27 Sep Athletic Footwear August Results: Data & Analysis From Matt Powell, The NPD Group
August Athletic Footwear Overview
August, which is one of the largest sales months of the year, was an interesting month for athletic footwear this year. Dollar sales were up slightly compared to August 2016, but really were a tale of two worlds. The critical athletic specialty/sporting goods channel saw sales sink again. Sales in every other channel grew, with shoe chains posting an impressive increase. It is no surprise that Adidas is paying much more attention to shoe chains, where the brand’s sales more than doubled.
Unit sales increased by 2 percent for the month, while average selling price declined by 1 percent.
By Wearer
Women’s sales led the pack with a 3 percent increase in August, boosted by Adidas (up nearly double), while Nike women’s sales continued to struggle. Men’s sales were up 1 percent, while kids’ sales declined by 2 percent.
By Category
Growth in classics sales slowed to 5 percent, as some of the mega-programs have begun to crest. Adidas classics were down about a third. Brand Jordan classics grew by about 25 percent, even among reports of weak liquidations. Nike classics also grew by about 25 percent.
Basketball clearly is not yet back, with sales down 20 percent. The decline in basketball is now entering its second year. Adidas basketball grew more than 40%, while Nike declined in the mid singles and Brand Jordan lost about a third of its sales. Under Armour basketball was down about half.
Running sales were down by 4 percent overall, but some of the big brands in the category grew. Adidas running grew by more than three-quarters. Brooks was a bright spot, with a high single-digit increase, on positive reception to new models. Under Armour running grew double-digits.
By Brand
Adidas has officially overtaken Brand Jordan as the #2 brand in U.S. sport footwear. This is an achievement I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Adidas sport footwear sales grew more than half for the month and share grew by nearly half, to 13 percent.
Skechers sales declined in the mid-singles, and Under Armour sales declined in the low teens.
Brooks sales grew in the mid-singles, while all the other technical running brands experienced decline.
Nike brand sales were down for the month, as were Brand Jordan and Converse.
August Athletic Footwear Top-Selling Items (in dollar order):
Nike TANJUN, Nike AIR HUARACHE, Chuck Taylor All Star LOW, Nike REVOLUTION 3, Adidas TUBULAR SHADOW, JORDAN XIII, Adidas SUPERSTAR, Nike FLEX CONTACT, Nike KYRIE 3, JORDAN V
| The NPD Group’s U.S. Athletic Footwear Industry Sales | ||
| Reporting Period August 2017 versus August 2016 | ||
| Dollar Sales | Aug’16 | Aug’17 |
| Total U.S. Athletic Footwear Sales | $1.85 B | $1.86 |
| Men | $853.3 M | $860.5 M |
| Women | $450.8 M | $463.2 M |
| Children | $543.9 M | $532.4 M |
| Brand Performance | Dollar Share | Dollar % Change |
| August 2017 Top 5 Running Footwear Brands | ||
| Nike | 56% | -14% |
| Adidas | 16% | 77% |
| Asics | 6% | -19% |
| New Balance | 6% | 20% |
| Under Armour | 6% | 21% |
Copyright 2017. The NPD Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.
The information in this report comes from The NPD Group’s monthly point-of-sale footwear database. It is collected from the athletic specialty, sporting goods, chain store, department store, and other channels.
Athletic footwear includes the following categories: Sport Leisure, Outdoor, Performance, and Work/Occupational/Safety.
***
For more information or to speak with Matt Powell, please contact Marissa Guyduy, 516-625-2203 or marissa.guyduy@npd.com.