The backpack market is receiving more attention from vendors, designers, and marketing teams this year than it has since the words “light and fast” were first uttered in the OR Show hall. With new product offerings coming from many, new technology coming from Gregory and ArcTeryx, and the much anticipated new backpack line finally emerging from Mountain Hardwear, there has certainly been a flurry of R&D going on in the off-season.
The B.O.S.S. Report this week reports on the overall trends in the pack market as retailers and vendors prepare for the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Summer Market to be held August 11-14 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. This “preview” is the first of four installments leading up to the show. BOSS editors will again keep you up to date “From the Floor” of the show and will bring you post-show highlights faster than any other source.
Whereas much of the new product introduced in recent years focused on lighter weight materials and smaller capacities for ultra-light thru-hikers, adventure racers, and weekend backpackers, this recent flurry of activity places a premium on comfort, fit, and suspension system technology. Part of the change in focus is likely due to evolving consumer demand, but part of it is also likely due to the price erosion caused by the smaller, easier to produce, light and fast packs.
“In the 90's we still saw high capacity, heavy duty, and heavy pack-weight packs on the Appalachian Trail,” said Rob Singer, buyer for Nantahala Outdoor Center. “The Dana Designs Terraplane used to be a common selection for a successful AT thru hike, for instance, and that pack weighed about 7 lbs., carried almost 6,000 ci, and cost close to $400. In contrast today, with the advent of the Ray way revolution in the late 90's we have hikers carrying packs that weigh less than 3 lbs, only 2700ci capacity, and a price tag of $140. This fast packing trend has changed backpacking greatly, especially along the AT, and resulted in a decrease in prices that consumers are willing to pay for a backpack.”
Donald McClellan, hardgoods buyer for A16 said that he is seeing more mid-sized pack sales and that the innovation that will be on display at OR is probably driven by consumer demands as much as it is driven by the bottom line.
“Mid-size pack sales are up in the 20% range, but it is not really making up for the larger internal frame packs lagging behind,” McClellen said. “Customers are not really going crazy with the ultra light gear, but they are lightening up where they can. For the most part though, people still like to bring some of the little luxuries along with them.”
The fast packing niche certainly has its proponents as it fits nicely into the time-compressed lifestyle of many of todays core backpack enthusiasts. In fact, BackpackingLight.com has created a new type of consumer publication that supports itself from subscription revenues rather than advertising. The site has gained enough credibility to claim a vast majority of the backpacking market as subscribers.
It is important to note that weight is, and always will be, a deciding factor for backpackers. However, many recreational backpackers are finding it difficult to give up their Crazy Creek chairs and Backcountry Bistros in lieu of propping up against a tree and cowboy coffee.
“Carrying less on your back appeals to everyone, just like lower prices. If the experts say you can have both and still enjoy your hike, why not?” said NOCs Singer. “Where this train of thought derails is that the majority of people cannot simplify to the extent necessary to hike with 15-30 lbs on their back for long hikes.”
It is also important to note that the fast and light movement is certainly not waning rather retailers are realizing that it is one aspect of what is turning into a more and more complex backpacking market. The ultra-light movement is a niche in that market, and a niche that continues to grow. On the other side of the coin, more traditional styles of backpacking are capitalizing on much of the technology that was developed by the fast and light pioneers, while at the same time providing a level of comfort and luxury that many core fast-packers choose to leave at home.
A third factor driving this focus on technology is that the entire backpack market seems to be growing. In spite of participation studies showing a declining population in the world of backpacking and camping, many manufacturers are reporting healthy sales growth in many of their premium products.
Osprey has seen some solid growth across all of its products, particularly its larger models. “We have certainly seen some increased activity in larger volume packs. There has also been some activity in our niche packs, which we have had in our line for a couple of seasons now,” said Gareth Martin, VP marketing at Osprey.
Gregory is seeing many of the same trends. “There are a few generalizations in the market today. First, premium product is selling very well. We are also seeing a resurgence in sales of our larger packs. The Palisade is on fire this year, with much higher demand than it has seen in the past few years,” said Paul Gagner, Gregorys VP of sales and marketing. “Finally, some of the food companies are expanding their production and many of the tent and sleeping bag brands showed some solid growth last year. Actually, shoes, food, tents, and sleeping bags all seem to be up. The whole market seems to be rebounding.”
Mountain Hardwear apparently sees some opportunity in this market as well. The company is launching their first backpack series at OR this year.
Early product images and information from the company show that they are targeting a variety of different market segments, including the superlight crowd, but the majority of the products seem to cater to the large-volume internal frame niche of the traditional backpack market. The focus of the designer, Charles Moseley, appears to be on their innovative Exodus suspension system designed to carry standard to large-sized loads.
Marmot is also beginning to address this market. With their recent decision to retire the Dana Designs name and integrate that technology into the Marmot backpack line, the brand will be offering large-volume packs for the first time.
The final company jumping into the fray is Arcteryx, but the company is keeping a tight lid on its technology and design no doubt one of the advantages of having in-house production facilities. So far, only a name has leaked out AC2, or Advanced Composite Construction. The company seems to be shrouding the design in mystery with its usual vague, minimalist ad campaign.
With this renewed focus on technology and solid growth coming from many of the entrenched brands in the backpack market, it seems unlikely that many newcomers would see success, but companies like GoLite and Indigo Equipment are seeing good sell-through.
On top of the anecdotal evidence, SportScanINFO, a market research company that collects weekly point-of sale-data from retailers, is reporting that internal frame backpack sales are up over 5% compared to last year.
In looking at the product offerings that will be at OR this year, three trends are emerging from manufacturers. First, much like footwear, the backpack market is realizing the importance of visible technology.
“Retailers are looking to vendors to help them sell the packs, and the best way for us to do that is through POP, effective training, and to make our product more user friendly less explanation and more features, tangible benefits without the inch-thick instruction manual,” said Steve Kropf, president of Indigo Equipment. “The user needs to get it right away.”
By using the same general philosophy that Nike has leveraged with their Air and Shox products, many manufacturers are finding new ways to draw the customers attention to their products unique features.
“Visible technology is very important to the customer. They need to be able to look at a pack and very quickly see whats going on,” said Ospreys Martin. “We try to highlight this with the clean lines of our pack design and with graphics that show the technology clearly.”
Marmot is also addressing this issue of visible technology, but they are accomplishing this through a branding initiative. While Dana Designs will no longer be a pack brand, Marmot will still be using the name on many of the technical features in the larger packs. The company will essentially be selling Marmot packs with “Dana Inside,” much like computer companies have “Intel Inside.”
The second key trend emerges from the actual selling process and is related closely to visible technology. Both retailers and the end consumer are looking to shorten the time it takes to fit a pack.
“Customers dont want to spend a lot of time fitting a pack and they want the features and technology to be as intuitive as possible. It really helps when a customer just looks at the pack and thinks I get it,” said A16s McClellen.
Vendors are responding to this trend by creating new suspension systems that adjust automatically to the users body. One of the key features of Mountain Hardwears new suspension system is the ability to adjust the torso height on the fly. Gregorys latest offering is addressing the same issue.
“We are hearing that our customers want packs that are easy to size and fit, and we developed the Response Suspension System in our weekend sized packs, the 3300 4300 cubic inch range,” said Gagner. “This simply adjusts automatically to your body, making the sizing process faster and easier at retail.”
The final major change in the market is somewhat cyclical in nature. It seems that the pack market changes every few years from a “this pack can do everything” mentality to “this pack does one thing perfectly.”
“We are moving towards more use specific packs, catering to a very niche market whereas previously the packs were more generalist in nature. Today we are heading towards a period where, whether people actually do a certain activity or not, they want to be associated with that activity,” said Gagner. “So someone might go climbing once a year in the Sierras, while the rest of the time they do day hikes. They still buy a climbing specific pack because they want to portray that image.”
With this convergence of so many companies focusing on new designs, developing new comfort technology, and investing more into marketing, there will most certainly be some excitement at OR over the vast array of offerings. This excitement from the buyers and store owners will hopefully spill over onto the retail floor, translating to even more growth from this category in the season to come.
