Brands are in a race to evolve their supply chains and manufacturing technologies in order to get new products to the market faster.Brands like Nike and Adidas have made moves to increase speed to market. They have shed the old model in which new shoe styles could take up to 18 months to crawl from conception to store shelves.

These efforts have led to a huge cut in supply chain lead times, reducing the chance of having excessive, slow-moving inventory and increasing sportswear makers' odds of keeping up with the latest trends. That could add an additional 15 per cent to top line growth.

So almost 20 per cent of Nike’s and Adidas' production may be automated by fiscal 2023. Innovations like digitized design, automated production, 3D printing could also increase their share gains.

After the supply chain changes take hold, almost no small brand or private label footwear maker for the foreseeable future will be able to offer comparable quality products to what Nike and Adidas have at similar prices.

So major athletic wear brands are poised to offer better products.

Sales in the athletic wear industry may have a seven per cent annual global growth by 2021.