Retailers have been pulling out all the stops this month to encourage consumers to start their holiday shopping in advance. Walmart and Kohl’s, for instance, kicked off multi-day promotional events on Oct. 9, and Amazon wrapped up its second Prime Day of the year yesterday.
Are these “big deal” days enough to get shoppers to spend early? According to a new survey from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) and FFANY, probably not.
The organizations released on Wednesday their 2023 Holiday Shoe Sales Forecast, which is a nationwide survey of consumers who are likely or somewhat likely to buy shoes during the season. The study was conducted by Emerson College Polling.
When asked when they plan to make their holiday footwear purchases, more than half of the respondents (53 percent) said they’ll shop over the post-Thanksgiving weekend, from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Meanwhile, 31 percent will shop before Thanksgiving, and 15 percent plan to make their purchases “sometime in December.”
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In terms of where they’ll spend their money, a majority of the survey participants (57 percent) are opting for convenience, saying they’ll shop online for home delivery, with 43 percent aiming to go in-store to make purchases or pick up at curbside. FDRA noted that the percentage of online shopping declined from 64 percent in 2022, in line with the larger industry shift back toward in-person retail experiences.
According to the survey, the brick-and-mortar stores that are poised to attracted the largest share of holiday shoe shoppers are specialty footwear chains, such as Famous Footwear, DSW, Rack Room, Foot Locker, etc. Half of the respondents reported they plan to shop there this season, while 29 percent will head to large mass retailers and 20 percent to department stores.
Among online customers, Amazon remains the overwhelming favorite destination, with 37 percent of votes. It’s especially popular among older shoppers (60 percent of respondents over the age of 65 said they’ll shop for shoes on Amazon). However, the e-commerce giant’s overall share of footwear shoppers fell this year, from 41 percent in 2022.
The share of shoppers going to brand websites also decreased, from 31 percent last year to 29 percent in 2023.
Retailer websites increased in popularity, though, rising slightly from 19 percent in 2022 to 20 percent in 2023. And Zappos also saw a moderate gain, up from 5 percent in 2022 to 6 percent this year.
While inflationary concerns have slowed consumer spending throughout 2023, the majority of participants in the FDRA survey weren’t overly concerned about the issue. Only 26 percent reported they’ll spend less on shoes this year compared with last year, with 28 percent planning to spend more and 47 percent saying they’ll spend the same amount as last season.
As for how much these customers will dole out for footwear during the holidays, 45 percent said they’ll spend between $100 and $250 this season, while 40 percent will spend less than $100, 12 percent will spend $250 and $500, and 3 percent have a bigger budget above $500.
Across the retail landscape, estimates for the holiday season point to a slight increase in consumer spending as inflation continues to ease. According to Deloitte’s annual sales forecast, total holiday retail spending is predicted to increase between 3.5 percent and 4.6 percent in 2023.
Overall, Deloitte’s retail and consumer products practice forecasts holiday sales will total $1.54 trillion to $1.56 trillion during the November to January timeframe. In 2022, holiday sales grew by 7.6 percent in the same period.
