World Footwear

Retail

Japan retail: unlocking consumer confidence is key for retail

Premium ContentMar 24, 2023 / Japan
The volume of footwear imports closed 2022 about 10 percentage points below the 2015 baseline, suggesting that the impact of the imported inflation on prices has been clouding the real performance of retail sales in the category. Both the government and some companies have offered inflation allowances or anti-inflation subsidies, but given the saving Japanese mindset, it can be expected that any additional disposable income will not necessarily be used for discretionary shopping, such as clothing and footwear. To boost consumption, it is therefore needed to unlock consumer confidence, which improved only marginally In February, and appears now to be flattening

Shoe Carnival sales decline

Mar 23, 2023 / United States
The US-based footwear retailer posted a fourth quarter and annual sales decline in 2022 over the prior year, but profits exceeded pre-pandemic levels

Amazon to cut another 9 000 jobs

Mar 22, 2023 / United States
The online retail giant announced that will lay off more 9 000 employees in the coming weeks, on top of the previously announced cuts that began in November and extended into January

Shoe Carnival appoints new CFO

Mar 21, 2023 / United States
The footwear retailer appointed Erik Gast to the role of Chief Financial Officer, effective the 24th of April. He will succeed W. Kerry Jackson, who will retire after a 35-year career with the company

UK Spring Budget fails to meet retailers expectations

Mar 17, 2023 / United Kingdom
British retail bodies believe the Government could have gone further to support businesses with the Spring Budget. No changes were introduced concerning VAT-free shopping, shopping hours or business rates

US discretionary retail sales dropped in February

Mar 16, 2023 / United States
According to Circana (formerly IRI) and the NPD Group, discretionary US general merchandise retail sales fell by 4% last month, year-over-year, and unit sales were down by 5%

US Retail: slower growth for retail in the coming months

Premium ContentMar 14, 2023 / United States
The available data suggests that footwear sales dipped in the last quarter of 2022. With inflation eating the wage growth and impacting the stability of the labour market, US consumers appear to have deemed footwear purchases as not essential. This situation is somewhat corroborated by the negative performances of several companies in the fashion category, such as Capri, Nordstrom and VF Corp, in the fourth quarter of the year. Their main concern relates to the excess inventory, which led to a highly promotional environment and caused imports to reduce. Accounting for the mixed feelings on the consumers’ side, it is safe to endorse cautious prospects for retail for these first months of 2023

Zalando reports slower growth

Mar 9, 2023 / Germany
Amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment, the German-based online retailer posted a GMV growth of 3.2% in 2022, year-over-year, with revenue remaining stable at 10.3 billion euros

Sustainable, please. But not more expensive!

Premium ContentMar 7, 2023 / Business Conditions Survey
Sustainability is on the agenda of most footwear brands. Given such importance, in the latest edition of the World Footwear Business Conditions Survey we have asked our experts if consumers will be willing to pay more for sustainability

Germany Retail: one swallow doesn’t make a summer

Premium ContentMar 6, 2023 / World Footwear Reports
Despite the upturn in consumer confidence observed in the last quarter of 2022, there is still much concern among retailers. Footwear imports are following an upward trend since October, which could be read as a good sign concerning the health of retail, but German businesses are quite familiar with the sensitivity of their consumers to slight changes in overall economic conditions, and inflation is still expected to impact directly sales. Caution seems definitely to be the watchword at the start of 2023

Nigel Darwin: the next chapter for Dune London very much builds on the strength of the chapters that have gone before

Premium ContentFeb 28, 2023 / United Kingdom
The Dune Group is renowned for the authority and authenticity that it brings to the shoemaking process. Founded in 1992, the company has recently started a new chapter under the leadership of Nigel Darwin. We spoke with him to get a sense of what the future holds for the company

Foot Locker names interim CFO

Feb 28, 2023 / United States
In addition to his current duties as Senior Vice President of investor relations and financial planning and analysis, Robert Higginbotham will undertake the role of interim CFO of Foot Locker

Spain Retail: retailers and consumers have shown themselves resilient at the end of 2022

Premium ContentFeb 27, 2023 / World Footwear Reports
The Textile, Clothing, and Footwear (TCF) retail sales index has improved in the fourth quarter of last year and several companies in the category appear to be less fearful about 2023, especially after their positive annual results. Moreover, retailers’ and consumers’ confidence indicators are showing that despite some lingering pessimism due to the challenging macroeconomic environment, things won’t get necessarily worse in the short term.

Zalando to cut hundreds of jobs

Feb 22, 2023 / Germany
The German-based online retailer announced that it will cut hundreds of jobs due to the increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment experienced after the COVID-19 pandemic

UK footfall rises in high streets and city centres

Feb 21, 2023 / United Kingdom
The retail data analytics Springboard says that footfall improved in high streets and city centres in the week following the rail strikes disruption, with the return of workers to the office
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