THE EMERGING
RUNNER
Run retailers can capitalize on new runners as COVID restrictions begin to lift. / By Dirk Sorenson
T
o say the last year has been an interesting one for run specialty retailers and their vendors would certainly be an understatement. The U.S. consumer has struggled to define new ways to live their lives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have changed their fundamental behaviors around work, living and fitness, placing unique stress on retailers to rapidly adjust merchandising, product inventories and selling strategies. Number one among them is the shift, perhaps permanent, to online shopping. Think back to March and April 2020, a time when many run specialty retailers – indeed, most “non-essential” retailers – found their brick-and-mortar doors temporarily closed, forcing consumers to shop for necessities online, a shift that NPD data indicates will remain at some level. From March 2020 through February 2021, NPD’s Retail Tracking Service reported a 73 percent average monthly sales growth in the Sport Specialty E-commerce Retail Channel, an aggregate of online retailers and traditional brick-and-mortar retailers that report their online sales to NPD. This is over three times the growth that occurred in 2019 and is likely a lasting change by consumers towards retailers that provide online sales mechanisms.
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runninginsight.com
Throughout 2020, consumers not only had to change the way in which they purchased goods and services, they were also challenged to reinvent their daily routines, like finding themselves cooking at home more and working/learning in new and different ways. One of the more dramatic shifts that occurred in 2020 was the way the U.S. consumer adapted to new fitness and exercise routines — including running. Consumers Reinventing Retail Americans had to get creative as gyms and fitness centers in the U.S. were either closed or operating under significant capacity restrictions. And with many more Americans working from home with time to focus on new activities, the outcome has been a surge in the purchase of equipment to participate
Many have changed their fundamental behaviors around work, living and fitness, placing unique stress on retailers to rapidly adjust merchandising, product inventories and selling strategies. Number one among them is the shift, perhaps permanent, to online shopping.
in home fitness, cycling, running and activities such as golf and racquet sports that provide socially distanced outlets for consumers to exercise. In the months from June 2020 to March 2021, sales across NPD’s total tracked market of at-home exercise equipment, including weights, treadmills and stationary bikes, increased 78 percent in dollars from the same timeframe during the prior year. Sales of golf equipment increased 76 percent and racquet sports equipment increased 41 percent. And in the nine months from June 2020 through February 2021, cycling equipment sales were up 50 percent. The surge in sales at retail corresponds to participation trends noted by the Outdoor Industry Association’s special report “The New Outdoor Participant, 2021 Special Report,” in which they noted a 58 percent increase in new participation in walking and a 28 percent increase in new participation in running/jogging outside in 2020. This finding aligns with insights from NPD’s Trend Tracker report, in which consumers reported planning to participate in walking/hiking 48 percent more as an activity in 2021 than they did in the prior year and run 10 percent more as an activity.
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