Outdoor Industry Association recently released the OIA VantagePoint June monthly trend report, which reveals that compared to the general retail sector, outdoor product sales notched a smaller-than-anticipated 2.7 percent sales increase for the 5-week fiscal month of June to $1.23 billion. Of the channels tracked by SportScanInfo for OIA VantagePoint, outdoor specialty stores performed well during the month, with Independent Outdoor Specialty store sales increasing 5.1 percent when compared to the year-ago period, and Outdoor Chain Specialty stores increased 7.3 percent compared to fiscal June 2010.
June sunshine was key to solid sales in many areas, said LaRae Marsik, vice president of Business Intelligence for Outdoor Industry Association. As summer temperatures arrive across the country consumers are making up for lost time gearing up for their favorite activities. The late start to the season, thanks to the weather, may curtail some expectations though for overall summer sales performance.
Outdoor Footwear retail sales increased an impressive 11.1 percent to $263.6 million for the month. The category was up against a strong year-ago June period when the barefoot craze was in its prime and the Natural/Minimalist categories continued to accelerate momentum in the specialty channels despite broader distribution and less-expensive knock-offs. All Natural/Minimalist Footwear product sales, which includes product from the Running and Outdoor categories, more than doubled in June 2011. Conversely Trail Running Footwear sales fell 45 percent during the same five-week period, likely due to cannibalization, while Outdoor Sandals sales declined more than 26 percent over the same timeframe.
Outdoor Apparel sales rode a roller coaster in June, with unseasonal weather driving Outdoor Outerwear categories into double-digit growth, and offsetting double-digit declines in Outdoor Sportswear. Overall for June, Outdoor Apparel declined 6.5 percent to $189.7 million in sales. Trends improved by the end of the month, however, as Independent Outdoor Specialty apparel sales surged 30 percent in the week leading up to the July 4th holiday.
The overall Outdoor Hardgoods business grew just 2.5 percent to $776.6 million in June, due in large part to a flat trend in the discount/mass, sporting goods and Internet channels, which combined sold more than 75 percent of Outdoor Hardgoods for the month. While still a smaller portion of the months sales, specialty retailers were still selling ski and snowboard-related products in June, three months after the traditional end-of-season as a number of western resorts stayed open into the holiday weekend at month-end.
Among the channels tracked by SportScanInfo for OIA VantagePoint for outdoor-related product sales, consistently strong growth continues to come from the Internet/Catalog channel, as the near-standardization of free shipping and broader inventory choices continue to present an attractive alternative to spending time and money on a multi-stop shopping trip.
OIA members can access the OIA VantagePoint monthly trend report for June 2011 by logging in to outdoorindustry.org/vantagepoint.
OIA VantagePoint is the first and only full market point-of-sale data view built specifically for Outdoor Industry Association members. OIA VantagePoint provides comprehensive visibility into the outdoor marketplace by tracking weekly point‐of‐sale data from over 10,000 retail doors and websites carrying outdoor products, including over 350 outdoor specialty locations. In‐depth sales information is available online within five days of the prior week close – a competitive advantage for businesses who can shift critical resources and react quickly to ever-changing consumer preferences.
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About Outdoor Industry Association
Outdoor Industry Association® (OIA) is a national trade association whose mission is to ensure the growth and success of the outdoor industry. OIA provides trade services for over 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers in the outdoor industry. OIA provides industry defining resources and support in government/legislative affairs, market and social research, business‐to-business services and youth outreach initiatives. Ongoing education opportunities and strategic business workshops provided by OIA include the annual Rendezvous®, Outdoor University® sessions, and the Capitol Summit. Outdoor Industry Association is based in Boulder, Colorado, and is the title sponsor of the Outdoor Retailer tradeshows. For more information about OIA go to www.outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.
About The SportsOneSource Group
The SportsOneSource Group is a full service market research company delivering solutions through consumer insight research, retail insight research and retail point‐of‐sale trending and analysis. The company provides the most reliable, timely and comprehensive sports and outdoor industry information available in the market today. SportScanInfo is a SportsOneSource technology platform developed to compile, aggregate and disseminate aggregated retail point‐of‐sale information. SportsOneSource also publishes the Sports Executive Weekly and The B.O.S.S. Report executive newsletters, along with the SGB, SGD TEAM Business and SGB Performance print publications and their related online, e‐mail and digital products. For more information about The SportsOneSource Group call 704.987.3450 or go to www.SportsOneSource.com.
