The last two years have been great for the U.S. outdoor community. With outdoor participation on the rise, especially amongst female teenagers, and women comprising 45-percent of the outdoor community out of 141.1 million participants and women making 85-percent of the purchasing decisions it would appear that the ladies have finally broken through the glass ceiling of the traditionally male-dominated outdoor community.
Here are some particularly interesting stats about female outdoor participants:
- 60-percent of women age 11-15 participate in outdoor activities.
- 55-percent of women age 21-25 participate in outdoor activities.
- Women spent $973 million in 2011/12.
- $546 million of that was on apparel, as the top selling product for women.
- Alpine ski equipment made up 71-percent of equipment purchases, snowboarding comprised 28-percent.
- Sixty-one percent of female cross country skiers have a Bachelor’s Degree or higher.
- Women’s AT/Randonee boots saw a 16% increase last season.
Here are some stats about all outdoor participants:
- Over the past year kayaking has increased by 27-percent.
- Over the past year bow hunting has increased by 18-percent.
- Over the past year Freestyle skiing has increased by 18-percent.
- Over the past year SUPing has increased by 18-percent.
- Over the past year telemark skiing has increased by 15-percent.
- 87-percent of hikers participate in more than one outdoor activity.
- Nearly 52 million people run/jog/trail run.
- Nearly 43 million people road bike/mountain bike/bmx.
So what does it mean for outdoor brands? Kudos to brands who have been making women-specific products. These brands saw the trend coming and stayed ahead of the curve. They probably hired influential women or at least listened to a core test group. Now, they’re well established and have a solid female consumer base. For brands who are just now getting the memo: get crackin’ on the women’s redesign before anyone notices. Just kidding. In many cases women simply aren’t their target market, and that’s fine. But these brands should keep in mind they’re missing out on nearly half the market.
References: The Outdoor Foundation, SnowSports Industries of America.