laTeST - Music & Sound Retailer

Guitar Retail Sales Mix: Unit Share by Type
“Economic conditions
have created downward
price pressure for both
acoustics and electrics
alike. Over the past year,
unit sales declined in all
price ranges. Consumers
have been leaning more
heavily toward under-
$200 guitars, which
accounted for 42.2
percent of all guitars
sold by MI retailers
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Jan '09 Feb '09 Mar '09 Apr '09 May '09 Jun '09 Jul '09 Aug '09 Sep '09 Oct '09 Nov '09 Dec '09 Jan '10
Electric 44.4% 47.3% 45.6% 45.7% 43.9% 43.0% 42.9% 40.8% 42.2% 42.0% 45.1% 40.9% 42.0%
Acoustic/Electric 18.1% 19.6% 20.4% 20.6% 20.7% 22.0% 21.3% 20.7% 19.9% 20.2% 19.7% 17.8% 20.3%
Acoustic 37.4% 33.1% 34.0% 33.7% 35.4% 35.0% 35.9% 38.5% 38.0% 37.8% 35.3% 41.3% 37.7%
Source: MI SalesTrak®
The numbers represent US retail sales in music stores, based upon sku-level POS data from over 550 online and brick-and-mortar outlets.
For further information contact: info@misalestrak.com
in the most recent 12
months. Weakness was
more pronounced in the
mid- to high price
brackets.”
— Jim Hirschberg
Source: MI SalesTrak
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Guitar Retail Sales Mix: Unit Share by Pricepoint
0%
12 Months Ending Jan '09 12 Months Ending Jan '10
$2,000 & Over 1.4% 1.3%
$1,000 - $1,999.99 5.0% 4.9%
$500 - $999.99 12.9% 11.1%
$200 - $499.99 41.5% 40.5%
Under $200 39.3% 42.2%
Source: MI SalesTrak®
The numbers represent US retail sales in music stores, based upon sku-level POS data from over 550 online and brick-and-mortar outlets.
For further information contact: info@misalestrak.com
sales. During the January 1 to
31 period of this year, sunburst
rose to 9.7 percent of sales and
white saw a nice rise to 7.8
percent of total electric sales.
“Last year (in this guitar update)
we made note that black is the
most popular color for electric
guitars and black guitars
typically become a bigger part
of the mix in December,” said
Hirschberg. “The preference for
black intensified last year during
the recession, reaching a peak
market share in December 2008.
Guess what? The market share
of black electric guitars spiked
again in December 2009.”
The story is completely different
when it comes to acoustic
color sales trends. Buyers prefer
“au naturale,” if you will. Acoustic
guitars with a natural finish
accounted for a whopping 72
percent of acoustic guitar sales
for the past several months. That
number has stayed quite consistent
over the past year. Sunburst
color finished second, but trailed
badly at more that 9 percent during
the past two months where
data had been compiled. Black
was the third highest-selling
acoustic color. “Acoustic players
continue to opt for natural
finishes 72 percent of the time
in spite of the many available options,”
Hirschberg said.
Other than the three colors we
just mentioned, MI Sales Trak
also records data for the following
colors regarding acoustic
guitar sales: amber, blue, brown,
burgundy, gray/silver, green,
orange, red and other.