NSGA previewed some of its data from its annual report due that is due out in May. One element of The Sporting Goods Market in 2004 that measures the average retail selling price across 24 categories of footwear shows a slight dip is ASP in 2003 versus 2002 and a 3.2% decline over a five-year period.
Cycling footwear showed the highest rate of deflation at -8.8%, followed by Sport Sandals (-5.2%) and Boat Shoes/Deck Shoes (-4.9%). The Sandals change can be explained through the proliferation of lower price point thongs and flip-flops last year.
Walking, the largest category measured, dipped 1.4%.
Track shoes saw the highest rate of increase (+8.2%), followed by Water Sport shoes (+3.5%) and Baseball/Softball shoes with a 2.1% increase in average selling price.
Running/Jogging again showed a decline, dipping 1.8%. The inclusion of some Classic footwear in this area surely had an impact here. Over the last five years, Cross Training has shown the largest ASP decline, falling 8.2%, followed by Hiking shoes and boots (-6.2%), Baseball/Softball (-5.8%) and Aerobic shoes (-4.8%), a category also affected a great deal by the growth in lower price Classics footwear.
While Bowling shoes and Track shoes led the gainers over the last five years, it was the notable gains in Skateboard shoes at +8.9% and Golf shoes at +6.4%.
The report was prepared for NSGA by Irwin Broh & Associates.
