WorldWide Athletic Footwear Market, Industry / Sector Analysis Report, Regional Outlook & Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2019 - 2025 (Includes Business Impact of COVID-19)

                                          
Athletic Footwear Market size was USD 80 billion in 2015 and is forecast to grow at approximately 3% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. Global shipments were over 3.5 billion units in 2015.
 

The athletic footwear market incorporates sportswear, trekking shoes, aerobics shoes, walking shoes, and running shoes. Increased awareness regarding healthy lifestyle that motivates people to engage into some kind of sports activity will drive the industry in the coming years. This motivated the leading brands to come up with innovative and comfortable sports footwear products. Growth in wholesale and retail business, efficient supply chain, consumers’ willingness and increased purchasing power have fueled the global athletic footwear market.
 

Presently, men’s athletic footwear market captures about 60% of overall revenue generated. Women’s footwear accounts for around 25% share, with the rest occupied by products for children, which are estimated to witness rapid revenue growth.
 

Asia Pacific athletic footwear market share was approximately 40% in 2015, with the region expected to continue dominating global industry revenue through the forecast timeframe. Europe is also forecast to remain a sizable regional industry in the coming years. U.S. athletic footwear market size is expected to grow at slower pace, due to being high labor and material cost and strong competition.
 

Major driving forces for growth are increase in disposable income in developing economies, growing global population, rapidly spreading awareness about health and fitness, and the corresponding rise in demand for comfortable, innovative and affordable products. The increasing popularity of sports events such as the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, ICC World Cup, etc. has accelerated athletic footwear market.
 

Counterfeiting of products offered by global brands, strong competition from local manufacturers, sensitivity to seasonal changes, and evolving consumer preferences may hinder growth. The middle class population is price sensitive in nature, which may bring down overall revenue. Rise in prices of synthetic rubber, which is used as a major raw material will result in increasing athletic footwear market price trend.
 

The industry is segmented by consumer groups, category, and retail channel. Consumer groups include men, women and kids. Category wise classification mainly comprises inserts used in aerobics, running, walking shoes, and athleisure. This segment accounted for nearly 35% of the global athletic footwear market size, with CAGR estimations of 1.7% from 2016 to 2023. Other categories include sports, which contains products suited for various sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, cricket, etc. This application area occupied majority of the overall volume share in 2015. Hiking includes trekking and walking boots, rugged footwear, mountaineering shoes, specialty boots, and seasonal boots.
 

Class-based fitness on account of growing social fitness trend is forecast to drive the athleisure segment and open new opportunities for companies operating in the industry. Retail channel is divided into store based, which includes discount stores, departmental stores and channels, specialty stores, franchise, and sports and athletic goods stores. Non store based segment includes distribution via the internet, catalogs, and teleshopping.
 

The ecosystem is dominated by five leading brands that collectively account for around 80% of the global athletic footwear market share. Major players are Reebok, Puma, Nike, Adidas, Asics, New Balance Skechers, Converse, Vans, and Saucony.
 

Nike, Adidas, and Asics led the industry in 2015. The key strategies adopted by these players are more number of retail outlets, large global customer base, and strong distribution channel. Consumers’ inclination for brands differs on the basis of region, For example,  Asics and Puma dominate the European industry, while U.S. based companies VF Corp., Skechers, and New Balance have strong presence in North America.
 

The key deciding factors for gaining profitability and competitive advantage are enhancing R&D capabilities, building strong brand equity, strong capital resources and efficient network management which will help companies to stay ahead in the competition.
 

The industry is expected to witness mergers and acquisitions by leading brands to gain share and increase global reach, thereby converting capital to revenues.