MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (BRAIN) — The National Sporting Goods Association found that consumer-reported retail sales of sporting goods equipment, athletic footwear and athletic apparel increased 2 percent in 2014. The NSGA published its 2015 edition of its Sporting Goods Market report this week.
In the cycling category, Dustin Dobrin, director of research and information for the NSGA, said bike sales were up 3 percent in units last year. Complete bike sales totaled $2.1 billion, down 9 percent compared to a year ago. The decline in dollar sales was driven by a lower average price of $267, which is down 12 percent compared to a year ago, Dobrin said.
Bike helmets were up 4 percent in dollars and 2 percent in units. Total dollar sales for helmets were $195 million last year. Sales of cycling shoes reached $73 million last year, down 3 percent in dollars and 6 percent in units. And bike apparel was up 8 percent in dollars, totaling $718 million in 2014.
The report represents projections of consumer purchases from an annual online survey conducted in January among a panel of households representative of the U.S.
The study results are based on data collected from more than 15,000 households. And all categories and products in the report are based on purchases from January through December 2014.
In addition to reporting sales trends for more than 130 product categories, NSGA’s Sporting Goods Market report also includes insights into the channels of purchase and the demographics of the key users for a majority of the product categories.
The NSGA doesn’t release product-specific channel of purchase data to the public; that information is only provided to paying members.
However, in a release announcing the research, the NSGA said that “from a channel of purchase perspective, full-line sporting goods stores were the leading channel of purchase for equipment and footwear. Within the equipment segment, specialty sport shops and discount stores continued to be the second and third largest outlets. In the footwear segment online sites ranked No. 2 and the discount store segment was No. 3.”
For more information, go to the NSGA website.
