Press Release:
Lack of Snow in January Impacts Snow Sports Market
WASHINGTON, DC (March 2, 2012) – Today, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) and The Leisure Trends Group have released the most recent RetailTRAK™ numbers for January 2012, collected from the Point of Sale systems of more than 1,200 snow sports retailers. January sales brought little relief to a market suffering from lack of snow. Overall, the snow sports market is down 12% in units sold and 4.5% in dollars sold.
Chain store sales are taking a significant hit this season particularly because they reduced the amount of equipment they offer to consumers; overall, chain store sales are down 17% in units sold and down 11% in dollars sold.
Specialty shop sales are down 16% in units sold and 7% in dollars sold, but they brought in 59% of the $2.7B in total snow sports sales through January this season. By contrast, the online sales channel is doing quite well increasing unit sales by 10% and dollar sales by 12% through January. In fact, alpine ski equipment sales online are up 24% in units and 22% in dollars sold.
Total sales through all snow sports retail channels Aug – Jan = $2,657,342,955, down 12% in units, down 4.5% in dollars sold.
-Equipment Sales – down 9% in units and 5% in dollars sold
-Apparel – down 2% in units and flat in dollars sold
-Accessories – down 16% in units and 9% in dollars sold
Specialty shop inventories are up significantly including 35% equipment units in retail stock which doesn’t bode well for orders or for hopes of strong pricing at the end of this season and the beginning of the 2012/2013 season. Sell through is, of course, down significantly as well.
Trends to watch in 2011/2012
-Flat skis (skis sold without bindings) with waist width > 80mm are up 22% in units sold and 19% in $ sold to $36M through January this season.
-Adult twin tip flat skis and ski systems sales are up 25% in units sold and up 34% in dollars sold to almost $50M on 102,400 units sold August through January.
-Reverse camber skis are flying out of retail despite a lack of fresh pow; sales are up 75% in units to 106,346 compared to 60,674 through January last season.
-Nordic equipment sales are suffering acutely from lack of snowfall; sales are down 30% in units and 26% in dollars sold. Sales in February and March should pick up as snow falls across the Rockies, Midwest and Northeast regions.
-Reverse camber/rocker snowboard sales continue to rise. Unit sales of rocker boards are up 9.5% in units and 7% in dollars sold. In fact, 73% of all snowboards sold through January have reverse camber.
-Alpine tops sales are healthy this season, particularly women’s insulated parkas up 13% in units and 11% in dollars sold, and men’s shell parkas up 13% in units sold and 10% in dollars sold.
Accessories sales are showing the weather pattern, particularly for items normally purchased when preparing for an imminent trip to the slopes, including goggles and wax. Goggles sales are down 24% in units sold and 16% in dollars sold and wax sales are down 26% in units sold and 18% in dollars sold.
Regional Sales Trends
Regionally, snow sports specialty shop sales are tracking with the weather with the West holding steady and the Northeast suffering the most. Overall, sales in the Western U.S. are down 2% to $529M while sales in the Northeast are down 12% to $530M.
The market data presented in this report comes from the Snow Sports RetailTRAK™ produced for SIA by the Leisure Trends Group. The Leisure Trends Group gathers RetailTRAK™ data directly from the Point of Sale systems of more than 1,200 snow sports retailers.
For more on retail sales trends, please see page 2…
For more information about snow sports retail sales information and other SIA Research products including the Snow Sports Participation Study, Revisiting Growing the Snow Sports Industry, the Snow Sports Uniform Purchasing Study, the Snow Sports Rental Equipment Survey and much more, please contact Kelly Davis, SIA’s Director of Research at KDavis@snowsports.org.
Topline/category retail sales data for the snow sports market is available as a member benefit to all SIA members. In addition, you gain free access to topline data for the Running, Outdoor and Paddle Sports when you register. The topline data is accessible on a 24/7/365 basis on the Leisure Trends Cross-Industry RetailTRAK™ data portal. Non-SIA members may subscribe to the topline portal for just $375 per year. To sign up for topline data click HERE.
About SIA
SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is the national not-for-profit, North American member-owned, trade association representing suppliers and service providers of snow sports products with constituents in the retailer, rep and resort communities. Established in 1954, SIA annually produces the SIA Snow Show, the largest snow sports industry trade show, on-snow demo and networking environment globally, while delivering invaluable data/research reports including the Snow Sports Market Intelligence Report, SnowSports RetailTRAK and Executive Market Summary.
SIA helps grow the industry with consumer initiatives and websites, snowlink.com and wintertrails.org, marketing products, services and programs helping our Members operate more efficiently, bring their products to market and increase participation in snow sports. Subaru is the official vehicle of SnowSports Industries America (SIA), the 2012 SIA Snow Show and On-Snow Demo/Ski-Ride Fest and Winter Trails.
For more information, check out snowsports.org. SnowSports Industries America, 8377-B Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22102-3587. Phone: 703.556.9020, Fax: 703.821.8276, Email: PR@snowsports.org.
