Footwear market: department stores prepare for the post-sneaker era

The footwear industry is undergoing a fundamental recalibration worldwide. While sneakers remain a key sales driver, department stores are seeing demand shift towards smarter, more versatile styles, coupled with a growing appetite for in-store experiences that digital channels cannot replicate. Among members of the IADS (International Association of Department Stores), the category holds a stable share of revenue- 5% for women, 3% for men- in 2024–2025. Yet beneath this stability, a strategic transformation is underway: retailers are reorganising their operations, product assortments, and engagement models to adapt to the end of the golden age of the sports sneaker.

According to the IADS, comfort remains the bedrock of purchasing decisions, sustaining the performance of brands like Adidas, On, New Balance, and Ugg, but the sneaker “supercycle” is showing signs of maturity. In Germany, Breuninger anticipates a reduction in the category’s share of its sales and is tightening its offer around leading labels, while the “return to the office” trend is reshaping consumer behaviour. El Palacio de Hierro in Mexico is seeing men favour hybrid styles that blend style and comfort (such as Santoni), while the British retailer John Lewis and the Swiss retailer Manor report a strong comeback for ballet flats, loafers, and versatile styles, signalling heightened price sensitivity among consumers.

The quest for the “missing middle” and an obsession with experience

To bridge the gap between luxury and sport, retailers are banking on accessible contemporary labels such as Bobbies, Odaje, and Jonak at Galeries Lafayette, and Sam Edelman at Tryano. Additionally, the development of own brands has become a key margin driver, from entry-level essentials to premium, European-made lines at Breuninger. In store, operational excellence goes hand in hand with experience: Breuninger’s flagship in Stuttgart deploys “runners” to deliver sizes to the shop floor in under three minutes, while John Lewis and El Palacio de Hierro are modernising their spaces to maximise cross-selling.

This in-store momentum is accompanied by exclusive attention to very important customers (VICs). Level Shoes focuses on select events, El Palacio de Hierro stages exclusive dinners, while Breuninger invites loyal customers to go behind the scenes at an Italian manufacturer, making craftsmanship a lever for loyalty. Furthermore, tactical activations are multiplying via large-scale pop-ups, such as an Ugg takeover at Galeries Lafayette on the Champs-Élysées during Paris Fashion Week, or Breuninger’s interactive campaigns with influencers to drive targeted traffic.

The combination of artificial intelligence and new visual codes

The digital channel now accounts for 43% of women’s footwear sales and 36% of men’s. To optimise this performance, retailers are turning to AI: Tryano in Abu Dhabi is integrating it into its e-commerce visuals; Bloomingdale’s is using it to rationalise the allocation of shop-floor space; and the Turkish group Boyner is using it to monitor competitors’ prices. This digitalisation is accompanied by refined stock management to guarantee the constant availability of bestsellers, while leveraging redesigned physical spaces that emphasise immersion and personalised advice.

Finally, store layouts align with luxury’s pared-back codes and a minimalist philosophy, favouring airy, uncluttered displays and a holistic lifestyle merchandising approach that sometimes integrates footwear into ready-to-wear. Cutting-edge techniques, such as targeted product lighting at Marks & Spencer or low fixtures at Primark, are reinventing the customer journey. Faced with e-commerce, department stores are proving that their strongest competitive advantage lies in their ability to transform the store into a place of experience and personalised advice.