SportsMarketing
The NPD Group monitors the sales of sports footwear and
apparel in many countries around the world.
As observed across various consumer industries,
e-commerce continues to serve as critical growth driver in the footwear and
apparel market, offering consumers convenience, the opportunity to research
offerings efficiently, and often sleek shopping experiences.
Online sales accounted for 24 per cent of sports apparel
and footwear value in the 12 months to June 2016 across the Big 5, including
Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, growing from a 22 per cent
value share the prior year. Looking at the countries where e-commerce is the
most advanced, the weight of online sales in Great Britain comes to 34 per
cent, only surpassed by Germany at 36 per cent.
In contrast, online sales account for 11 per cent of
sports footwear and apparel sales in Italy and 12 per cent in Spain.
Though the bulk of sales still take place through
traditional in-store channels, an analysis of the value change in the last year
helps us appreciate the dynamism of e-commerce.
For instance, in Great Britain the athletic footwear
market expanded by £82 million pounds, 90 per cent of which came from online
sales – a highly disproportionate figure compared to the 35 per cent of
footwear value that is derived from the online channel. In addition to enabling
the sizing of the online channel, NPD’s consumer panel data allows for an
analysis of the demographics spurring its growth. Deconstructing the value
growth in Great Britain for athletic footwear and apparel, e-commerce expanded
by £183 million pounds.
Of this, adult male wearers represented 41 per cent of
growth, adult females accounted for 32 per cent and children generated 27 per
cent of sales. In addition to driving growth, adult men also hold the greatest
share of these three segments, accounting for more than half of the market at
52 per cent, though this has decreased from 54 per cent in the prior year.
Price
Whether in-store or online, price will always play a
critical role in consumers’ purchasing decisions. Though consumers often turn
to the online channel in search of bargains, the average spend online for
athletic footwear and apparel is 20 per cent higher than what consumers pay
in-store, averaging £21.34 in the former and £17.84 in the latter. Moreover, in
both channels the average discount comes out to 25 per cent off the full price,
though when considering the actual value discount consumers shave off -£6.17
online versus £4.97 in-store.
This suggests that when consumers do turn to the
internet for deals, it is for higher end products compared to what they may
purchase in-store.
Reasons to shop online versus
in-store
Consumers have varied reasons to opt for particular
retailers, with price naturally being one of the most salient motivators,
though other factors come into play in swaying shoppers, such as the product
range on offer, the atmosphere and staff competence to name a few. Comparing
online to in-store, unsurprisingly, price again features as the most prominent
motivator, though the weight of this is stronger for online sales than for
in-store (31 per cent of value versus 24 per cent, respectively).
Aside from over indexing on the price motivator, the
online channel is also disproportionately sought due to the ease of finding
products and product exclusivities. Meanwhile, a stand-out purchase influencer
for in-store is proximity/location
Credit: www.sports-insight.co.uk.
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