Price of footwear is the most important driver in the buying decision

When asked about the factors considered to be the most relevant in determining the evolution of sales of each category of footwear, our panel of experts seem to have slightly different views than in the previous editions.

While price continuous to be one of the most important drivers – now considered by 57% of respondents to be the most important one – in this edition, fashion trends were considered more important than before (+ 9 p.p. of responses in comparison to the previous edition) and even surpassed, though by only one percentage point, purchasing power.

The importance attributed to sustainability also declined by 7 percentage points in comparison to the previous edition, reversing a continuous upward trend that had been taking place since the first edition of the WF Business Conditions Survey.

 

Some differences among respondents should be noted. Sustainability concerns are considered particularly less relevant by North American respondents (only mentioned by 6.3%) than by others. In what concerns different lines of business, purchasing power is considered more critical by manufacturers (47.4%) than by traders (26.1%).

Contents

Executive Summary
Business Context
Health of the Business
Employment Level
Prices
Quantity
Difficulties
Types of Footwear
Possible Explanations
Retail Channels
Post-Pandemic Expectations
Footwear Prices to Grow 20% Until 2025
Footwear Business not Expected to be Carbon Neutral by 2050
About the Survey

About the Survey

In 2019 the World Footwear has created the World Footwear' expert panel and is now conducting a Business Conditions Survey every semester.

The objective of the World Footwear Experts Panel Survey is to collect information regarding the current business conditions within the worldwide footwear markets and then to redistribute such information in a way it will provide an accurate overview of the situation of the global footwear industry.

The fifth edition of this online survey was conducted during the month of October 2021. We have obtained 122 valid answers, 43% coming from Europe, 30% from Asia, 13% and 7% from North and South America, respectively, 6% from Africa and 1% from Oceania. Half of respondents are involved in footwear manufacturing (manufacturers) – 31% – or footwear trade and distribution (traders) – 19% – and the other half in other footwear-related activities such as trade associations, consultancy, journalism, etc. (others).