Outdoor Retail Participant Patterns: Peaks, Plateaus, and Possibilities
The outdoor retail industry has seen significant shifts in participant demographics, trends, and behaviors. In this article I unpack how Outdoor Retail Industry has dramatically shifted since pre-pandemic behaviors.
For this article, my primary source of content leans into the Outdoor Foundation and their 2024 Report on Outdoor Retail Participants. You can trust in the recommendations → I tap into data spanning 17 years, collected through 18,000 interviews annually +1,600 panel interviews each month. 😉
Steady Growth in Participation 📈
The outdoor retail sector has experienced a steady increase in participation, with a 4.1% year-over-year growth from 2007 to 2023. This translates to over 190 million Americans aged six and older, or 57.3% of the population, engaging in outdoor activities. However, this growth is not uniformly distributed across all participant categories.
Insight: Brands must clearly articulate who they are and why new participants should consider them for their outdoor activities. The industry has evolved considerably. Have you?
