According to Outdoor industry Association, outdoor retail sales increased 15% in October versus the prior year month. Chain and Specialty stores were each up 12% for the month, while Internet sales were up 27%. Increases were driven by all four product categories – equipment, equipment accessories, apparel and footwear.
The biggest gains were reportedly from apparel and footwear, specifically outerwear, base layers and boots. October 2009 was the third coldest in 115 years and the wettest on record, according to the NOAA National Climatic Data Center.
Specialty store sales growth came from winter-appropriate categories such as outerwear, base layers, apparel accessories, winter boots and winter equipment. Nearly 63% of a typical year's outerwear sales occur in specialty stores in the fourth quarter, according to the OIA report. October saw all outerwear dollar sales surge 23% for a total of $60 million, a very positive sign for the remainder of the calendar year.
Base layer sales grew 8%, winter boots jumped 60% and cold-weather apparel accessories such as hats, gloves, socks and leg gaiters each posted double-digit sales gains for the period.
Chain stores were also up 12% in October, with a total of $140 million for the month. Outerwear, base layers, apparel accessories and winter boots each posted double-digit gains over last October. Shoppers may have returned to the chains for cold weather gear, but they left with more than just warm clothes.
Packs, hiking boots, trail running shoes, multisport shoes, sportswear and multiple equipment accessory categories all saw healthy sales gains in October.
Total Internet unit sales increased 6% over last October, but average retail-selling price jumped 20%, buoying dollar sales. Internet sales gains came from nearly every category, including equipment which, with $17 million in total sales for October, comfortably outsold equipment in Chain and Specialty stores.
Most major product categories enjoyed double-digit dollar gains in October. Increases were fueled by nearly across the board double-digit jumps in retail-selling prices. That double-digit bump in ASPs, paired with the fact that carryover (old/discontinued or sold below cost) product sales dipped 10% in October, suggests that consumers were more willing to purchase new, full-priced items during the month, which OIA saw as another positive sign moving into the Holiday selling season.
Colder-than-average weather may have been a much-needed shot in the arm for outdoor products, but it did not do paddlesports any favors.
Core paddlesports stores (Specialty, Chain, Internet) brought in $13 million in October and $315 million year-to-date, down 1% for October and down 7% for the YTD period. Positively, specialty stores, with 83% of all paddlesports dollars sold in October, saw plenty of healthy categories for the month. Recreation kayaks gained 36% in dollars, whitewater kayaks jumped 42% and helmets grew 30%.
