Report Summary
“Footwear specialists will be among the hardest-hit sectors as consumer shopping behaviour has altered drastically to reflect changes in lifestyles during the COVID-19 lockdown. Mintel’s COVID-19 tracker in April 2021 found that 44% of French adults were buying less clothing and footwear compared to before the outbreak and 43% said that they would be uncomfortable trying on clothing/footwear in-store. Rising unemployment and financial difficulties will impact footwear demand, while the move towards more ethical patterns of consumption (renting, buying second hand) will erode the space that old-school, store-based retailers occupied. The number of these retailers is dwindling and the sports sector is growing market share, with direct-to-consumer sales increasingly important.”
– Natalie Macmillan, Senior European Retail Analyst
Key issues covered in this Report
- The impact of COVID-19 on the footwear retailing sector
- Channels used for buying footwear
- Which retailers and outlet types people buy footwear from
- The strategies of the major specialist footwear retailers and their online presence
- Opportunities for growth for specialist footwear retailers.
Table of Contents
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Overview
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- Key issues covered in this Report
- Areas covered in this Report
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Executive summary
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- The market
- Consumer spending
- Figure 1: France: Consumer spending on footwear (including. VAT), 2016-20
- Sector size and forecast
- Channels of distribution
- Companies and brands
- Key metrics
- Market shares
- Figure 2: France: Leading specialist Footwear retailers’ sales as % of all specialist footwear retailers’ sales, 2020
- Online
- The consumer
- Who shops for footwear
- Figure 3: France: Footwear buyers by age and gender, January 2021
- How they shop
- Figure 4: France: Footwear purchasing channels, January 2021
- Where they shop
- Figure 5: France: Retailers shopped for footwear, January 2021
- Footwear shopping attitudes and behaviours
- Figure 6: France: Footwear shopper behaviour, January 2021
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Impact of COVID-19 on Footwear Retailing
- Short, medium and long term impact on the sector
- Figure 7: Short, medium and long term impact of COVID-19 on online grocery retailing, April 2021
- Opportunities and threats
- Limiting time in-store could present new opportunities
- Figure 8: Decathlon’s ‘scan & go’ service, 2020
- Using technology to enhance service
- Providing a feeling of shopping in-store from home
- Brands experiment with new store formats
- Figure 9: Dr Martens pop-up at German department store Breuninger, Stuttgart, 2020
- Casualisation: a threat to formal and occasion driven footwear?
- How COVID-19 will reshape the industry
- Sustainability will be high on the agenda
- Figure 10: Upcycled Melissa x Rombaut collaboration, 2021
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- Figure 11: The Voronoi runner fully biodegradable trainer, 2020
- Rapid delivery could be a key differentiator going forwards
- Brands leverage Augmented Reality to help customers see how shoes will look
- The physical and the digital increasingly merge
- Discounters could strengthen their position in footwear
- The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviour across Europe
- COVID-19 concerns remain steady
- Figure 12: Europe: Those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, March 2020-April 2021*
- Financial impact of crisis begins to be felt but worse still to come
- Figure 13: Europe: Financial impact of COVID-19, March 2021*
- More than half of Italians cutting back on non-essential spending
- Concern about spending time in-store highest in mainland Europe
- Click and collect helps to boost online capacity
- Contactless payment demand rises
- Local businesses benefit from consumers wishing to stay close to home
- Online shopping boom
- Figure 14: Europe: Changes to shopping behaviour since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, April 2021*
- Clothing and footwear continues to be low spending priority
- Figure 15: Net balance* of expected spending on selected items in the next month, April 2021**
- Italians most likely to be planning to spend less on clothing and footwear
- Figure 16: Europe: expected spending on clothing and accessories (including footwear) in the next month, April 2021*
- How the crisis is impacting on key consumer segments
- Women tend to be more concerned about the virus
- Figure 17: Europe: Those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, by gender and age, April 2021*
- Growth in online shopping is across the board
- Figure 18: Europe: consumers shopping more online, by gender and age, April 2021*
- Women and older people trying to limit time spent in-store
- Figure 19: Europe: consumers trying to limit the time they spend in-store, by gender and age, April 2021*
- Older people most likely to be shopping more from local businesses
- Figure 20: Europe: consumers shopping more from local businesses, by gender and age, November 2020*
- COVID-19: Market context
- UK
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- Short, medium and long term impact on the sector
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Issues and insights
- COVID-19 will increase the importance of sports footwear and sports retailers in the French footwear market
- New opportunities in rental and second-hand
- COVID-19 will increase the importance of sports footwear and sports retailers in the French footwear market
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The market – Key takeaways
- COVID-19 impacts economic growth
- Financial insecurity for many consumers
- Footwear spending weak
- Specialist footwear retailers’ sales decline by a third
- Sports shops dominate distribution
- COVID-19 impacts economic growth
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Consumer spending
- COVID-19 impacts economic growth
- 2021 may see recovery of over 5%
- Footwear market contracted by 20% over 2020
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- Figure 21: France: Consumer spending on footwear (including. VAT), 2016-20
- COVID-19 impacts economic growth
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Sector size and forecast
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- Figure 22: France: Footwear specialists’ sales, excluding VAT, 2016-20
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- Figure 23: France: Footwear specialists’ sales, Forecasts, excluding VAT, 2021-25
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Inflation
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- Figure 24: France: Consumer prices, Annual % change, 2016-20
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- Figure 25: France: Consumer price inflation on footwear, clothing and all items annual % change, January 2020-March 2021
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Channels of distribution
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Companies and brands – Key takeaways
- An increasingly fragmented market
- The sports brands are strengthening
- Ethics and sustainability are moving up the agenda
- A game of two halves in market shares
- Online sales growing
- An increasingly fragmented market
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Leading players
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- Responses to COVID-19
- Courir is racing ahead
- Besson Chaussures
- Former leader Vivarte now has only one footwear brand
- Groupe Éram at the forefront of sustainability issues
- Historic brand André fights another day
- Other retailers
- Figure 26: France: Leading specialist footwear retailers, sales, 2016-20
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- Figure 27: France: Leading specialist footwear retailers, outlet numbers, 2016-20
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Market shares
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- Figure 28: France: Leading specialist footwear retailers, sales as % of all specialist footwear retailers’ sales, 2016-20
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Online
- Online activity
- Shopping for footwear online
- Online sales of footwear
- Leading online players
- Online activity
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The consumer – Key takeaways
- Younger adults and parents buy footwear most
- Stores still dominate but growth in online has accelerated
- A fragmented market
- Different preferences amongst the genders
- Flexibility can motivate more online shopping for footwear enthusiasts
- COVID-19 will increase popularity of casual styles
- Price sensitivity is likely to increase
- Younger adults and parents buy footwear most
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Who shops for footwear
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- Figure 29: France: Footwear buyers by age and gender, January 2021
- Parents are a core market
- Figure 30: France: Footwear buyers by parental status, January 2021
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How they shop for footwear
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- Figure 31: France: Footwear purchasing channels, January 2021
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Where they shop for footwear
- No dominant retailer
- Sports shops the most popular channel
- Pureplayers are weaker than in other categories
- Figure 32: France: Retailers shopped for footwear, January 2021
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- Figure 33: France: Retailers shopped by gender, January 2021
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- Figure 34: France: Retailers shopped by Parental status, January 2021
- No dominant retailer
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Footwear shopping attitudes and behaviours
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- Figure 35: France: Footwear shopper behaviour, January 2021
- Flexibility can motivate more online shopping for footwear enthusiasts
- Figure 36: France: Footwear shopper behaviour, those agreeing with online behaviour statements, January 2021
- COVID-19 will heighten consumers’ casual preferences
- Figure 37: France: Footwear shopper behaviour, those agreeing with COVID-19 behaviour statements, January 2021
- Price sensitivity is likely to increase
- Figure 38: France: Footwear shopper behaviour, those agreeing with price related behaviour statements, January 2021
- Social media can drive online sales
- Figure 39: France: Footwear shopper behaviour, those agreeing with social media behaviour statement, January 2021
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Appendix – Data sources and abbreviations
- Abbreviations
- Data sources
- Abbreviations
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