USA : NPD consumer tracking service for Japanese apparel & footwear ind

Leading consumer and retail information provider The NPD Group Inc has launched a new consumer tracking service for the sports market in Japan. The new service offers the most comprehensive information available on consumer purchasing, attitudes, and behavior for sports apparel, athletic footwear, and sports equipment. It complements NPD’s existing portfolio of services tracking the sports market in the U.S., France, UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands.

Subscribers to the new service will receive information and insights on who’s buying the products, where they are purchased, and how they are being used. Key measures include sales volume, market share, consumer demographics, and more. Sporting goods manufacturers and retailers can use the information to support product development, pricing, distribution, marketing, and sales and merchandising strategies.

“Launching this new service broadens the scope of NPD’s coverage and is an important step toward our goal of offering the sports industry a holistic view of the global marketplace,” said Esther Han, NPD’s President, Sports U.S. and Asia. “Japan is the second largest sports market in the world for our clients, and NPD’s information helps businesses make better decisions and track trends,” said Han.

Apparel Leads the Market:
The largest segment of the total sports market industry in Tokyo and Osaka is the active/sports apparel super category which makes up 44 percentof the industry and generated 94m yen in sales volume this summer. The second largest category is athletic footwear/sneakers which totaled close to 75m yen from June to August and makes up 35 percent.

Athletic sports equipment makes up 21 percent of the industry and generated sales of almost 44m yen. Golf is the biggest sports segment, doing almost 29m yen in sales this summer, with an increase of 23 percent versus the spring season in sales volume. fitness/training, running/jogging, and baseball/softball are the other top sports categories.

Source: Fibre2fashion.com