World Footwear Reports
Growth in production accumulated over a decade wiped away in 2020
Footwear production was down by 15.8% in 2020. Data is taken from the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook just released by APICCAPS, the Portuguese Footwear Association
2020: a dark year for the footwear industry but better than the worst forecasts
In 2020 footwear production and exports fell by 15.8% and 19% respectively. Data are taken from the World Footwear 2021 Yearbook just released by APICCAPS, the Portuguese Footwear Association. Previous forecasts were gloomier, and the World Footwear Experts Panel had pointed to a drop in global footwear consumption in 2020 of more than 20%. Final numbers for 2020 in the developed countries of Europe and North America are in line with such expectations. However, Asia and less developed countries outperformed expectations thus supporting a lower plunge in the global footwear industry
Japan Retail: No Olympic medal for retail sales
June started with some good perspectives as consumer morale in the Japanese market was the strongest in 16 months. However, the retailer’s sentiment is not accompanying, and a new State of Emergency in Tokyo is not promising good news. The Apparel & Accessories (including footwear) Retail Sales Index also suffered from less consumer confidence after March. And with no international visitors going to Japan to attend the Olympics, recovery chances of the retail industry will definitely be impacted
Germany Retail: Better confidence with cautious retailers
The confidence background for retail in Germany is getting better, being the improvement noticeable for both consumers and retailers. Notwithstanding, the seasonally adjusted Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Retail Index has been rather volatile since December, with new decline registered in April, closing about the same 40 percentage points (pp) below the baseline as one year before. Online retail seems to be a winner, once again, and a recent study by McKinsey confirms that the online purchase during COVID-19 for footwear was 61% with a positive net intent of +26 pp to continue to do so after the pandemic
Spain Retail: are consumers curing their entrenched pessimism?
As the new pandemic wave seems to be fading away in Spain, indicators are improving. In the last two months with data available (March and April) Footwear Imports and the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Retail Index performed much better than in 2020. Adding to list of good news is the consumers and retailers' confidence at their maximum scores since March 2020. With the online retail being at its maximum as well, the question now is whether omnichannel strategies from physical operators will be strong enough?
France Retail: high confidence gives retail good signs
Confidence of both consumers and retailers improved in the last few months in France, contradicting the general expectation of the negative impact of the new lockdowns. Footwear retail, which had a deep fall back in April, improved significantly in May. And good news extend to the online, as lockdowns have favoured the internet sales share against the physical store trade for many categories, with apparel and footwear standing out
UK Retail: Anticipating a new Retail Normalcy
With the seasonally adjusted TCF (Textile, Clothing & Footwear) Retail Sales Index successfully resuming the 2018 baseline, a new Retail Normalcy is anticipated. Importers, on their side, have well sensed since February that retail was about to reignite, as depicted by the increase in the monthly footwear imports. As the vaccination process evolves favourably in the UK, Consumer Confidence in the country seems to be unstoppable
Webinar: EU - Japan Agreement for the Footwear and Leather Goods Industry
Participation in the webinar is free of charge for all World Footwear readers. Learn more about the event and register today to understand more about the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and Japan
How is COVID-19 impacting footwear retail in different countries?
With the world fast approaching 180 million cases of infected people and with vaccination now in place in several countries, we bring a summary of our latest Flash Reports focused on some key markets
Japan Retail: too early to be excited about retail
After a year of underperforming, the Retail Index for Apparel & Accessories managed to overcome the figures of the previous year in March 2021. Notwithstanding, importers do not seem yet convinced that this is a sustained recovery. The good news, as in other countries, comes from confidence indicators, with consumers seem to drive away from pessimism. However, all seems too fragile yet and it might mean that it is too early to get excited with retail in Japan
US Retail: Will retail go back to the trend?
Retail Sales in shoe stores started the year with a decreasing trend, putting an end in some recovery registered in the last months of 2020, especially when the stimulus checks started reaching the households. E-commerce is on an upward cycle, however, is not clear if the net result will be a good one, as its growth is taking place at the expenses of brick and mortar. Once again, as in other geographies already analysed in the past weeks, Consumer Confidence seems to be on a good track, translating the feeling that mass vaccination will knock COVID-19 soon. The question is: will retail go back to the trend?
Germany Retail: After some successful months, retail took a massive hit by the end of 2020
After the initial hit back in the first months of 2020, the impact of the pandemic in German retail sales seemed to be manageable for most of the year. However, in the last two months of 2020 the plot of the story changed, and with strength. As in other geographies, the bad news for the offline channels has been accompanied by good news for the online. Will this be enough? Most people believe it will not. The good news seems to come from the confidence indicators: consumer pessimism seems to be fading away. And retailers seem to follow. Will confidence beat COVID-19?
Spain Retail: depressed retail and online sales gaining share
The TCF retail Sales Index in Spain is showing some resistance to getting back to the pre-pandemic levels, even if some recovery took place over the second half of 2020. One positive sign seems to come from internet retail, which is gaining share since September 2020. The concern raises as this is being done at the expenses of physical retail. If one needs hope and goods news, those might come from some relative optimism from the consumer side, which might be followed by the retailers. The next few months will be key to see if they persist
France Retail: Footwear Sales in Troubled Waters again
After a period of some return to normality, as reported in our previous Retail Flash for France, footwear retail in France plunged in November, to recover over the Christmas period. The up and down continued when we entered 2021. And the concern is raised: if 2020 was not good, and if other waves of the pandemic emerge, how will the footwear retail resist in 2021?
UK Retail: Christmas upsurge turns into big new dip at the beginning of 2021
As a new wave of COVID-19 struck the UK and a new confinement hit the country after the New Year, retail sales of footwear slowed down again. One interesting fact comes from the indicator of consumer confidence, which is now increasing for two succeeding months. If vaccination in the UK succeeds, footwear sales decline might not persist. The question is what the impact will be for brick and mortar, as this virus seems to have been fatal for many high street players-
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