Sport Retail

Women in Sport
Mintel’s Inspire trend Diversity is all examines how successful brands understand that today’s consumers refuse to accept a ‘one size fits all’ approach to retail solutions and are increasingly looking for distinctive offers that reflect their individuality and preferences, regardless of where those offers sit in the price scale.
This approach has enjoyed most success with female shoppers and, as such, could be the key to encouraging more women to take part in sport, particularly with a Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) survey published in November 2008 claiming “four out of five women would play more sport if it were more like shopping at Marks & Spencer and Primark”.   HOW COULD SPORTS RETAIL SHOPPING BE IMPROVED. The point the WSFF makes is that women enjoy spending time and money on the high street because retailers have invested time and money themselves in creating an environment and experience that women will enjoy.   Women continue to be hugely under-represented in all aspects of sports participation, with even sports that enjoy comparatively high levels of general female interest – athletics and tennis – failing to translate viewing and spectating into actual play. The scale of the problem and the deep roots of its causes mean no significant short-term improvement is likely and even current levels of female participation could be threatened during the recession by women’s above-average levels of cost sensitivity and willingness to economise by stopping play.

Women's Sports Foundation figures show that women buy 81 per cent of all athletic apparel. Even in the male-only arena of gridiron, women purchase 48 per cent of official NFL merchandise, showing us that women buy disproportionately to their participation in a sport.
Ironically, at the most commercially sophisticated end of professional women's sport, some smart marketers are getting it right. Just this week, Dubai Duty Free signed a five-year commercial deal with the WTA... [continues]

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