From OIA:
Outdoor product sales grew 8.1 percent to $811.9 million in the fiscal month of May, according to the OIA VantagePoint™ Outdoor Industry Monthly Trend Report released today by Outdoor Industry Association® (OIA) and The SportsOneSource Group. Double-digit increases in the last two weeks leading up to Memorial Day weekend erased flat sales growth in the first two weeks of the fiscal month that ended on May 26, 2012, and provide hope for a strong June and Fourth of July.
The business tracked and reported by OIA VantagePoint has expanded with the release of a new version that now includes projections for the Running Specialty, Big Box Outdoor and Action Sports Specialty retail channels. In addition, there has been a significant expansion of categories now available OIA VantagePoint. For details visit oiavantagepoint.com.
Sales of Outdoor Apparel (which includes Accessories) increased 10.9 percent to $161.1 million. Despite the warm weather, Outdoor Outerwear remained the largest overall category, adding to its share by posting strong double-digit growth. Outerwear grew solidly across most channels for the month.
After posting a mid-single-digit decline in April, Outdoor Hardgoods saw a reversal of fortune as sales grew 7.7 percent to $408.0 million in May. Most major categories posted solid double-digit gains for the month as sales surged in the lead-up to the Memorial Day holiday.
Outdoor Footwear sales increased 7.1 percent to $242.7 million led by increases in Technical Hiking, Outdoor Multi-Sport and Outdoor Casual Footwear. The Barefoot Footwear business continued its slide, posting a 14.0 percent decline for the month on weakness in the Functional Outdoor Footwear segment. The category returned to growth in Running and saw large gains in Outdoor Casual and Fitness/Training Footwear.
Looking ahead, the strong lead-in to the Memorial Day holiday may bode well for the month of June and the lead-up to the Fourth of July holiday week. With the holiday falling in the middle of the first week of July, more consumers are expected to take a full week holiday instead a three- or four-day respite. These longer vacations may increase sales of core outdoor product, buffering outdoor product sales from widespread economic concerns.
OIA VantagePoint is the first and only full market point-of-sale data view built specifically for Outdoor Industry Association members. OIA VantagePoint provides comprehensive visibility into the outdoor marketplace by tracking weekly point‐of‐sale data from more than 10,000 retail doors and websites that carry outdoor products, including nearly 450 outdoor specialty locations. It is the broadest view of outdoor product Internet sales available in the market. In‐depth sales information is available online within five days of the prior week close — a competitive advantage for businesses who can shift critical resources and react quickly to ever-changing consumer preferences.
OIA members can access the OIA VantagePoint monthly trend report by logging on to outdoorindustry.org/vantagepoint.
Outdoor Industry Association
Based in Boulder, Colo., Outdoor Industry Association is the leading trade association for the outdoor industry and the title sponsor of Outdoor Retailer. OIA supports the growth and success of more than 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers of outdoor recreation apparel, footwear, equipment and services. For more information go to outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.
The SportsOneSource Group
The SportsOneSource Group is a full service market research company delivering solutions through consumer insight research, retail insight research and retail point-of-sale trending and analysis. The company provides the most reliable, timely and comprehensive sports and outdoor industry information available in the market today. SportScanInfo is a SportsOneSource technology platform developed to compile, aggregate and disseminate aggregated retail point-of-sale information. SportsOneSource also publishes the Sports Executive Weekly and The B.O.S.S. Report executive newsletters, along with the SGB, TEAM Business and SGB Performance print publications and their related online, email and digital products. For more information about The SportsOneSource Group call 303.987.3450 or go to SportsOneSource.com.
