Fitbit was the undisputed leader in the wearables market in the last quarter of 2015. Garmin took home fifth place that same quarter according to IDC. It should come as no surprise then that the two get the most shelf space from U.S. national retailers when it comes to smart wrist wearables. Gap Intelligence found that Fitbit accounted for 19 percent of retail placements with Garmin not far behind at 16 percent.
Left to fight for the remaining 65 percent of retail space were Samsung, taking up 8 percent, Apple with 7 percent and Polar and Jawbone tied at 6 percent. LG and Pebble accounted for 5% with Motorola taking up only 3% of shelf space.
In terms of price points, wrist-based wearables selling for between US$100 and US$149 got the most shelf placements. Those selling for between US$50 and US$99 followed closely behind.
As for selection, your best best may well be Best Buy. It carried 35 fitness products and just less than 25 smartwatches the week of March 27th. The Sports Authority and Walmart followed in second and third respectively.
The report also found that both brands were features more often in those retailers’ ads than other brands. Fitbit was featured in 54 percent of wrist-worn products advertised by the retailer. Garmin came in distant second with 14 percent, followed by Apple with 7 percent.
The report defines retail placements as “a national representation of the SKUs available at many of a particular retailer’s locations. The figures do not take into account the number of locations at which any single product is present in a retailer’s chain.”
Source : eWearNow