US Athletic footwear spending up 3.6% in 2000
Figures published by the SGMA, the USA’s Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, show that consumers bought 6.9 per cent more pairs of athletic shoes during 2000. However they spent just 3.6 per cent more than in 1999, resulting in a fall of 3.1 per cent in the average price paid per pair to $37.17. The overall increase in spending for the sector brought in $15 billion for the year compared to $14.5 billion in 1999, with the total number of pairs purchased reaching 405.366 million compared to 379.121 for the year before.
After a weak first half of the year, spending picked up during the back-to-school third quarter, rising by 9 per cent over the 1999 period. The fourth quarter’s sales were 8 per cent higher than the year before. Running shoes continued to be the most popular, registering a spending growth of 7.7 per cent – a rate more than double that of the market as a whole. Spending in the basketball category declined by 3.4 per cent, however several popular new styles boosted sales during the second half of the year. Compared to 1999, spending on women’s athletic footwear increased 6 per cent to $4.4 billion, and on men’s shoes 2.6 per cent to $8.25 billion. The average pair of women’s athletic shoes in 2000 was $35.67, and men’s $48.70. SGMA expects athletic footwear sales to continue growing in the low single digits during 2001.
