2018 online luxury footwear sales were driven by the footwear segment. This is the outcome of the periodic analysis done by NPD Group’s recent “U.S Luxury E-commerce Report”, according to which footwear is worth nearly half of all fashion sales, while the rest is evenly split between clothing and accessories. The report points out how even the footwear client spends more, since the average price of purchases is of 794 USD (+4%), while the same price point for clothing is of 716 USD, in addition to Footwear being bought more often (1.16 times per year). “Once upon a time, brands were able to establish themselves via handbags – points out the head of NPD’s analysts, Marshal Cohern -, while now one establishes itself via shoes”. The data was collected from the transactions of 9 nationwide retailers, some traditional (Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman), and some online (Farfetch and Net-A-Porter). According to NPD, online sales rose 50% in the last four years, and the outlook shows how sneakers will maintain a double-digit growth in 2019 as well. “The luxury market is transforming because new brands are establishing themselves and online platform grow more competitive”. Cohen concludes that “the main contribution to the segment is given by the young consumer, which is ethnically various, but interested in using the internet to purchase items designed by famous stylists, even more so if those items are shoes and handbags”.
USA, NPD Group awards its shoes: fashion e-ecommerce for the brand grows, and footwear is worth 50% of total sales
