RESEARCH
Together we are catalysts for insight
OIA members, access your research library here:
understand the markets and people You serve
To help our members better understand the markets and people they serve, OIA sponsors and originates industry-leading research and gathers expert perspectives on participation trends, market forces, consumer insights, and more.
We work with multiple sources and leverage deep industry connections to provide the most focused and trusted view of our consumers. And we act swiftly to point our industry in a direction that’s aligned with our collective values: inclusive participation, access to safe recreational opportunities, pragmatic trade policies, and a healthy ecosystem.
Consumer Insights
Annual Outdoor Participation Trends Report
In our industry’s comprehensive, go-to “report card,” OIA sources and gleans insights to uncover narratives around who’s doing what, when, and how outdoors. We create thoughtful stories in custom, easy-to-digest formats that help our members build or evolve business strategies, targeted product road maps, and marketing plans for target customer alignment and better business outcomes.
Member Benefits
For the industry at large, OIA delivers key takeaways on our website. Our members get exclusive access to the full report that has insights to help them:
- Better understand consumer behaviors and motivations, define target markets, and stay abreast of trends like increasing diversity, youth participation, outing frequency, core consumer and casual consumer differentials, and gateway segments.
- Get information on the size and demographics of the outdoor participant base along with the clear definitions and hard numbers often required by investors, policy makers, and emerging or established business owners.
- OIA Leadership members get early VIP access to the full report.
Market intelligence
Outdoor retail sales trends
The outdoor industry landscape is changing, and OIA is here to help with timely insights to grow your brand. We’ve partnered with Circana, formerly NPD, to provide members with retail sales trends in chain, e-commerce, and specialty retail channels across all outdoor product categories, including apparel, footwear, equipment, and accessories. Gain a comprehensive and exclusive view of outdoor industry retail sales data to help you make informed decisions, adapt quickly to market trends, and drive revenue growth.
Member Benefits
Use best-in-class data to drive growth, all while saving tens of thousands in value. When you join OIA, you get access to:
Timely and comprehensive retail sales trends data access
On-demand education and training resources
In-depth analysis from OIA experts
Outdoor Brand Benchmarking Report
Access key finance and business operations benchmarks and insights across all major business functions, including:
- Financial Performance: Key financial ratios and detailed indicators across Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet statements, such as revenue growth, profit margins, and inventory turnover.
Business Operations: Benchmarks focus on metrics such as SKU count, sales channel mix, marketing mix and ROI, sourcing mix, number of employees, and sales per employee.
Actionable Best Practices: Tailored strategies cover revenue and gross margin optimization, asset management, and payroll control.
Targeted Insights: Groupings by company size and product line help pinpoint opportunities within specific industry segments and compared to top performers.
Member Benefits
OIA Leadership Members and study participants have access to the full report. Support and Support+ Members have access to the 8-page Executive Summary. Key insights from the report are available to the public to foster overall industry growth.
Ask-an-expert Research
For members who don’t have the dedicated time or resources to conduct and apply targeted market intelligence, we leverage our access to multiple sources of data and market expertise to deliver the specific insights they need, when they need them.
Member Benefits
Leadership members get unlimited queries, and Support+ members get two queries per year.
Here are a few examples of the kinds of reports our members have requested:
- Segment consumers using specific parameters such as “women hikers living in the Pacific region with income over $100K who participate more than 30 times each year and enjoy target shooting.”
- Provide data for the outdoor sock market showing participation trends for hiking, ski, snowboard, and camp, including counts and demographics. Triangulate with consumer perspectives on both sock fabrics and footwear preferences. Describe the competitive landscape for wool fiber socks.
Explore the Latest:
Watch OIA’s Trade Policy Town Hall as our trade experts help outdoor businesses understand and respond to the latest tariff updates. The
The outdoor industry landscape is changing, and we’re here to help with timely insights to grow your brand. Discover the trends that defined outdoor retail sales last year in our new report.
Watch our discussion about the retail sales trends that dominated the outdoor industry in 2023, our forecasted trends for 2024, and how you can leverage retail sales data to make informed decisions and drive revenue growth.
Get updates on topics that matter to you
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access exclusive research, Become a member today
Become an OIA member and join our passionate group of business leaders, climate experts, policy makers and outdoor enthusiasts committed to sustainable economic growth and climate positivity while protecting—and growing access to—the benefits of the outdoors for everyone.
Call 303.444.3353 to speak to a membership manager today.