It seems like everyone is trying to dip their toe into the activewear game – and there are plenty of good reasons to make that move. Allied Market research estimates that activewear market value will reach $547 bn by 2024.
Likewise, Euromonitor expects activewear sales to grow by 6,5 percent in 2021. Getting in on this kind of continuous growth is a hot opportunity for brands. However, activewear is a fairly comprehensive market, and although it’s still growing, it appears that supply has outpaced demand. Activewear is a highly saturated market, with little differentiation in terms of products. One of the elements that differentiate the collections from one another is the tech used and the marketing behind them. Sportswear giants Nike and Adidas are a good example. Adding to their marketing strategies, other opportunities tackled by the sportswear giants are investments in sustainable activewear and plus-size market and pregnancy segment. Finding the right message of differentiation is essential, especially in the activewear market.
A question arises: Is it worth investing in this department for existing fashion brands?
New players entered the market in 2020
Surfing on the home-workout trend and touting the “healthy mind, healthy body” mantra, many retailers launched their activewear collections in the middle of the pandemic. It wasn’t just lingerie brands like Intimissimi or Thinx period underwear jumping on the bandwagon. For instance, mass-market brands like Mango and & Other Stories also took advantage of this opportunity.
Those two brands are good examples of fashion brands expanding their collections to fit current fads. Both labels launched their collections in mid-late 2020.
Also, the share of assortment might seem low, but it is relatively high compared with H&M, which has offered a sports collection for a while. In comparison, Oysho’s brand positioning has given it the highest assortment share.
