London-based barefoot shoe brand Viovobarefoot has released its “Unfinished Business Report 2025”. In it, the company takes an honest assessment of the challenges and “champagne moments” of the past financial year. Vivobarefoot achieved sales of 91.4 million pounds (103.6 million euros) in the 2025 financial year, an increase of five percent compared to the previous year. The number of pairs sold rose by twelve percent to 1.2 million. Expansion into new markets and the opening of new stores were also a central part of the year. The company’s own trade grew by seven percent. Among other things, a flagship store was opened in London and the first store in Bristol. In total there are now over 25 Vivobarefoot stores worldwide.
“Champagne moments”
The company also has positive things to report in the area of transparency and sustainability initiatives. The boom in repairs is particularly noteworthy: as part of one campaign, more than 2,000 repairs were purchased online, whereas in a normal week there were only around 150. The number of pairs repaired or refurbished also rose to 63,000. The transparency of the value chain, which includes 100 percent coverage of Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners, was also maintained.
Another highlight was the collaboration with the Future Footwear Foundation, which brought together indigenous shoemakers and innovators in South Africa to combine traditional craftsmanship with future technologies.
Innovative technologies also developed successfully: VivoBiome was able to continue to grow. This technology has been integrated into some stores and allows shoes to be made to measure through scan-to-print processes. 7,800 feet were scanned in London and Bristol and 1,700 pairs of these bespoke shoes were produced.
The report also points to the growing number of barefoot shoe brands. “While this means more competition, it’s exciting to see the barefoot movement growing!” says the report.
“Fantastic failures”
A central theme of the year was the challenges related to the supply chain and customer satisfaction. A striking example of the difficulties was the introduction of the new EU warehouse and the associated onboarding process. This led to significant shipping delays and disappointed customers. The VivoHealth app, which was actually intended to promote customer health and barefoot awareness, also came onto the market much later than planned, meaning the company missed out on valuable learning opportunities.
In addition, Vivobarefoot was struggling with repair issues as the pricing of repair services was not yet commercially viable. The men’s target group was also neglected because the focus was on a successful women’s campaign, but this led to a one percent decline in men’s sales compared to the previous year. Additional challenges included production bottlenecks for individual products.
Plans for the future
Vivobarefoot is focusing on the USA, where the company is aiming for constant growth again. Scan-to-print solution VivoBiome is also set to expand to the US market and Tokyo to further scale the product. From 2026, the company also plans to launch seasonal unfinished business magazines.