Footwear purchase trend in the United Kingdom (UK) 2005-2023
Consumer spending on footwear in the United Kingdom (UK) demonstrated a gradual annual increase since 2005, except for a significant decrease in 2020. In 2023, expenditure on footwear was worth over 12.2 billion British pounds, which was an increase on the previous year. Most recent data on UK households shows that majority of footwear purchases took place in outlets, including online channels of large supermarket chains.
Physical stores for footwear lose out
Spending on footwear goes up every year in the UK, but the number of retail stores for footwear displays the opposite trend. In the past 10 years, more than 800 enterprises selling footwear and leather goods in the UK disappeared. Considering the share of retail sales made online in this segment, the decline in the number of stores doesn’t come as a surprise.
Online shopping for footwear
Consumers move towards online in their footwear purchases, and for reasons other than mere convenience. A survey conducted in 2018 in the UK revealed that a wider variety of available products and cheaper prices were what gave online shopping an advantage over physical stores in the eyes of consumers.
