Industry news

Lifestyle rule in running shoe market

This is a considerably higher percentage of the market than in Europe, where studies show that about a third of the athletic footwear and clothing sold are non technical lifestyle.

Over the past year, there has also been a downward trade in technical running footwear sales, with more shoes sold in the R600-700 price point than at the higher price points, says Craig Bowen of GfK Marketing. Although the running shoe prices have gone up, consumers have been sticking to more modest price points.

This is also evident in the growing market share of brands offering solid technical features, backed by a name trusted by runners, but selling at a slightly lower price point than the top end products. This could indicate that consumers have set themselves a price limit, and then look for the best possible buy in that price range — even if it means switching brands.

In tougher financial times consumers are also more inclined to look for good value for money and generally want to buy as much wear for their purchase as possible. The average runner cannot afford the luxury of spending R1 000 on a shoe that will only be worn for one road race, but will be happier to spend R600 on a shoe that will carry him through the race and into the gym — especially if it looks good enough to wear with casual clothes, thereby providing real value for money.

Brands that have kept a foot in both independent retailers as well as mass stores and maintained high service levels, have fared best during the past year — with those with the deepest market penetration trading the safest, as opposed to those only concentrating on one market segment being the most vulnerable.

Brands with advertising campaigns effectively reinforcing brand image and clearly defining the target market, have also been able to maintain sales at higher price points.

Technical running unit sales sold through specialist running stores remains a relatively small part of the market, but often the sales people in specialist running stores can make sales at higher price points, says Bowen. This can either be attributed to the fact that the consumers who visit these stores are themselves committed runners who are prepared to pay the top prices for the top brands, or because the information supplied by the salespeople in specialist stores convince them to buy at a higher price point.

GfK statistics show that technical trail running comprise less than 10% of the running shoe market — but, with most trail and adventure racing brands selling to outdoor rather than sport stores, this figure could be much higher. In Europe, where trail running is classified under outdoor, it is estimated that this category has 40% market share.

Technical racing is an extremely small category (measured in 100’s as opposed to about 30 000 technical running shoes sold per month), which refers to hi-tech models like the Nike Mayfly or New Balance RC 550 that have a very flat profile, normally very little in the way of arch support and a phylon sole with a tougher polymer covering on the high wear areas like the heel and toe, explains Bowen.

Sales of stores’ house labels are also down as they now have to compete against established international brands selling at roughly the same price points.