MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (BRAIN) — The National Sporting Goods Association found that consumer-reported sales of sporting goods equipment, athletic footwear and athletic apparel was up 4 percent in 2015. The NSGA published its 2016 edition of its Sporting Goods Market report this week.
In the cycling category, Dustin Dobrin, director of research and information for the NSGA, said sales of complete bikes were up 2.4 percent in units compared to 2014, at 8.0 million units. In dollars, bikes totaled $2.2 billion, up 4.3 percent compared with 2014. The average price of a bike went up from $267 to $271, a 1.8 percent increase from 2014 to 2015.
Likewise in helmets, unit sales were up 3.7 percent at 6.0 million. Dollar sales totaled $209.6 million. Dollar sales were up 7.3 percent compared to 2014, with the average price up 3.5 percent.
“It’s encouraging considering we did see 2014 compared with 2013, a decline in total retail bicycle sales,” Dobrin said. “One year doesn’t make a trend, but we would like to see consistent growth.”
Dobrin pointed out that while the average price of a bike has gone up, it’s still significantly lower than 2013’s $303. In 2014, the average price dropped by 12 percent. Lower average prices in 2014 and 2015 seem to point to some promotions or discounting to remove excess inventory or a lower-priced product mix, he said.
The NSGA report represents projections of consumer purchases from an annual online survey answered by a representative panel of U.S. households. More than 16,000 responses were received and the results were projected to the total U.S. population.
The NSGA tracks more than 130 product categories across the sporting goods industry.
For more on the report, go to nsga.org/research.
