Focus on US holiday sporting goods sales, women's running shoes will perform best

This year's holiday sales are different from last year's and will be a bit complicated. Consumers will go out more often, but at the same time, some of the lifestyle habits developed during the epidemic (such as exercising) will not disappear. This situation is largely beneficial to the sports industry, but of course there will be some challenges.

During the worst period of the epidemic, people maintained social distance for their own health, which prompted more and more people to choose outdoor activities such as running, walking and hiking. Today, although the epidemic has eased, people still cannot do without such outdoor activities.

Matt Powell expects sales of athletic shoes to grow 5% this holiday season. Running, hiking and walking shoes are currently the hottest categories and will outperform the overall market, while winter boots and sports shoes such as basketball shoes will underperform.

Matt Powell also expects brands such as On, Hoka One One, Brooks, New Balance, Puma and others to outperform the market during the running boom, as will Converse and Reebok, while Nike, Jordan and Adidas will underperform.

In the sports shoe market segment, Matt Powell expects the female market to perform best. More and more brands are focusing on women's products. This has also received a response from female consumers, and women's running shoes have long become a strong category.

In terms of sportswear, Matt Powell expects its holiday sales to grow by single digits, but the growth rate should be higher than that of sneakers. Sweatshirts, sweatpants, sweaters, caps, socks and underwear will be the best sellers. However, Matt Powell said that sales of outerwear will decline due to warmer weather. As for brands, private brands such as Hanes, Champion, Puma, Reebok and New Era will perform better than the overall market level, while Nike and Adidas will underperform the market, especially in the women's field.

In addition, Matt Powell expects sports equipment to see the same growth as sportswear. People are still keen on sports, but the sales of some sports equipment, such as golf and rackets, have stabilized. Therefore, the consultant expects that such sports equipment will not sell well during the holiday season, while group sports equipment such as football, lacrosse, and hockey will perform well.

Overall, Matt Powell believes this holiday season has been kind to the sports merchandising industry.

USA

Sporting Goods