SHOE BOOM! The running category has benefitted from increased participation. Now it must take the steps necessary to keep the momentum going. By Dirk Sorenson, Executive Director, Sports Industry Analyst, The NPD Group
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men’s. In the trail-running shoe segment, revenue for women’s designs increased by 33 percent, compared to 21 percent growth for men. Some of this growth may be attributed to the growing availability of women’s lasted shoes. Now that some women’s designs are truly fit to the anatomy of the female runner, increases in sales are to be expected. Keeping the Momentum Going Brands and retailers should strive to continue to benefit from these growth trends. However, as pent-up demand leads the American public to re-engage in activities they were deprived of during the pandemic, there is a likelihood that this running shoe growth, if not actively managed, might lose its momentum. In fact, there are several examples of this type of deceleration in sports equipment categories that rode the wave of the pandemic. Starting in June, treadmill sales began slowing down and, while revenue was still far above 2019 levels, year-over-year sales declined by four percent from June through August. We noticed similar patterns for golf and other sports equipment © 2021 Diversified Communications
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etailers and manufacturers with a focus on the U.S. running shoe market have reasons to be optimistic these days. Performance running shoe revenue across sporting goods and specialty running stores has grown to $1.9 billion, from January through August – a 19 percent increase over the same period in 2019, according to Retail Tracking Service data from The NPD Group. Keeping in mind that 2020 sales were adversely affected by lower brick-and-mortar store traffic, the 2019 comparison allows us to compare recent growth to a normal year — August revenue increased 25 percent over August 2019. This strong growth indicates that the performance running shoe boom is maintaining its brisk pace, at least for the time being. While revenues for both men’s and women’s performance running shoes increased over 2019 levels, the women’s segment experienced stronger gains. From January through August 2021, women’s road running shoes grew by 27 percent in revenue, compared to 14 percent for
