Women’s Performance Footwear is Outpacing Men’s — These Brands Are Benefitting

As the performance footwear business explodes, insights suggest that the buying power of women is a major factor. Women’s performance footwear is growing faster than men’s, according to data presented by Matt Powell, senior sports industry adviser for The NPD Group Inc., during the U.S. Sports Market Performance Review presentation on Wednesday. While the women’s performance footwear category is smaller than men’s in terms of sales, it is growing at a faster rate overall. Specific growth varies by category, but much of it was driven by running. In the training and walking categories, women’s growth outperformed men. “[The growth is] really about women’s footwear in the athletic specialty sporting goods channel. And particularly in the running category,” Powell noted. The running category grew by 19% in the first half of 2021, compared to the same period in 2019. Within running, one of the fastest growing performance categories, men still outpaced women in terms of sales volume for the first half of 2021. But according to Powell, this ratio — men at 46% and women at 41% — is a lot narrower than other athletic categories. As more women buy running shoes, certain brands that have properly courted them have seen returns. Hoka One One,

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