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AI's impact in the footwear industry
Artificial Intelligence seems destined to deeply change our lives, so we have asked our panel of experts about the expected impact of this tool in the footwear business. Get free access to the report with the main conclusions
Artificial Intelligence seems destined to deeply change our lives, but it is still unclear how it will impact particular businesses.
We asked our panel how they expect AI will most significantly impact footwear design and product development. 60% of survey respondents - the highest percentage - believe that AI will enable generative design for innovative shoe concepts. This suggests that the industry views AI primarily as a tool for unlocking new creative possibilities and streamlining the ideation process, allowing designers to rapidly generate and refine novel concepts that might not emerge through traditional methods.
Another notable area where AI is expected to make a difference is in accelerating prototyping through virtual simulations (41.3%).
While also recognized as relevant, enhancing trend forecasting and market analysis (27.9%), optimizing material selection for sustainability and performance (22.1%), and personalizing products based on individual biomechanics and preferences (21.2%) are seen as less impacted by AI at this stage.
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Contents
Executive SummaryBusiness Context
Health of the Business
Employment Level
Prices
Quantity
Difficulties
Retail Channels
Less Optimism about Footwear Consumption in 2025
Trump's Tariffs Expected to Negatively Impact Footwear
AI's Impact in the Footwear Industry
About Survey
About the Survey
In 2019 the World Footwear has created the World Footwear Experts 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 disseminate this information to provide an accurate overview of the situation of the global footwear industry. The eleventh edition of this online survey was conducted during the months of November and December 2024.
In this edition, we have obtained 104 valid answers, 36% from Asia, 29% from Africa, 21% from Europe, 8% from North America, 6% from South America, and 1% from Oceania. More than half of respondents (54%) are involved in footwear manufacturing (manufacturers) or footwear trade and distribution (traders) and the remainder in other footwear-related activities, including trade associations (14%), consultancy (9%), education and research (6%), journalism (2%) and other activities (15%).
Previous Editions of this Bulletin can be found HERE
