When it comes to buying a sports outfit, the shoes on your feet are surely the most important piece. After all, no matter what the colour, style or performance-enhancing features of your athletic ensemble, if the shoes don’t fit well your performance will suffer. It seems that the vast majority of Kiwis agree, with a massive 84% of recent Canstar Blue survey respondents stating that it is important to have the right sport-specific footwear.
Mind you, perhaps we don’t play that much sport; just over half the survey respondents (53%) own only one pair of sports shoes that they wear for every sport they participate in, and 56% of respondents admitted that they don’t update their footwear regularly.
When we do buy though, we’re most likely to head to a bricks and mortar store, with 88% preferring to buy their sports footwear from a physical store and three-quarters of shoppers liking the personalised service they receive this way.
The Canstar Blue survey results do differ by region though: here’s a quick rundown of preferences across the country.
Auckland:
Perhaps it’ something to do with the recently-announced plan by Auckland Sport to make Auckland the world’s most active city, but Aucklanders are the most likely to like the specialised service they get from a sports footwear retailer (81%), most likely to think it is important to have the right sport specific footwear (88%), and the most likely to update their sports footwear regularly so that they can perform at their best (54%).
Alas for bricks and mortar retailers, Aucklanders are also the most likely to visit the footwear retailer for the recommendation, then buy the same item online at a cheaper price (47%).
Waikato:
People from the Waikato are the most likely to buy their sports footwear in person, from a store (92%) and the least likely (equal with Bay of Plenty) to have previously purchased sports footwear online from an offshore retailer (13%).
Canterbury:
Cantabrians are the least likely (equal with Otago) to update their sports footwear regularly so they can perform at their best (39%), and least likely (equal with Bay of Plenty) to buy their sports footwear online from a NZ retailer (17%).
Otago:
People from Otago are the least likely to think it is important to have the right sport specific footwear (75%), least likely (equal with Canterbury) to update their sports footwear regularly so that they can perform at their best (39%), and least likely to like their sports footwear to look fashionable (48%).
Bay of Plenty:
People from the Bay of Plenty are the least likely to visit the footwear retailer for advice and then buy the same item online at a cheaper price (10%), least likely to think that price is more important than shoe functionality/performance (24%), and the least likely to have one pair of shoes that they wear for every sport they participate in (40%).
Want to know more? Check out our Sports Footwear Retailers results here.
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