The UK sports goods market has been one of the most resilient retail markets throughout the recession supported by the more robust sectors such as sportswear, bicycles and fitness equipment. In the five years to 2019 incomes will gradually recover and consumers will feel more confident about spending on hobbies and memberships again, causing the market to outperform the previous five year period. Learn more with sample pages from our Sports Retailing in the UK report.

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Sports Retailing in the UK | Published February 2014
Sports Retailing in the UK

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Sports Retailing in the UK | Published February 2014
63.0 63.0
26.3 24.3
10.6 12.8
2009 2014e
%
Sportswear Equipment for sport/camping Bicycles
Expenditure analysis by category
Bicycles is the winning category
The bicycles market has consistently
outperformed sportswear and equipment for
sport/camping over the last five years, with the
popularity of cycling to work schemes and greater
uptake for leisure benefitting the likes of Wiggle,
Chain Reaction Cycles and Evans, which have all
achieved rapid sales growth throughout the
downturn. We expect cycling to benefit from
people looking for cheaper transport alternatives
and forecast expenditure on the bicycles market to
grow by 41.8% in the five years to 2014.
Skates, rackets, fishing and fitness equipment will achieve the least growth in the coming five years
Of the three sectors in the sports goods market, the recovery in expenditure on sport and camping equipment will be the
most sluggish. Consumers will remain careful when buying into the likes of skates, fishing and rackets, preferring instead
to prioritise spend elsewhere and postpone replacement purchases.

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Sports Retailing in the UK | Published February 2014
Opportunities for non-sportswear specialists remain
With fashion playing a greater role in
sportswear, we believe there are further
opportunities for clothing retailers to
develop sports ranges and expand within
the market. They have the opportunity to
take advantage of shoppers visiting their
stores for day-to-day clothing, and at the
same time picking up sportswear, boosting
convenience for those shoppers that are
time pressed. Indeed, over the next five
years, we expect clothing retailers to steal
share from sports specialists as they
improve and widen ranges. Therefore,
specialists must ensure that they remain
aware of the changes within the
sportswear market and react quickly to
consumer demands.
Opportunities to...
• Increase revenue
• Target a new customer base
• Encourage add on purchases as
consumers will cross buy into different
categories
• Take advantage of consumers’ growing
interest in exercise
• Respond to a change in consumer
perception – shoppers are happy to buy
own label sportswear
• Incorporate sport-led catwalk trends
• Create lifestyle image – a destination for
shoppers to buy for different needs
• Collaborate with sports figure heads and
athletes
• Attract young fashion conscious male
consumers
Threats of…
• Losing customers to cheaper high street
ranges
• A negative impact on revenues
• High street rivals offering imitation
products for less
• Lowering brand appeal if consumers are
opting to buy high street own brand
• Having to lower price points and offer
discounts to better compete
• The cost of needing to invest greatly in
quality and marketing to justify price
points
• Spending more on stimulating marketing
tactics to regain customer loyalty
• More clothing specialists collaborating
with athletes – less appeal for specialists

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Sports Retailing in the UK | Published February 2014
Brand promotion key to the success of pureplays
Pureplays able to fill the gaps on the high
street
With the current dearth of local specialist
sports stores, and little more than generic
ranges of all-purpose activewear available at
sporting retailers, it is unsurprising that
sports specialist pureplays have become
increasingly popular. By focussing on one
activity or sport they provide a more
extensive range than a physical store can,
making them a destination for shoppers with
specific sporting requirements. While the
largest sports store in the UK, Sports Direct,
will remain the dominant player in the
market, the lack of depth in its ranges
compared to sports specialist pureplays
ensures they will remain successful.
Benefits of
pureplays
Wider range
than the high
street
One sport
specialism
Value for
money
Shop when it
is convenient
Product
exclusives
Cannot try
before you
buy
Difficult to
generate
publicityHard to sell
items that
need fitting
Lack of
expert
knowledge
Products not
immediately
available
Limitations
of
pureplays

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Sports Retailing in the UK | Published February 2014
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