Which shoe brand are you most likely to sell to newbies, penguins, charity "runners?" Which ones are they most likely to ask for? Yes, I know it depends on gait, weight, form, etc. But what do you end up selling mostly?
Which shoe brand are you most likely to sell to newbies, penguins, charity "runners?" Which ones are they most likely to ask for? Yes, I know it depends on gait, weight, form, etc. But what do you end up selling mostly?
most "penguins" seem to think that New Balance and Saucony are the shoes real runners wear.
Typically I dont ever limit a customer to any one brand. Even if they ask for a specific shoe, I tell them that I have a policy of not limiting any customer to only one brand.
Every customer trys at least 4 different brands on.
Mizuno and Asics are 1 and 2 by a long shot
Brooks is 3rd,
Nike is 4th
Adidas 5th
Saucony 6th
NB 7th
RBK 8th
Montrail, PI, Puma make up less than 5%
I wouldn't say that Mizuno is as high as you put it. Asics and Brooks share the number one spot as that Adrenaline as been the shoe in the past year. Nike is a high third because they're running shoes are actually becoming much better designed. Then there's Saucony and Mizuno. But I'd say Adidas Reebok and New Balance are all pretty low, more for walkers/cross trainers. Everyone wants the original Onitsukas, the asics baby.
Would you say that Mizuno and Asics has way better R/D than everyone else though.
man/woman wrote:
Which shoe brand are you most likely to sell to newbies, penguins, charity "runners?"
I don't really notice a difference between what these types of runners buy and what other types buy. I don't think newbies are really like penguins or charity runners. There's really no reason to criticize someone who just wants a pair of shoes to go and jog 3-4 times a week. They're not making a narcissistic spectacle of themselves.
I sell, in order:
Asics
Brooks
Mizuno
New Balance
Saucony
Nike
Adidas
Reebok
Funny you have you list in that order....
These are ROUGH percentages of shoes sales by vendor for us in 2006.
Asics (28%)
Mizuno (20%)
Brooks (14%)
Nike (11%)
Saucony (10%)
New Balance (7%)
Adidas (6%)
Pearl Izumi (1%)
North Face (.5%)
Someone mentioned that this demographic is where the growth is coming from. I wanted to see if there is any corollation to shoe brand sales growth. Looks like ASICS, Brooks and Mizuno are doing well with this segment. You can tease out newbies if you want, or define the demographic as you wish.
Just off of observations ive seen most new runnes will go in this order,
1. Nike
2. Asics
3. New Balance
4. Brooks
5. Adidas
not a bad race wrote:
[quote]:
They're not making a narcissistic spectacle of themselves.
LMAO
we definitly, push asics and mizuno above all other brands and sell many more comparitively, but after that i would put faith into brooks especially the adrenaline, and saucony cushioning, like the triumph 4's
Our list
1. Asics (by a long shot)
2. Brooks (the adrenaline is our strongest seller)
3. Mizuno
4. Nike
5. Saucony
6. Adidas
7. New Balance (these guys are terrible, and we don't understand why)
man/woman wrote:
Someone mentioned that this demographic is where the growth is coming from. I wanted to see if there is any corollation to shoe brand sales growth. Looks like ASICS, Brooks and Mizuno are doing well with this segment. You can tease out newbies if you want, or define the demographic as you wish.
I don't think so. Again, what new/slow runners buy isn't all that different from what experienced/faster runners buy. The differences I've noticed are that experienced runners will buy pricier shoes almost superstitiously whereas newer runners won't. Faster runners just want something light (relatively speaking) for the most part.
What that means is I might sell the Cumulus to someone starting out, but the Nimbus to someone who's done a half marathon. Or, the Adrenaline goes to the guy who needs shoes for the gym while the Trance goes to someone training for a marathon. It would still be Asics or Brooks at the top.
runnerdi7 wrote:
we definitly, push asics and mizuno above all other brands and sell many more comparitively, but after that i would put faith into brooks especially the adrenaline, and saucony cushioning, like the triumph 4's
Why do you push asics?
I would imagine that the margins you are making on asics pale in comparison to Mizuno and Adidas.
If a customer wants Asics, that is another thing, but why push a brand that you dont make as much money selling?
I acknowledge what you are saying. So there should be very little difference in the sales breakdown for the penguin/novice crowd vs. the sales breakdown for experienced/veteran runners. So marketing is not doing anything to go after this penguin/novice crowd? So marketing is not effectively targeting this penguin/novice crowd? I'm amazed. Or maybe the shoe companies are more focussed on marketing by gender?
leroy wrote:
Why do you push asics?
I would imagine that the margins you are making on asics pale in comparison to Mizuno and Adidas.
If a customer wants Asics, that is another thing, but why push a brand that you dont make as much money selling?
Hmmmm, maybe he sells the shoe that is best for the customer regardles of how much money is being made.
I hope you were joking.
So marketing is not doing anything to go after this penguin/novice crowd? So marketing is not effectively targeting this penguin/novice crowd? I'm amazed.
Well, by Penguin I assume you mean the sort of people that take 6-7 hours to finish a marathon and really make it a parade rather than a race. They buy the same shoes as everyone else. A shoe is a shoe, really.
Where they spend money is on accessories, which is where the money is anyway. They'll be better outfitted than anyone you know and because they carry a lot (seriously), they'll buy a lot of packs and belts and so on. Entry fees to absurdly expensive, non-competitive races are also part of that market.
Okay, so what brand are women more likely to walk out with vs. men? Is it pretty much the same breakdown? Or is a shoe company more likely to do well with one gender vs. the other?
It seems that the salesperson has an inordinate effect on the buyer, that transcends any marketing effort?
Bingo, on the accessories. Almost all the penguins walk out with tons of accessories, and they tend to use a lot of gels, powders, sprays, bottles, etc. not only in the races but in their training as well.