A hot topic in sports retailing is the women's market. The industry is realizing two facts: women have been poorly served by manufacturers and retailers, and they have the money and inclination to spend.
According to Sharon Barbano, president of the Women's Sports Marketing Group, "Marketing to women is no longer niche marketing. It's mass marketing and moving toward becoming the bull's-eye of the sports marketing industry.
"The men's market is saturated. What we have is a virgin market, if you will. It's time to get companies excited. Companies that are meeting the demands are finding that it's lucrative and business is growing." (1)
By 2002, Nike expects sales of women's apparel and footwear to account for 40% of its overall U.S. business. Currently they are 20%. (2)
These realizations about the women's market have led to several developments:
Store Set-Up
Both manufacturers and retailers are trying to find the best way to reach the women's sports market. Three different options have been tossed around:
1. Expanding women's departments within sporting goods stores. This approach appeals to established sporting goods companies introducing women's lines and products. They already have ties to these stores and feel comfortable dealing with them.
2. Promoting fitness lines within department stores. Companies producing products which have crossover fashion potential often prefer this approach. They think the way to sell fitness attire and sportswear is to go where women buy most of their clothes.
3. Setting up small specialty shops catering to women. This trend is retailer-driven. Some store owners feel the women's market is unique enough to warrant stand-alone stores. They believe women are most comfortable buying products from other women who understand their needs.
Even with these ideas, many within the industry feel there is much work left to be done.
According to Maria Stefan, executive director and vice president of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), "Women are on everybody's radar screen, but sporting goods stores and department stores don't know what to do with them. Retailers need more product depth and more concept shops that play off women's sports events, as well as lifestyles." (3)
Said Nadine Cino, president of Virtual Design Studio, an activewear design company, "Retail is the weakest link. The selling floor is the next field of play, but product in stores lags far behind demand." (4)
Similarly, Liz Dolan, then corporate vice president and director of marketing at Nike, noted, "The most basic thing is missing -- the retail format. There need to be more stores that offer apparel, footwear and accessories in an interesting sports presentation. That's severely lacking. Manufacturers are doing a lot of work [to develop new products], but they won't find a home for them except for a few spots. There needs to be a place where consumers can find it all come together." (5)
Retailers have been talking about selling to women more than they have actually been doing it. Said Rita Cinque, executive vice president of Active Apparel Group (maker of Converse, Everlast, and MTV's The Grind lines), "For some stores, the women's business is lip service. Some do handle it well, but some retailers have not addressed it in the way they're saying they have." (6)
Stephen Bebis, then president and CEO of JumboSports, a 85-store chain, admitted as much. "We very much believe in it. Are we doing anything concrete about it? No. We've been very lacking in that area; so has the whole industry." (7)
Said Alden Sheets, senior vice president and general manager for Fila, "Some stores have recognized the potential and they're trying to address it. Most stores are not set up to handle the women's business -- especially mall-based athletic specialty stores. It's the physical setup of the store, not the product that's in there. Many women won't walk across the sales floor to the other side of the store to use the dressing room. Young men often sell the apparel -- and they might be glaring." (8)
Helen Rockey, president and CEO of Brooks Sports, feels the problem is that retailers don't understand the women's market. "Buyers are still buying for women based on colors and cosmetics -- not fit and durability. I'm surprised we're not further along. Consumers can change that. More women athletes are demanding to be informed about the products they're buying. Ultimately, that can effect how clerks are trained and what buyers buy." (9)
Still, some retailers think they are making progress. Said Karl Roe, director of buying for apparel and accessories for The Finish Line, a 250-store chain. "We're definitely focusing on our women's business. We're adding new categories like basketball and soccer. We're also moving women's merchandise closer to the entrance of our stores." (10)
More Women's Sports Merchandise
Until very recently, even if you got women into the stores looking for sporting goods and apparel, there was nothing for them to buy.
Said Jeff Connor, buyer for City Sports, an eight-store upscale urban chain, "Our demand for women's products has always been more than the vendors offer. We take what's there, and it's usually not enough. The more I buy, the more I sell." (11)
"There's a definite void in the market for women's related merchandise. It's now time to [devise] feminine looking [garments] rather than unisex," noted Iris Delgado, adult apparel and headwear buyer for an Ohio chain of Cleveland Indian Team Shops and kiosks. "... you're struggling to make a big statement [with women's product] on your floor. In most cases, you're reaching and struggling to pull together something that makes sense for a [complete women's] offering." (12)
Female athletes and enthusiasts in a number of sports have complained about lack of selection. Two examples:
Because sporting goods companies never thought there was a women's market, they didn't bother to design anything specifically for women.
"It's hard for people to design for a consumer who never existed before. There is no history. In the boys' market, boys of this generation are not drastically different than previous generations. Many of them once wanted to play first base for the Yankees," noted Nike's Dolan. (15)
But now manufactures are starting to listen. Enrico Frachey, president and CEO of Fila USA, had this to say. "With the introduction of women's professional sports leagues, the growth of the women's market is becoming a reality. Today's female athletes want true performance in a product, yet they do not want to forfeit style." (16)
But companies still have to do more research and development for women's lines. "It's incorrect to merely have smaller or lighter product originally made for men tagged for women," advises John Riddle, president and CEO of the SGMA. (17)
Jim Hill, president of SportHill (which manufacturers high-performance activewear), said his company takes a different approach these days. "Now when we come out with a new style, we offer it in women's and men's at the same time. In the past, we offered men's styles first and sometimes followed up with women's. As the company has grown, we've developed the resources to focus on gender-specific garments." (18)
Here are a few examples of sports products being designed for women:
Noted Steve Carter, merchandise manager for Simply For Sports at JCPenney, "We've [heard] a lot of rhetoric until now. We're finally getting product that is in reality women's product." (19)
New Ways of Marketing
Many manufacturers and retailers feel women buy sports-related products differently than men. These companies are trying to respond accordingly.
According to Sharon Pannell, buyer for Fleet Feet Sports, a store in Davis, California, women tend to spend more per item than men. "Women will spend whatever they need to, to get what they want. They spend more time shopping for specific items than men ... Women have been looking for technical features for a long time. They just used to buy men's products." (20)
According to Cinque of Active Apparel Group, "The old theory of, 'Bring them back into the store, generate traffic and they'll have to buy something' is not going to work. Comfort, durability and high quality is what female consumers want. They'll go to another store if they can't find it." (21)
Some retailers prefer to deal with those manufacturers which best demonstrate an understanding of the women's market. Said Robert Haueter, vice president of marketing at Sport Chalet, a 17-store California chain, "I'm most interested in where their emphasis will be from an advertising standpoint. That makes all the difference. I'll see that before I see the line." (22)
Point-of-purchase marketing is another tactic favored by retailers. "Overall, women are better educated than men about products. That's why you need point-of-purchase material that can tell and sell the product -- or women will be leery," advises Lisa Kantor, product manager of hard goods at Fila. (23) Examples:
Another option is to provide workshops. Herizon, a women's-only golf shop in Kansas City, has a PGA-certified pro on staff who offers lessons and clinics in addition to being the store's marketing director.
Two other examples of special marketing campaigns:
Promotion of Women's Sports by Retailers
Some retail chains are large enough to underwrite sponsorships of women's sports.