Stifel’s inaugural Athletic Apparel and Footwear Consumer Survey points to much higher spending intentions for athletic apparel in the next six months and a more modestly higher purchase intent around athletic footwear.

Relative to the average spending in these categories in the past six months, the Stifel survey indicates:

  • a 10 percent weighted median increase in spending intent on athletic apparel over the next six months.
  • a 3 percent weighted median increase in spending intent on athletic apparel over the next six months.

The survey of 1,252 consumers was designed to better understand behavior, preferences and trends in the athletic footwear and apparel space, including brand affinity, product and style preferences, spending priorities and expectations and shopping habits. The investment firm plans to conduct the survey every 12 months.

Among brands, Nike is most often cited as the primary brand for both athletic footwear (40 percent of the target population including 49 percent for Gen Z) and athletic apparel (40 percent of the target population including 52 percent for Gen Z). The brand’s popularity skews towards high-value consumers who self-identify their personal style as “on-trend.” The brand particularly resonates more with consumers who identify as Black/African-American (56 percent selected Nike as their primary brand) and other minorities (high fifties percent Nike primary brand) versus both the average population (40 percent Nike primary brand) and those who identify as White/Caucasian (37 percent Nike primary brand).

“We view this as interesting context for Nike’s recent bold marketing alignment with Colin Kaepernick’s social activist protest messaging (the survey was conducted prior to the launch of the ad campaign). Of note, U.S. census projections call for those who identify as non-White/Caucasian and under 40 years old to represent more than 50 percent of the under-40 US population in five years,” wrote Stifel’s lead analyst Jim Duffy in the report.

Under Armour is the second most popular athletic apparel brand. Fourteen percent of men and 13 percent of women selected Under Armour as their primary athletic apparel brand, and popularity skewed towards millennials. The brand scored higher-than-average net promoter scores (32 percent vs. 30 percent average) despite its recent challenges. Seventy-three percent of those who selected Under Armour as their primary brand indicate they like everything about the brand (vs. 68 percent average for all brands). The survey showed Under Armour has a below-average reputation for comfort and fit with women and also a low promoter score in footwear.

Adidas was the #3 footwear brand (selected as primary brand of 10 percent of the target population), the #2 men’s apparel brand (selected as primary brand by 17 percent of men) and the #4 women’s apparel brand (selected as the primary brand by 10 percent of women). For footwear, the brand was more popular across younger age cohorts and scored high with urban consumers.

Among other brands:

  • Vans was identified as the primary brand by 2 percent of respondents despite the questionnaire focus on athletic footwear. Gen Z who report currently wearing Vans (39 percent) is second only to Nike (77 percent).
  • The North Face was selected by 3 percent of the sample as the primary athletic apparel brand and 6 percent for Urban consumers. The brand’s net promoter score registered well above average for both women and men.
  • Lululemon was selected as the primary athletic apparel brand by just 1 percent of the survey but earned an extremely high net promoter score (53 percent vs. 30 percent apparel average). Fit, comfort, performance, technology and style attributes all ranked high as attributes.
  • New Balance, trailing only Nike, ranks second amongst footwear brands in terms of primary brand, although the brand skews noticeably older than average with White/Caucasian preference. Brand quality and value were called out as top attributes.
  • Skechers is the #4 ranked primary footwear brand and particularly popular with Gen X women.
  • Hoka earned high ratings on comfort, fit and quality, although it failed to crack the top-15 list of primary footwear brands.
  • Brand Jordan is the #9 ranked primary footwear brand and trended younger, male, urban and Black/African-American. Jordan ranked only behind Brooks in highest average footwear brand spend.
  • Champion was recognized as the primary athletic apparel brand by 5 percent of consumers and landed at #5 overall although that brand still has relatively low brand awareness with Gen-Z.

Overall, the list of the top 15 athletic brands ranked by primary brand consideration were Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, store/retailer brand, Champion, Reebok, New Balance, Puma, The North Face, Other, Lululemon, Athleta, Gap Active, Jordan and Fabletics.

In footwear, the Primary Brand Selection’s top-15 rankings were Nike, New Balance, Adidas, Skechers, Asics, Converse, Reebok, Jordan, Brooks, Under Armour, Puma, Vans, Adidas Originals, Saucony and Fila.

Photo courtesy Nike