New Study: Footwear in Japan

The footwear category grew by 1% in current retail value terms to reach ¥1.2 trillion in 2014. Women’s footwear registered the highest growth in 2014 with the high popularity of sneakers. A key trend in 2014 was the preference for comfortable shoes. Sports-inspired fashion was a key trend in 2014 and young women incorporated sneakers by sports brands such as New Balance into their daily fashion. A typical style in 2014 was sweatshirts, high-waist skirts, socks and sneakers or slip-on shoes. Women’s sneakers used to be seen as footwear exclusively for sports. An increasing number of women, however, prefer comfortable flat shoes over heels and leather shoes for daily use, and sports-inspired footwear is becoming acceptable as fashionable items. With the growing popularity of sneakers, department stores increased the product variety of sneakers while reducing the selling space for heels and leather shoes. Short boots remained other trendy items during 2014. In 2014 side gore boots were particularly popular because they are easy to wear and their flat soles make them comfortable, which also reflected consumers’ preference for comfortable shoes.

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Competitive Landscape

adidas Japan KK remained the leading player in footwear in 2014. The FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil in the summer of 2014, greatly benefited adidas because it is an exclusive kit supplier for the Japanese national football team. The company launched football spike shoes in the Brazil World Cup version called Battle Pack. The brand was launched as Battle Collection for domestic sale. The company invested heavily in promotional activities featuring famous football players such as Lionel Messi and Shinji Kagawa, who played the games in Battle Collection shoes. The company also invested in expanding its omni-channel platform by introducing a new distribution system – Endless Aisle – in May 2014. When certain product is not available at a store directly operated by adidas, consumers can access the adidas online shop through an iPad at the store and can order the product to be delivered to their home. The company aims to improve the efficiency of distribution and increase sales.

Industry Prospects

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