Footwear in Portugal

2020 IMPACT

Footwear experiences decreased demand as consumers work from home and attend fewer social events

Like most apparel categories in Portugal, footwear suffered decreased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and especially during the lockdown from mid-March to early May, as apparel and footwear specialist retailers were forced to close. Formal footwear registered a particularly big drop as consumers increasingly worked from home and had few social events to attend, thus restricting the need for occasion-based footwear.

Damage to sales of children’s footwear mitigated by shorter replacement cycle

Children’s footwear was the least impacted category within footwear in 2020, as it continues to benefit from children growing and thus needing to replace their footwear to have shoes that fit them. This factor did not change during 2020.

E-commerce boosted through special offers; larger established companies fared better than smaller ones

Sales via e-commerce will register strong growth in 2020 as apparel and footwear specialist retailers had to close during lockdown, thus transferring in-store retailing share to e-commerce. Manufacturers increasingly made special offers online to entice consumers to shop with them.

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Slow recovery expected as economic difficulties set to continue

Like other apparel categories, footwear is expected to register recovery starting from 2021 following its declining sales in 2020, as Portuguese consumers who postponed their purchases in 2020 will make them in 2021. Furthermore, consumers will be keen to take advantage of expected discounts and special offers as manufacturers will launch promotions to get rid of leftover stock from 2020, thus decreasing average unit prices of footwear.

Potential for growth in sports footwear as consumers become increasingly health conscious

Growth opportunities in footwear are most likely to come from sportswear, due to the rising number of Portuguese consumers practising sport and taking part in exercise. The trend towards health and fitness was already the evident before the COVID-19 pandemic and will be boosted by it, as pursuing a healthy lifestyle has become increasingly important to fend off illnesses.

Multichannel and e-commerce strategies to persist as consumers value convenience and special offers

Players in footwear are expected to develop multichannel strategies over the forecast period to expand their audience. During the first lockdown when apparel and footwear specialist retailers were closed, sales of footwear via e-commerce increased significantly.