Bringing an Athletic Shoe Line to the Company

Nicholas Hernandez
November 28, 2018

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In recent years, sports and recreational activities have increased in popularity causing the need
for more athletic shoe purchases. This research report shows the success that the shoe industry
can expect to see and why selling athletic shoes at our company would be successful. Research
on topics such as the shoe industry, shoe concept, and target market can be found in this report.

Shoe Industry

With all the different sports and activities available to individuals, the demand for shoes is
always there. The fact that athletic activities put a lot of wear and tear on shoes also helps the
industry. A person could be buying two or three pairs per year. Clair O’Connor (2017) tells us
that with sports participation on the rise and our economic growth, the industry has been strong
and will continue to be (O’Connor, 2017). The graphs below show the participation in sports and
the disposable income per capita.

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The graphs prove the percentage of participants in sports will rise each year and disposable
income will start to increase as well. The industry is only going to keep growing. As the
participation percentage continues to increase, the number of people in need of athletic shoes
will increase.

Major Competitors

The athletic shoe industry has a lot of competitors. The top three shoe industries are Nike,
Adidas, and Reebok (Jegede, 2018). Nike alone brings in about $30.601 billion in revenue
(Jegede, 2018). The graph below shows Nike’s financial performance.

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This graph proves to us that Nike performs well financially. Their revenue has increased each
year since 2012.

Furthermore, using Nike as a company to strive towards could prove to be wise. Endorsing
athletes like Nike could help bring in revenue.

Shoe Concept

Demand for Athletic Shoes

The demand for athletic shoes is growing fast in the United States. The health consciousness that
is going on in this country has helped the athletic shoe industry grow (“Top 15 Sports Brands,”
2018). The Gym and Exercise Equipment Manufacturing industry will increase its revenue by
1.0% in the future due to the growing obesity rate in this country (Lifschutz, 2018). More people
are going to the gym to live healthier lives.

Furthermore, Technavio analysts predict a compound annual growth rate of 3% in 2020 for the
Athletic shoe market (“Top 15 Sports Brands,” 2018). The shoe industry will be doing well in
2020.

Athletic Shoe Style

Athletes want a shoe that provides protection, support, and comfort. Wearing athletic shoes
provides an advantage to the athlete by protecting the bottom part of their feet against rocky or
rough surfaces (McPoil, 2000, p.260). Athletic shoes also allow athletes to control the motion
from their midfoot and rearfoot (McPoil, 2000, p.260). Creating a shoe that gives an athlete
everything they want is the primary goal.

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Target Market

Optimal Target Consumer

Customers between the age of 25 and 34 would be the main target for the athletic shoes. That age
group has the highest percentage, 66%, of people who bought shoes in the past 12 months (Fay,
2010). The graph below shows the percentage of people from age 18 and older who bought new
athletic shoes recently.

From the graph, we see 25-34-year-old’s have the highest percentage of shoes purchased. New
shoe purchases from 35-44-year old’s were high as well. They could be a group to target as well.
To bring in revenue, we would focus on trying to target 25 to 44-year old’s.

Buying Habits

Making our athletic shoes available online would be the best way to reach our consumers. Most
people do their shopping online now. Just looking at the sales for men, online sales have
increased over 5 years (Hurley, 2017). The Figure below shows the different products men buy
online with Sports and athletic wear being 18.3%.

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This graph is helpful because we can see that men do purchase shoes online. It is important that
our athletic shoe be easy to find and buy on our website.

Conclusion
This report contained research on the shoe industry, shoe concept, and the target market.
Creating an athletic shoe line for our company would prove to be beneficial. If you have any
questions, please email ndhernandez@email.arizona.edu.

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 References

Fay, Kat. (2010). “Footwear”, Mintel Academic Ltd. Retrieved from

http://academic.mintel.com.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/display/556565/?highlight#hit
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Hurley, Madeline (2017, September). IBISWorld Industry Report OD5095, Online men’s clothing
sales in the US. Retrieved from IBISWorld Database.

Jegede, Abayomi. (2018, July). Top 10 best sports brands in the world. Trendrr, Retrieved
from https://www.trendrr.net/8359/best-sports-shoes-brands-world-most-famous-
running-10-top-sellers/

Lifschutz, Marisa. (2018, August). IBISWorld Industry Report 33992b. Gym & Exercise
Equipment Manufacturing in the US. Retrieved from IBISWorld database.

McPoil, Thomas. (2000, September). Athletic footwear: design, performance and selection
issues. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 260-261. Retrieved from
https://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440(00)80035-3/pdf

O’Connor, Claire. (2017, September). IBISWorld Industry Report OD4605, Athletic Shoe Stores
in the US. Retrieved from IBISWorld Database.

Top 15 sports brands in the US athletic footwear market 2018. (2018, July). Technavio Blog.
Retrieved from https://www.technavio.com/blog/top-15-vendors-athletic-footwear-
market-us