美国消费者与高管鞋类调查 | 2026年春季

U.S. CONSUMER & EXECUTIVE FOOTWEAR SURVEY And the winning shoe is …something casual Consumers are spending, but more carefully,and their idea of 'casual' has shifted SPRING 2026 Introduction The squeeze is on forfootwear companies Matt PriestPresident & CEOFDRA Bryan EshelmanPartner & Managing DirectorAmericas Retail Leader For all the consumer anxiety in 2025 over tariff-related pricehikes, footwear companies were “surgical” about where they raisedprices last year—Bureau of Labor Statistics datashowthat the CPIfor footwear increased only 1.8% YOY from February 2025 to The latent price pressures being felt by retailers may exact more of apinch in 2026, which started with a potentially ominous2% rise infootwear pricesin January as the macro environment remained stormyand landed costs stacked up.The Spring 2026 U.S. Consumer FootwearSurvey,conducted by AlixPartners in partnership with FDRA, findswidespread sticker shock and pessimism over the anticipated state of Price was the toppurchase factorand the top reason For the first time, the research is enhanced by the results of theFDRA Q1Shoe Executive Business Outlook Surveyresults, providing a dual-level Casuals are the most resilient category, with a projected 1% net decline inpurchase intent, though there is perhaps a semantic difference betweenthe consumer idea of casual and that of the industry. Amongrespondents who said they would be spending less on shoes, the top This is the footwear-specific expression of retail's broader challenge:price increases can no longer mask declining sales volumes. Theeconomics of low-margin retail demand genuine volume growth, not justmix shifts and sticker price increases. Forty-five percent of consumersexpect economic conditions to deteriorate over the next six months, Executives are slightly less pessimistic than consumers about the Consumer sentiment update (April 2026)Since March consumer sentiment has taken a significant turn for the worse. Now 61% ofconsumers expect the economy to be weak or very weak in the next 6 months up 16 pts This report provides insight on some priorities and strengths among Casual footwear showed the greatest strength, cited as a “must-buy” by halfof respondents, with the above caveat around the category definition. Morethan 9 in 10 respondents will purchase a pair of casual shoes, while fashion or As retailers look to innovate and solve the perennial fit problem, we see littleconsumer trust in newer AI fit tools; price comparisons and user reviews aremore important to conversion. That shouldn’t discourage innovation withAI. Rather, retailers should not feel compelled to chase the shiny new thing TOP THREE REASONS CONSUMERS ABANDON A PURCHASE As we look across data on in-store versus online purchases, the overriding theme is that consumers want the right-fittingpair as soon as possible. In-store purchasing is more prominent than online, likely due to fit issues, and expectations around In the mind of the consumer, price beats out fancy marketing plans, influencers, and limited product drops, and underscoresthe difficulties of making bets based around the next “big shoe” given long lead times for manufacturing and the fickleness MOST INFLUENTIAL IN DETERMINING WHAT TO BUY Score based on rankings It all adds up to aprice-sensitive consumerwho is making trade-offs,comparing prices online andmaking the trip to a store toget it right—“it” being a shoe Let’s go into more depth. Table of contents Key Finding 01Demand is intact, but pricing has worn 06 Key Finding 02The shiny new thing (AI) isn’t as trustedas the shiny old thing (the Brannock)14 Key Finding 03Consumers can’t buy the shoe that isn’t in stock Key Finding 04Where to find the resilient consumer Demand is intact, but pricing has worn 01 There is sticker shock across theboard. Consumers say price is the#1 influencer of what they buy andthe #1 reason for purchaseabandonment. Even among thosewho intend to spend more in the The relative strength of the casual shoe, couched in consumer termslike a 'shoe that works for multiple occasions' and a focus on 'durability,'suggests a slippage in the category amid a spending squeeze andopens the door to bigger questions around how brands and models are Sonia Lapinsky Fashion Retail LeaderPartner & Managing Director At the same time, purchase frequency is ticking up, suggesting more trips but tighter baskets asconsumers work harder each time to manage spend and find value. Footwear "demand" is intact—consumers still needand want shoes—but price fatigue and tariff-drivenhikes are pushing consumers to walk away frompurchases and trade down, leading to flat ornegative unit growth and price-led revenue So how can companies adapt and win in thisenvironment? They should be conducting pricingand promo optimization, elasticity analytics, andmargin diagnostics to restore volume without Additionally, products need to be marketed tohighlight the price/quality relationship. Tr