Footwear is one of the essential commodities and is used by every human nowadays. Its main purpose is to protect the feet against environmental adversities, ground temperature, and prevent the feet from injuries. Footwear is used by individuals of all age group and gender. The rise in demand for trendy, fancy, and comfortable footwear is further driving the market share of global footwear industry. Furthermore, increasing health concerns, indoor and outdoor activities, increasing fashion conscious population,, and rising retail culture has further led to the growth of footwear market.

Over the past few decades, the global footwear market has witnessed a significant growth and is anticipated to continue at the same pace in the forecast period. However, the market players are focusing on expanding the growth by the use of e-commerce (online platforms), which has gained popularity amongst the youth, thereby, occupying a significant share among all distribution channels.

Footwear Market Taxonomy

On the basis of type, the footwear market is segmented as:

Athletic

Aerobics Shoes

Running Shoes

Sports Shoes

Walking Shoes

Others

Non-athletic

Formal

Military Boots

Hunting Boots

Rain Boots

Winter Boots

Rocky Military Boots

Others

Casual

Waterproof

Others

On the basis of platforms for sale, the footwear market is segmented as:

Online Channel

Shoe Stores

Supermarkets and Hypermarkets

Independent Retail Stores

Textile Retailers

Departmental Stores

On the basis of material used, the footwear market is segmented as:

Leather

Jute

Wood

Plastic

Textiles

Rubber

Others

Athletic type of footwear has witnessed a burgeoning growth in the footwear market owing to the increase in popularity of sports like football, cricket, hockey, and tennis, among others. It has enabled various opportunities for companies to manufacture newer footwear products.

Premium products such as leather footwear from the footwear material section, has occupying a significant market growth in the forecast period.

Global Footwear Market Outlook

Asia Pacific is accounted as the largest market for footwear, due to the highest population base, low cost labor, and large pool of skilled professionals. China holds the largest production of footwear market followed by India, ASEAN, and others, and have further enhanced the growth of footwear market in the region.

North America is projected to witness a significant growth rate and is an important region in terms of revenue generation in the global footwear market. Owing to the change in lifestyle, increasing interest in athletic footwear, proliferating in number of sales channel, and prominent increase in internet retailing has added to the growth of the footwear market in this region.

European footwear products are very well known for their style and quality. The footwear production in Europe is concentrated in the countries such as Spain, Italy, and Portugal, among others. However, the number of footwear manufactures in Europe has taken a downward path in the past few decades due to the economies with low labor cost such as China and India has attracted the footwear market.

Key Developments

In July 2019, Nike Inc. announced to open a new footwear manufacturing plant in Goodyear, Arizona (U.S.). The company will invest US$ 184 million for construction of the plant. The plant is expected to be completed by start of 2020.

In October 2018, DSW Inc. (footwear & accessories retailer) acquired Camuto Group (manufacturer of footwear, apparel and accessories). The acquisition will help DSW Inc. to strengthen its position in North America footwear market.

In February 2018, Kizik Design (U.S. based luxury footwear brand) launched its patented handsfree technology. Using the patented technology the company launched handsfree sneakers for men. The new technology will help the company to expand its product portfolio in footwear market.

In December 2018, Lighthouse Advisors India Private Limited (private equity firm) invested US$ 35 million to acquire a minority stake in Aqualite Industries Pvt. Ltd. (India based footwear manufacturer). Aqualite will use the investment for capacity expansion and for strengthening its market presence in footwear market.

Fragmented Market

Footwear market is dominated by various companies include Nike Inc., Crocs, Timberland Company, Genesco Inc., Wolverine worldwide Inc., Adidas, Fila, K-swiss, Air Jordans, Converse, Vans, Ecco, Skechers, Rebook, and Gucci.