The shoe trade in Germany is feeling the effects of the reluctance to consume in the Federal Republic triggered by rising energy prices and high inflation.
After a good start to the year, consumer sentiment in the industry deteriorated noticeably from May, said Siegfried Jacobs, Deputy General Manager of the Trade Association Textile Shoes Leather Goods (BTE), on Monday at the sidelines of the “Shoes” shoe trade fair in Düsseldorf.
“Especially the lower-income households are currently restricting their fashion and shoe consumption,” said Jacobs. The upper middle and the premium segment in retail are less susceptible. But even there, the money is no longer so loose. Overall, according to Jacobs, sales in the stationary shoe trade in the first half of 2022 were still around 10 percent below the pre-pandemic level.
Online sales of shoes, which reached a market share of 41 percent at the end of 2021, were unable to match the high level of the previous year, which was characterized by the lockdown, in the first half of the year. Even the large online pure players had to accept losses in revenue, in some cases for the first time in their company history. More will be bought in stores again, Jacobs said. According to BTE estimates, the number of stationary shoe retailers fell by 6 percent in 2021 to around 3,000 companies with 11,000 branches.
According to the industry association HDS/L, German shoe manufacturers increased their sales by 11.6 percent to 1.6 billion euros in the first six months. At around 15,750, the number of people employed in the shoe industry was 7.7 percent above the previous year’s level. (dpa)