAYANO 19, W Nike FLEX TRAINER, M Converse ALL STAR HI
- Of the 250 top selling styles, Nike had 128 (51%) and Jordan had 25 (10%). Adidas had 23; Asics, 14; Brooks and Skechers, 7; Under Armour and Converse, 6.
- Other top sellers (not already mentioned): Adidas Superstar II; Brooks, Women’s Glycerin 11; Reebok, Princess; Under Armour, Highlight Cleat
Running Footwear
- Sales of Running shoes (the largest category) grew in the high singles for September
- Men’s running grew in the low teens while women’s and kids running increased in the mid singles.
- Stability and Cushioning running both declined in the low singles. Motion Control grew about 25%
- Minimalist/Barefoot (net of Nike) declined by about at third and was 3% of all running, down 200 basis points from September 2012
- Nike Running gained 500 basis points in share to 57.5% on a high teens sales gain.
- Asics running grew in the high singles and share improved to 13.6%.
- Brooks is now the solid #3 running brand with 6.1% share on a low teens sales gain.
- New Balance continued to struggle
- Adidas had a high teens increase in running on the Springblade debut. Share improve to 4.7%
- Under Armour running had the largest gain with a 30% increase on 2.7% share
Basketball
- Basketball had a solid month in September, up in the high singles
- Fashion Basketball grew about 20% while performance declined in the high singles
- Under Armour Basketball grew in the low teens with 0.57% share.
- Reebok Basketball grew by two thirds with 2% share
- Adidas and Nike basketball both grew more than a third. Adidas share grew 80 basis points to 5.8%. Nike share grew 600 basis points to 5 to 41%
- Jordan had a low single digit increase on a weak late release and share shrank to 51%