World Footwear

Imports

Tough times ahead for German shoemakers

Mar 8, 2024 / Germany
German footwear manufacturers are facing a challenging 2024, says HDS/L, highlighting only nominally higher 2023 sales and losses on imports, especially in the second half of the year

Italian footwear production slows down

Feb 29, 2024 / Italy
Italy recorded a footwear production of 148 million pairs last year, down by 8.6% year-over-year and a far cry from 2019’s 179 million pairs, after a progressive slowdown since the start of 2023

US Retail: it’s all about the prices

Premium ContentFeb 28, 2024 / United States
There are signs that footwear retail sales could rise moderately in the near term, but this will all depend on future price behaviour. On the one hand, the CPI suggests that the risk of renewed price rises is well contained, but on the other hand, retailers continue to manage excess inventories, so their pricing power may not be more evident until 2024. Perhaps better news comes from consumers’ inflation expectations for the next 12 months, as they seem to believe that they will get a break from inflation, which usually leads to more discretionary demand

Germany Retail: despite some good news, retailers continue to worry

Premium ContentFeb 1, 2024 / World Footwear Reports
German retailers’ worries are not over. Despite a slight uptrend in the Textile, Clothing, and Footwear (TCF) Retail index, in line with the recent positive trend in consumer confidence indicators, their concerns go well beyond nominal performance and focus on whether inflation will continue to erode margins. Put simply, passing on costs to customers or closing down altogether is still keeping them up at night. As the first quarter is traditionally slow, and the volatile geopolitical situation could change at any moment, we are cautious about making near-term forecasts

Spain Retail: clouds are lifting for retail

Premium ContentJan 19, 2024 / World Footwear Reports
Despite some concerns about inflation, retailers were optimistic about their prospects for the end of 2023, and data on imports at least confirmed a stabilisation in the footwear trade on favourable grounds. Looking at our previous Retail Flash, it’s now safe to say that the clouds are lifting over retail in Spain. On a different note, online fashion has clearly lost the momentum generated during the pandemic

Indian leather industry seeks fiscal incentives in 2024 Budget

Jan 19, 2024 / India
The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) in India has called for several financial incentives for the leather industry in the forthcoming Budget 2024

Global slowdown in international footwear trade

Premium ContentJan 17, 2024 / World Footwear Reports
A sluggish demand in two of the main areas for footwear consumption, the US and Europe, resulted in a global slowdown in international trade throughout 2023. Check the snapshot of the performance of the main players with the figures known so far

US: footwear prices increased in October

Nov 24, 2023 / United States
While overall consumer prices remained stable, as compared to the previous month, retail shoe prices in October rose by 1.1% year-over-year, the sharpest increase in eleven months

Japan Retail: footwear trade is not expected to improve until the end of the year

Premium ContentNov 14, 2023 / Japan
Despite some positive news on the growth of department store sales and the return of foreign tourists, rising consumer prices set alarm bells ringing in September, suggesting that Japanese consumers in general are cutting back on spending and may be at their breaking point. In addition, the reduction in the volume of footwear imports and the impact of the country’s monetary policy on the cost of imported goods is another sign that footwear retail is unlikely to improve by the end of the year. The Government has been taking measures, but the outcome shouldn’t be seen until 2024

US Retail: footwear prospects until the end of the year are at a standstill

Premium ContentNov 12, 2023 / United States
Despite signs of a certain resilience from consumers over the summer, companies are taking a cautious approach for the rest of 2023. The long deceleration in footwear inflation came to a halt in August, so if the trend recedes, wage increases will have to follow suit, or the positive outlook for footwear retail could be jeopardised. It’s not surprising how carefully retailers are managing their inventory at the moment: neither too much nor too little

10 countries were responsible for 88% of total footwear production

Premium ContentNov 6, 2023 / World Footwear Yearbook
In 2022, global footwear production reached 23.9 billion pairs, increasing by 7.6% compared to the previous year. A group of 10 countries accounted for 88% of all footwear produce in the world

Germany Retail: retailers’ troubles are far from over

Premium ContentOct 20, 2023 / World Footwear Reports
Confidence indicators are a red flag for retail at the moment, especially on the retailers’ side. The slow decline in inflation is likely to have a negative impact on consumer prices in the clothing and footwear segment, which will undoubtedly continue to limit consumers’ purchasing power; even the fall in import prices is not entirely positive news, as it will take time to translate into reality. Only the online channel seems to be more optimistic about the times ahead

Group of 10 countries accounts for 90% of global footwear exports

Premium ContentOct 17, 2023 / World Footwear Yearbook
Footwear exports recorded a notable increase of 9% in 2022, reaching a total of 15.2 billion pairs. The 10 main exporting countries represented almost 90% of the worldwide total

Spain Retail: the future of footwear retail is clouded for the rest of the year

Premium ContentOct 10, 2023 / World Footwear Reports
It’s not all bad news. The downward trend recorded by the TCF deflated retail sales index from April onwards remains above last year’s figures, and consumer confidence is about to reach a positive threshold. However, consumer footwear prices show yet no signs of slowing down, and, above all, imports in the category seem to be declining. These two factors could in fact be a warning of a further deterioration in footwear demand in Spain by the end of the year

Peru: leather and footwear production has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels

Oct 6, 2023 / Peru
In 2020, the Peruvian leather and footwear production fell by around 30% and, despite some recovery in the following years, has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels
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