2012 SNEWS Retail Survey Results Part 4: Top-selling accessory brands and categories

The results of our annual SNEWS® Fitness Retailer Survey are in. Previously we reported on the “best” and “worst” suppliers to work with, the best cardio brands by category and the best strength brands, all according to our retailers. Now, we discuss the results in the accessories category.

If you need a refresher on which companies offered the best-selling accessories brands in last year’s survey, see our story from 2011. Also check out Part I, Part II and Part III from this year’s survey.

Top-selling accessory brands

Among our respondents, 90 percent sold accessories and 10 percent did not. We asked retailers to rank their top-selling brands in the accessory category by first-, second- and third-best-selling. The following are the top ranked brands.

The top ranked among the No. 1-selling accessory brands:

• Spri, with 41.67 percent of the vote
• Body Solid and Power Systems, each with 8.33 percent
• 3G Cardio Vibration, Aeromat, Altus, Harbinger, Schiek, Super Mat, Theraband, Travel Roller, Troy and Xtreme Monkey, each with 4.17 percent 

The top ranked among the No. 2-selling accessory brands:

• Spri, with 37.04 percent of the vote
• Body Solid, with 11.11 percent of the vote
• Cap and Go-Fit, each with 7.41 percent
• Apollo, Astone Fitness, Bosu, Element Fitness, Gymnic, Lifeline, Rumble Roller, Stott, Suunto and TKO, each with 3.7 percent

The top ranked among the No. 3-selling accessory brands:

• Spri, with 16.67 percent of the vote
• SportSmith and Troy, with 11.11 percent
• All-Pro, Altus, Body Solid, Bosu, Fitness Anywhere, Grip Pad, Polar PowerBlock, Rumble Roller, TKO and TRX, each with 5.56 percent

Top 10 best-selling products

Our retailers also ranked their top-selling accessory products:

• First: Stability balls, stretch tubes, bands, mats
• Second: Medicine balls
• Third: Weight attachments, straps, gloves and belts
• Fourth: Yoga mats and kits
• Fifth: Heart rate monitors and other tracking devices
• Sixth: Balance and wobble boards
• Seventh: Hand/ankle weights
• Eighth: Pilates gear/kits
• Ninth: Body-fat analyzers/scales/calipers
• Tenth: Wall charts/books/DVDs

Retailers wrote in additional accessories not on the list, including supplements, foam rollers, vibration plates, sandbells and suspension trainers.

Ninety-three percent of respondents said they sell kettlebells, while 7 percent do not. Some among that 7 percent said they didn’t sell kettlebells because they couldn’t compete on price with nearby big box stores. The top three best-selling kettlebell brands were Body Solid and Troy, each with 23.53 percent of the vote; Go-Fit with 13.73 percent of the vote; and Cap with 7.84 percent of the vote.

Stay tuned to SNEWS on Wednesday to learn what our retailers think are the biggest issues facing the industry, the biggest trends in the industry and what wastes their time.

One caveat: Our survey results reflect the answers retailers shared to our simple questions. We warn readers that we are not economists or statisticians, we are simply reporters reporting what retailers have shared with us. If you have comments, questions or suggestions, send us a note to survey@snewsnet.com.

–Ana Trujillo