For a long time, shoes were one of those things people hesitated to buy online. Every

brand (and sometimes even individual models) has slightly different fits, so no matter how

confident you were in your shoe size, you would still want to try them on before you buy.

But then Zappos came along and changed everything. With free shipping and returns, and

a focus on outstanding customer service, Zappos single-handedly built consumer trust in

online shoe sales and was so successful that Amazon spent $1.2 billion to buy the company

in 2009. Today, Shoes on Amazon is a multi-billion-dollar product group, growing at a rate

far outpacing brick-and-mortar stores.

Shoes: The Amazon EffectBy Nathan Rigby, VP Sales & Marketing at One Click Retail

Last Tuesday, Amazon launched The Fix, a new private fashion brand

specializing in shoes and handbags. Combined with the rollout of the

Prime Wardrobe service which allows Prime members to try on shoes,

clothing and accessories for free, this is a clear indication that Amazon is

positioning itself as a major player in the footwear industry at a time

when brick-and-mortar stores are struggling to retain customers, with

even the major chain Payless filing for bankruptcy.

Though some chains are barely staying afloat, most shoe stores in the US

are doing okay. A 5% YoY growth rate for shoe-specific stores is actually a

little bit higher than the domestic growth rates for most other retail

sectors. As usual, however, brick-and-mortar can’t keep up with Amazon,

which saw shoe sales grow by 35% percent YoY in 2016. Even before

launching The Fix and bringing Nike on board as a first-party seller, 2017

is already shaping up to being a strong year for shoes on Amazon, with a

growth of 18% YoY during the first two quarters:

Key Shoes Trends

• Shoes

Believe it or not, one of the key trends driving the Shoes product group on Amazon is… shoes. The Shoes

product group includes both footwear and accessories, and it’s the accessories that have shown the least

growth in the past 18 months. In the UK, for example, when looking at the entire Shoes product group, we see

a growth rate of 7%, but when we remove everything except for actual footwear (shoes, boots and sandals),

that growth rate balloons to 20%. The difference is even more stark in the US: the Shoes product group as a

whole grew by only 5%, but with accessories removed that growth is 35%. Let’s face it, shoes can be a little bit

pricey and owning multiple pairs is a luxury, but today shoe sales are on the rise because people have more

disposable income and have more faith in economic stability than they have had in over a decade. In particular,

Amazon’s core demographic, millennials, are earning more than ever before.

Key Shoes Trends

• Less Competition

Prior to filing for bankruptcy in April, Payless ShoeSource was one of the largest shoe

chains in the world with over 4,400 stores in 30 countries. Along with their bankruptcy

announcement came the closure of 400 stores, followed two months later by the

announcement of the gradual closure of up to 408 additional stores. Even Foot Locker,

currently the number one seller of Nike brand shoes in the US, is poised to lose a great

deal of business to Amazon in the near future: Nike has just announced a new

partnership with Amazon to become a first party seller.

Key Shoes Trends

• Adidas

So far in 2017, the biggest driver of growth has been women’s sneakers from

Adidas. One of the biggest shoe brands worldwide, Adidas has had a stellar year

on Amazon, with 5 different variations of the Women’s Superstar Foundation

Casual Sneaker appearing in the 6 fastest-growing items on Amazon.com,

ranging from 480% to 890% growth.

Key Shoes Trends

• Men’s Insoles

The only brand stopping Adidas from getting a clean sweep of the top six items is Sof

Sole insoles, two variations of which join Adidas to complete the eight top-growing

items in the first six months of 2017, growing by 300% and 630%. Despite this growth,

Sof Sole only just barely made it into the top 10 items, behind nine different variations

of Superfeet Insoles. That’s right: each of the 10 bestselling items YTD are insoles, with

the top nine coming from Amazon’s insole king, Superfeet.

Key Shoes Trends

• Emerging Brands

Adidas’ rise in the ranks of Amazon’s shoe sales reveals that the product group is not being

dominated by longstanding incumbents – it is still very much open to competition.

Nevertheless, Adidas is a major global brand, so we need to look past the likes of

Sketchers, ASICS, New Balance and other industry heavyweights to identify the true

emerging brands. Leading this category we find two companies founded in the early 2000s,

Keen and Crocs, which are both known for their innovative approaches to the sandal.

Consistent with this, the top-selling shoes from emerging brand are overwhelmingly in the

Comfort and Outdoor categories, in contrast to athletic focus of the leading incumbent

brands.

UK Shoes Comparison

The UK has experienced a growth similar to that of the US. Total Amazon.co.uk

Shoes sales were £67 MM, representing 7% growth in the product group and

20% growth in sales of footwear specifically. Sales were driven

by Sandals and Boots, the leading subcategories in both Women’s (£22 MM)

and Men’s (£15 MM) shoes, while Sports Shoes (£14 MM) came in as the third

largest category, with all other categories trailing far behind.

The top brands in the UK are vastly different from those in the US,

with no representation from Adidas or Superfeet in the UK’s

bestselling or fastest growing items. Timberland’s Women’s Hiking

Shoes line provided two of the top 5 bestselling items of the year so

far, including the #1 item, and both Vans and Converse has two items

in the top 10, all classified as Outdoor Multisport Training Shoes.

2017 is just getting started – we’re bound to see a major increase in shoe

sales during Q3 and Q4. As we approach back-to-school season, we’ll see

the expected spike in Kids’ Shoes, while Nike’s recent partnership as an

Amazon first-party seller as well as the launch of The Fix, Amazon’s private

shoe line, are going to drive sales growth. In light of the eCommerce giant’s

renewed focus on shoes and fashion, now is the time for brands to update

their Amazon strategy to make the most out of the fastest-growing sales

channel in the industry.

“The Amazon Effect” series breaks down specific

product groups, compares Amazon’s performance in that

category to total retail sales (online and offline) and

considers the effect Amazon has on that specific industry

as a whole.

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