Both online and brick & mortar outdoor retailers are reporting a very healthy early holiday season following strong sales over the Thanksgiving weekend and a good follow-up with the much-anticipated Cyber Monday. While many feel Cyber Monday did not live up to expectations as the biggest on-line shopping day of the year, at the very least it marked the beginning of the busiest season of the year for most online retailers. While Black Friday is becoming more promotional and, as a result, having less of an impact on retailers bottom lines, online retailers are able to sell their goods at full margin and rely on the season to realize the majority of their annual profits. This trend, combined with the strong on-line sales growth further demonstrates that brick & mortar retailers without a multi-channel strategy are missing a big opportunity.
Following initial Black Friday reports, the National Retail Federation revised its holiday sales forecast upward due to “a recent flurry of healthy economic indicators including strong October retail sales and falling gasoline prices.” NRF now expects total holiday retail sales to increase 6.0% over last year to $439.5 billion, up from a 5.0% gain for the season, marking the first time NRF has ever “officially upgraded” its forecast during the holiday season. ShopperTrak reported that overall sales on Black Friday were relatively unchanged compared to a year ago, despite the sharper discounting that drove heavier traffic numbers in the early hours on Friday. The research group reported total sales on Friday were down 0.9% from a year ago.
On the other hand, e-commerce reported a very healthy Cyber Monday. Akamai Technologies has been tracking on-line retail traffic and consumer spending throughout the holiday season and according to their latest research, shoppers were visiting retail sites last Monday at a rate that jumped more than 20% compared to the previous Monday, and nearly 50% compared to a month ago. At the highest point last Monday, more than 3.1 million people per minute were visiting online shopping sites across the globe. Mondays, which are the busiest on-line shopping day of the week, usually average 1.3 million visitors per minute. Additionally, ComScore Networks released a study showing on-line retail sales were up 29% over last years Cyber Monday. According to nearly all reports, outdoor retailers are out-pacing the rest of the market, both on-line and in-store.
REI is reporting increases in the 30% to 40% range over the course of their Holiday Sale. REI spokesperson, Mike Foley, said that they have been preparing for the Thanksgiving weekend all year and decided to end their annual Holiday Sale on Sunday in an effort to level out the expected sales spike on Monday. REIs biggest sellers throughout the weekend were REI branded base layers, TNF fleece and outerwear, and travel gear especially wheeled luggage from Eagle Creek and REIs in-house brand. Foley said that REI is expecting December 12 to be the biggest on-line shopping day of the season. He also feels that the consumer environment and several external factors are working together to make this season exceptionally strong. “There are some very positive signs. We had a strong winter sale and its snowing,” he said. “Last year at this time there was no snow, and that certainly effected the retail environment.”
Backcountry.coms VP of marketing, Dustin Robertson, said that sales were up 92% compared to last year. The company realizes nearly 45% of their annual revenue in the four weeks following Thanksgiving. On Cyber Monday and the preceding Sunday, the company was processing an order every 16 seconds to hit roughly 6,000 orders per day. Womens fleece and insulated jackets were the biggest sellers of the season, accounting for nearly 20% of sales, followed by mens fleece and insulated jackets. The companys best selling hardgoods included goggles, ski gloves, and avalanche beacons. Its newer sites, like TramDock.com and DogFunk.com, accounted for roughly a quarter of the companys sales. Robertson said that Sunday broke the company record for highest sales volume in a day, but sales have exceeded this record every day following that. Robertson expects record breaking days to continue until December 12, which should be the biggest day of the year.
EMS doubled their e-commerce sales over the Thanksgiving holiday thanks to their newly re-designed website and reported comp-store sales that were up in the 20% range. EMS CEO Will Manzer told BOSS that they are on-track with their re-structuring plans and it has been a real boost to the teams moral to see the strong holiday results so early in the process. However, Manzer remains conservative in his outlook for the rest of the season citing higher energy costs and unpredictable weather as potential dampers on spending. Performance base-layers were the strongest sellers at EMS through Thanksgiving with outerwear right behind. Footwear sales slightly exceeded expectations. Camping equipment was up slightly over last year, while travel hardgoods showed strong sales. Climbing and skiing equipment showed mild sales improvements but colder weather should drive these sales later in the season. EMS prototype stores in New Hampshire are reportedly doing very well, and the company is looking at a bigger footprint for many of its other locations. Manzer also said that their youth marketing initiatives are beginning to return dividends, as is their website investment and new product design.
A16 is also reporting a successful start to holiday sales and is seeing a very strong response to their “gift guide,” which is currently in circulation. Most of the top sellers for the season were featured in this advertising piece. Dinah Kokuryo, A16s GMM said that specialty items like the SteriPen, Jetboil Java Kit, and emergency preparedness kits have been some of the top sellers. She also said that electronic instruments from Suunto and Garmin are performing well as well as headlamps and “SOG type” knives.
Overall, the outdoor market to date has been experiencing a strong holiday season with good weather over much of the country and the promise of a white Christmas in the Rockies, Sierras, and Cascades. While much of the sales increases have clearly been driven by the internet, most brick & mortar stores told BOSS that their sales are up as well. Even with the boost on-line sales have given the industry, one thing remains the same. In spite of the strong start, all of the retailers BOSS spoke with are still hoping the weather cooperates and their momentum can continue through the Spring.
