The global footwear industry is a multi-billion-dollar market. Despite the negative impact on the global economy, the outlook on the footwear industry is bright. There is a silver lining to the post-pandemic market which is hungry to dress up again while maintaining the comfort level they’ve grown accustomed to.
The global footwear industry can recover despite the negative impact of the Covid 19 pandemic. The pandemic led the industry to be affected by low consumption because many shops were closed to prevent the pandemic and people reduced shopping.
Some companies had to battle to survive in the difficult times because the Covid 19 pandemic hit the footwear industry hard in 2020. Many retailers struggled to survived. For example, in the UK Shoe Zone permanently closed its 20 stores and Aldo Group went into administration.
With the uncertain outlook for the industry, it required entrepreneurs to adapt advanced technology to meet today’s demand business environment and comprehend the patterns of market movements to have efficient strategy to have an edge over your competitors.
It was estimated that the global footwear was worth US$ 27180 million in 2020 and can reach to US$ 328020 million be the end of 2027 according to a recent report. The largest consumption market is Europe accounting for 28% of the global sales, followed by North America with a consumption market share of 24%.
The recent research lead by the team at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) worked with the British Footwear Association pointed out that the industry can recover from the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic if retailers can understand how the coronavirus behaves on leather in order to thrive in the post-coronavirus. This research can help the industry recover from the pandemic.
I have read one typical case about young female entrepreneur who has succeed in the footwear industry – Hayley, a CEO for Pashion company. The young entrepreneur started in the industry when she was a 20-year-old junior in college. Notably, she had absolutely no background in the footwear industry, but she has created a globally patent-pending technology that allows stylish high heels to turn into comfortable flats in under a second with the removal of the heel itself.
Her design and idea is good with at least two-shoes-in-one (combining both a heel and flat into one product) – but by adding swappable heel kits into the mix, consumers can fit the equivalent of more than 4 pairs of shoes into the space of one. Pashion is a disruptive fashiontech company that has created an entirely new category in the women’s footwear space – fully convertible high heels. This maximizes closet space, suitcase space, and product lifetime value – allowing your “work shoes” to also be “commute shoes”, “date night shoes”, “dancing shoes”. Its mission is to empower women to put their best foot forward – no matter what the day throws their way”. Efficiency is unravelled in the footwear market today. Women can walk to work in flats, throw on stilettos for your big meeting, then throw on a gold block heel for happy hour.
It can be seen that today women’s lives have obviously changed in just the last few decades alone. Today’s women are on the move constantly balancing careers, social lives, families and more. From this perspective, Pashion Footwear was born. Therefore, the fully convertible high heels exist at the intersection of several major trends in the market right now.
First, the post-pandemic market is demanding a unique blend of stylish yet comfortable products. For example, Birdies (a stylish slipper company) is boasting 300% year over year growth, while enviably luxurious but infamously uncomfortable brand Louboutin scored a $640M investment in Q1 2021. Women are more eager than ever before to dress up in beautiful things again, but after spending a year in slippers – comfort is no longer an easy thing to compromise. Unique value that seamlessly balances style and comfort could not be more timely – hitting both of these needs without skipping a beat.
Second, the age of women’s empowerment is with companies developed for women hitting a powerful note with consumers. Popular dating app Bumble, which empowers women to make the first move, earned a market cap in excess of $7B after a successful IPO last February. In the fashion space, Thirdlove – a female-founded lingerie giant on a mission to provide comfortable, yet sexy undergarments – is on track to double sales in 2021 after already doubling them in 2020. Successes like these indicate that female consumers are massively gravitating towards companies developed by their peers – bringing real, lived product experiences into the development process.
It goes without saying that this newfound intense focus around comfort will negatively impact brands in the market that refuse to adapt to the needs of consumers. The global footwear industry is a multi-billion-dollar market. Despite the negative impact on the global economy, the outlook on the footwear industry is bright. There is a silver lining to the post-pandemic market which is hungry to dress up again while maintaining the comfort level they’ve grown accustomed to.
The timing could not be better. The most important things are for business owners think about the unique value proposition of versatility could bring to women with seamlessly balancing comfort and style. This could not be more in-demand than in this industry. It is the perfect time to be introducing a new category in the space that leaves the outdated design practices of the industry in the dust. With significant developments, this industry is exciting for business owners to follow and invest in the next coming years after the post-pandemic times.
