Sole Source: Overall Footwear Sales To End 2009

words_Nick DePaula

In perhaps the most comprehensive shoe sales post we’ve ever made [make a sandwich and dive in...], below we’ll be taking a look across multiple categories at just how the market shaped up to end 2009. Once again, with the help of SportsONESource Analyst Matt Powell, we have a detailed break-down of the latest sales and market share numbers from around the industry.

Below, enjoy the following insights from Matt Powell himself, as he takes a look at overall footwear sales to end 2009:

AREAS OF GROWTH:

* Toning footwear provided the most growth throughout the industry (all pure plus). Toning represented about 5.5% of December’s athletic footwear business. This annualizes to about $1 billion in sales in 2010. In analyzing the data, we don’t see any category suffering because of Toning.

* Overall, the majority of the growth in total sales in December came from three main areas: Toning, Jordan and Outdoor.

* The outdoor business was driven by the (finally) seasonable cold weather. It appears that trend will continue into January, as weather patterns keep the country pretty cold.

* Men’s Footwear grew in the high singles.

* Women’s, however, grew about 20% (without Toning, Women’s would have been down in the low singles).

Women’s market share by Brand:
* Nike — 24% (down from 31%)
* Skechers — 14% (up from 5%)
* Reebok — 11% (up from 3%)

* Performance footwear grew by nearly half on strong Toning and Performance Running footwear sales. Non-Performance saw a small increase, only one of a few such results in 2009.  Non-Performance was driven by Jordan Fashion Basketball, such as several marquee Retro models like the Retro 12 and Space Jam XI.

* The Lifestyle Fashion Casual category had an improved month with sales only declining in the mid singles.  Nike’s growth in Fashion athletic has slowed but still posted an increase of more than 20%. Skechers has yet to benefit in its legacy categories from the strength in Toning. Skechers Lifestyle Fashion sales still declined in the low teens. K-Swiss and Adidas Lifestyle sales declined more than a third.

* In the Skate world, shoe sales declined again in the mid singles as Nike has cooled off. Adidas skate grew about 30% for December.

* Cleated sales declined slightly in December, with Under Armour (12% market share) dropping about -10%, while Nike (54% market share) saw a small increase and Adidas (19% market share) a small decrease.

* In Toning, Reebok grabbed about a 40% share, as the marketing for its EasyTone sneakers have really kicked in and sales of the shoe have taken off tremendously.  Skechers held a 60% share.

OVERALL MARKET SHARE:

* In overall sales, Nike lost about 200 basis points in share to about 29% as sales grew slightly on strong Performance Running, Basketball, and Skate, which offset not having a Toning strategy. Coming in second was Jordan Brand, as sales grew about 20% and share grew 100 basis points, putting the brand’s overall market share of all footwear sold at 13%.

* Skechers again grabbed #3 market share with 6.4% in overall sport footwear and sales and share nearly doubled. We can expect this phenomenon to continue into 2010.

* New Balance had its best month in well over a year, with sales up in the mid teens on strong Fashion Running and the Training replenishment program. New Balance share grew for the first time in a while to 5%. As New Balance rolls out their versions of wellness footwear in 2010, this trend should also improve.

* Reebok sales and share (4%) more than doubled in December — all on Toning. Reebok had the #5 market share position in overall sport footwear in the month of December. Again we expected to see this situation improve as we move into 2010. It appears the turnaround at Reebok has finally begun.

* Adidas fell to #6 share in the US (3.6%), as sales declined in the low teens. Without a Toning strategy and weakness across most key categories, there is no reason to expect Adidas fortunes to reverse in the near term.

* Asics held the #7 spot with a 3% share and a high single digit increase.

* Converse was #8 (2.5%) and saw sales improve in the high teens.

* Under Armour sales doubled (in a very promotional environment) and achieved a 0.8% share.

* Timberland saw a small increase, thanks in part to the cold weather.

* Saucony grew in the mid teens, while Mizuno and Brooks were basically flat.

* K-Swiss declined about -25%.

* Crocs declined by about half in December.

Were there any brands that experienced success or a decrease in sales that surprised you? Where do you think the month of January 2010 will stack up for each company?

Tags: matt powell, sole source, sportsONEsource

5 Responses to “Sole Source: Overall Footwear Sales To End 2009”

1. Julien says:

   February 4, 2010 at 11:40 pm

   “Adidas fell to #6 share in the US (3.6%), as sales declined in the low teens”
   I really don’t like Adidas… Too bad they are doin better here in Europe!!

   Reply
2. BRich says:

   February 5, 2010 at 1:27 am

   Nice to see things looking up for Reebok. Even though their basketball line continues to depress me.

   Reply
3. sneaksoy says:

   February 5, 2010 at 3:00 am

   I actually got my mom a pair of those EasyTone’s for Christmas, and she has loved them. Seems to be the only thing keeping Reebok relevant… I never realized how big JB was, would’ve thought Adidas or New Balance would be bigger?

   Reply
4. Andrew says:

   February 5, 2010 at 11:13 pm

   Been thinking about stocking the easytone shoes in my store for a few months, am finally gonna order some this week to see how well they sell… Hopefully it’s a big one for us.

   Reply
5. nickair75 says:

   March 5, 2010 at 4:21 pm

   Some interesting facts and figures here, what’s most surprising is the seeming decline of adidas, but seeing whats available from them its hardly surprising, when you see Mickey Mouse’s face as the tongue of a shoe does make you wonder what is going through their minds. No doubt their overall figures will rise shortly with the Football World Cup coming up.

   And what’s even more funny is the constant bitching and moaning about Nike’s and Jordan Brands quality of product and yet they are still 1&2 and holding a 42% footwear market share.

   Reply