Footwear Retail Insight:
Fashion Companies Adjusting Practices
Due To Athleisure Wear Trend
Rick Muskat, Principal at Deer Stags Concepts, talks about their company's strategy to increase sales of leather shoes in a time when athletic shoes are all the rage.
Click here to watch the 1 minute video!
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Executive Retail Interview
An Interview
with Yuval Chomski, the Founder of Invertex
 FDRA interviewed Yuval Chomski, the Founder of Invertex, in the June 2016 Retail Recap. Invertex is a technology company providing solutions to enhance customer experience when shopping in stores and online. Invertex uses mobile devices to enable 3D modeling, as well as big data and machine learning to increase shopper's confidence and accuracy when they chose their size.
You've said that what people think about today's shopping experience doesn't match reality- can you explain what you mean by "Shopping Experience 4.0"?
If you consider the way people buy footwear today, there's the traditional brick-and-mortar shoe store experience, which has pretty much remained unchanged for many of years, and then there's the online shopping route...
Can you give some examples?
Sure - think of the most basic advantages of a physical store, where a shopper can try on shoes for both fit and style. Our system allows online shoppers to virtually experience very similar advantages when they receive instant, personally tailored size and fit recommendations, as well as hyper-realistic visualizations of how the shoes would look with a pair of jeans or a skirt...
Can you really change the experience in a physical store?
Absolutely. Think of the shopping experience in an Apple Store. From the moment you enter, you are continuously guided by a sales rep who has all the information at their fingertips. No need to go out back to check inventory, no need for a separate cashier to swipe your card. We aim to bring that consumer-tailored, consumer-focused experience to footwear shopping...
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Women's Hiring Drives Record Hourly Wages for Shoe Stores
Amid a tightening US labor market and burgeoning footwear sales, shoe store retailers are offering record pay to attract and retain workers, with the sector's workforce seeing a marked shift to hiring relatively more women than men. Recently the federal government reported its latest read on the country's employment situation, noting the unemployment rate fell in May to just 4.7%, the lowest in eight and a half years. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose a a year-over-year 2.5%. While much of the report fell short of expectations, the long-term trends of a gradually tightening labor market and rising wages remain intact.
As the national unemployment rate...
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FDRA Weekly Footwear Sales Snapshot
Over 11,000 Stores Reporting Weekly Sales Data to FDRA
FDRA is the only association able to deliver weekly sales numbers to its members - providing a snapshot of footwear marketplace metrics in real time. NOW WITH eCOMMERCE NUMBERS!
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FDRA's National Shoe Sales Report
The most up-to-date retail data and analysis of nationwide
brick-and-mortar independents, e-commerce, and mass retail sales
This report breaks down the data so you can look at charts showing sales in shoe stores and then see ALL footwear sales from all retailers (big box, online, and shoe stores).
 Brief excerpt: Starting from a broader perspective, growth in overall retail demand grew a year-over-year 2.5% last month, comparable to the average expansion witnessed over the previous twelve months. The US Census Bureau is reporting last month's gain in overall retail sales & food services was driven primarily by sales at non-store retailers (up 12.2%), health and personal care stores (up 8.3%), and food services and drinking places (+6.5%). Gasoline station sales continue to sputter (off -9.5%) as did department stores (-5.8%), partially offsetting overall growth gained from most other retail sectors.
Meanwhile sales at US shoe stores...
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FDRA's Total Canadian Footwear Store Sales YTD
This special report includes the latest retail sales data from Statistics Canada
(reporting March numbers for footwear) as well as FDRA analysis and charts.
Brief excerpt:
Starting from a broader perspective, growth in overall seasonally-adjusted retail demand grew a year-over-year 4.6% in this latest month, faster than in March but slower than in January or February.
The increase is broad-based across geography and retail sector, with sales in all ten provinces and three territories growing and ten of eleven sectors expanding from a year earlier. Overall retail sales were driven primarily by miscellaneous store retailers (up 9.0%) and sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers (up 8.4%). Gasoline station sales continue to sputter (off -4.5%), owing to lower yr/yr gas prices, partially offsetting growth rates witnessed in other retail sectors (chart 1).
Meanwhile sales at Canadian shoes stores...
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Many Brands are Adding Snapchat to the Media Mix
Snapchat Tak
es Turn at Couture
WWD
Snapchat aims to add to its fashion momentum with a coming-out party at the Paris couture. "Casual," "authentic" and "relatable" are not terms that naturally fit into the upper echelons of fashion, but they are the bread and butter of Snapchat. But that disconnect isn't keeping brands from connecting with their followers on the platform.
Marisa Thalberg, chief marketing officer at Taco Bell, was fielding Cinco de Mayo-related pitches from her social media team when one idea stopped her in her tracks: a "sponsored lens" on Snapchat that would make people's heads transform into a giant taco drizzled with spicy Diablo sauce.
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Back-to-School 2016 Shopping Predictions
and Influencers in Traditional Supplies
 The back-to-school season is a crucial time for the traditional supplies industry, accounting for 35 percent of the $11.8 billion in yearly sales and nearly half of unit sales in the U.S.*, according to global information company
The NPD Group. While the season's importance to the industry is consistently high, at the same time how and where consumers shop, combined with other influencers from teachers to online shopping, is shaking up the industry.
"To the average consumer, back-to-school shopping may seem like a fairly consistent and predictable routine, but for retailers and manufacturers it is an extremely dynamic environment," said Leen Nsouli, director, office supplies industry analyst, The NPD Group.
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Impacts on the Sneaker Industry
Sneakernomics: What's Really Happening In The U.S. Sneaker Business?
Forbes, Written by Matt Powell, Sports Industry Analysis, The NPD Group
 According to NPD, which represents the most comprehensive roster of reporting retailers, comprising more than 50% of the US retail athletic shoe market, sales of athletic footwear in the U.S. for the first third of the year (January-April 2016) were solid. Both dollar and unit sales grew in the low single digits with average selling price up slightly, mostly on mix.
So far, the bankruptcies in the industry have had little impact on sales, but that could change over the next 90 days. I expect these "going out of business" sales to have a minimal impact on the industry. The greatest impact will likely come early, when the assortments are best. Channel checks revealed obsolete and broken inventories in the stores slated to close.
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Cracking the Fitting Challenge When Selling Shoes Online
Invertex is a technology company providing solutions to enhance customer experience when shopping in stores and online. Invertex uses mobile devices to enable 3D modeling, as well as big data and machine learning to increase shopper's confidence and accuracy when they chose their size. The result is increase in online sales and decrease in returns.
Thursday, July 7th @ 2pm EST
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