NinthDecimal Study Predicts Which Stores Will Benefit Most From Sports Authority Closing

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 18, 2016) - NinthDecimal, the leading omni-channel audience and measurement company, released a new study that reveals exactly which stores have the greatest opportunity to pick up customers from Sports Authority after it closes its doors for good. Based on NinthDecimal's analysis of trillions of data points on consumer foot traffic from over 135 million unique individuals, the study predicted that the biggest beneficiaries among sports retailers and big box stores would be Big 5 Sporting Goods and Walmart. The study also revealed a 39 percent decline in foot traffic at Sports Authority stores in the year leading up to the announcement that it would completely shut down.

By comparing in-store foot traffic, the study revealed that Sports Authority customers visited Big 5 Sporting Goods stores 5.8 times more than other sports retailers, and that these customers visited Walmart 6.9 times more than other big box retailers. The data demonstrates that these retailers are in the best position to pick up revenue that previously went to Sports Authority, and are expected to see a proportional increase in sales once the shutdown is complete.

Dick's Sporting Goods saw the second highest foot traffic from Sports Authority customers compared to sports retail competitors, with 2.7 times more visits on average, while Target was second among big box retailers, with 4.4 times more visits on average. While there's no guarantee on where Sports Authority customers will take their business in the future, the newly released figures provide powerful and precise visibility into customer behavior patterns that will shape the sports retail market in the coming year.

The Data Behind the Decision
In March, Sports Authority announced that it planned to close 140 stores as part of its restructuring under bankruptcy, but by May, the retailer had made the decision to shutter all 463 stores. NinthDecimal's study reveals important data behind this decision, most notably a 39 percent decline in foot traffic since May 2015. Foot traffic at Sports Authority stores was notably flat over the holiday shopping season, however there was a 9 percent week-over-week spike in visits during Memorial Day Weekend this year, likely due to the going-out-of-business sales.

For competitors, the disappearance of Sports Authority could have an especially strong effect in certain states where the retailer experienced the greatest share of foot traffic in its market, according to NinthDecimal's analysis. The study revealed that Sports Authority claimed more than half of foot traffic among competitors in Hawaii, Rhode Island and Wyoming, and more than a quarter of consumer foot traffic in 11 other states including Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas.

Find the full study here. Learn more about NinthDecimal's audience measurement solutions and other offerings at NinthDecimal.com.

About NinthDecimal
NinthDecimal is the leading omni-channel audience and measurement company, operating at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds. Fortune 500 companies and marquee brands, including American Express, Comcast, Kraft, Microsoft, Starbucks, Target and Toyota, use NinthDecimal's data to plan, activate and measure campaigns, while gaining deeper insights into their audience and overall business. By bridging online and offline data, NinthDecimal's pioneering Location Graph platform offers the most precise audience solution in the market to understand today's consumer and how to engage them throughout the path-to-purchase. Its Location Conversion Index™ (LCI™) is the industry's first offline attribution solution that goes beyond the click to measure physical-world behavior at the point of purchase, and data partnerships with companies like Acxiom, BlueKai, Datalogix, Experian, LiveRamp, Neustar and more provide a comprehensive closed-loop solution.

NinthDecimal is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York City, Chicago and Silicon Valley. Follow us on Twitter (@NinthDecimal) and like us on Facebook. Learn more at NinthDecimal.com.