NEW YORK -- One of the keys to success in sports apparel retailing, as in all retailing, is knowing the customer. But when it comes to the sports apparel customer, there is a lot more to know.
Retailers carrying sports apparel must deal with such non-store variables as team standings, player loyalties, new franchises and a host of other sports-related issues in addition to the usual problems associated with building inventory and merchandising programs.
Some help for the perplexed retailer comes from a tracking study of consumers conducted by the ESPN Chilton Sports Poll. Last year this research group interviewed over 8,000 consumers about their attitudes towards sports-related issues, including apparel purchases. When it comes to describing those consumers who buy or own apparel items carrying college team or professional team logos, the study is a virtual playbook. It provides the latest insights into this market both in terms of size and value; it also profiles the apparel sports-logo customer in terms of store preference, team preference and buying factors.
Here are the highlights:
More than half of the U.S. population over 12 years of age (51 percent) bought an apparel item with a college or profession team logo in 1996.
29.6% bought an item with a professional logo.
16 percent bought an item with a college logo.
5 percent bought both college- and professional-logo apparel items
On average, about 25 percent of the population spends money on sports- related items every week.
About two-thirds of those dollars are spent on apparel items.
Half of those interviewed said design/fashion is very important in the decision to buy logo sports apparel; 91 percent reported design/fashion as playing a part in the purchase decision.
84 percent said quality is very important in the decision; 99 percent of respondents interviewed noted that quality plays some part in the selection of logo apparel.
50 percent of sports apparel buyers said price was a very important factor in the purchase; 92 percent reported price as a consideration in the purchase of logo apparel.
While the ESPN Chilton Sport Poll does not answer all the questions surrounding the reasons for logo apparel purchases, it does provide insights into the demographic differences among sports-logo apparel buyers in terms of where they shop, league support and key purchase factors.
The ESPN Chilton Sports Poll data compares four major retail groups by 45 demographic characteristics. It uses an index as a measure, comparing survey responses against the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. An index number above 115 indicates greater activity than in the general population. An index number below 85, less buying than would be expected in the population. Here's how it works on a question such as: 'Among pro-league apparel logo owners, which league is favored by African Americans?'
These numbers tell a story. If you are carrying sports-logo apparel and you have an African American clientele, you had better be carrying a lot of NBA logos. The survey indicates no major strength among African Americans for NHL logos, average sales potential with NFL logos, stronger opportunities with MLB logos and a bonanza with NBA logos. The poll indicates buying rates at more than double the numbers found in the population.
The ESPN Chilton Sports Poll provides a profile of customers along demographic lines, allowing comparison of apparel logo buyers (both male and female) by different classes of trade. Respondents' answers are analyzed against standard Census data to provide an index.
It works like this. According to the ESPN Chilton Sports Poll, among the 51 percent of the population who have bought college and/or pro logo apparel, 18.1 percent purchased items from a mass merchandiser like Kmart or Wal-Mart.
Furthermore, 30.6 percent of the buyers are 25-35 years of age. According to Census numbers, only 19.5 percent of the population is in this age group. The mass market's index for customers in this age group is 156 (30.6 divided by 19.5). This means that there are 56% more sports-logo apparel buyers in this age group than are found in the general population. Now let's compare this group with buyers who purchased at specialty stores such as Foot Locker or Champs. Here the index is 115, indicating that there were only slightly more buyers of logo apparel in this age group than in the general population. In effect, discounters were attracting more buyers in this group than specialty stores.
The differences are even more pronounced between mass merchants and specialty stores selling to the 12-17 age group, where the mass marketers' index is 74 and the index of retailers like Foot Locker 325, pointing to the fact that specialty retailers are drawing this group by a factor of three times its presence in the population while mass marketers have proportionately fewer customers in this age group.
League Index National Hockey League 24 National Football League 105 Major League Baseball 117 National Basketball Association 233
