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Interface News Reporter | Shi Yiying

Interface News Editor | Lou Qiqin

In 2024, competition in the sports consumer market for footwear products is unprecedentedly fierce. In the first half of the year, Dexter shoes emerged as a dark horse, and new models continued to appear in the running shoe market throughout the year. However, canvas shoes, led by the two major casual sports brands Vans and Converse, were not well received.

According to the data from the 618 promotion, Vans and Converse have both fallen out of the top 15 in Tmall's sports brand sales rankings this year. And Douyin's 618 women's shoe market data shows that the sales of canvas shoes reached 156 million yuan, a year-on-year decline of 26%, with a market share of less than 3%.

At the end of June, Converse's parent company Nike Group released its annual report for the 2024 fiscal year from June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, in which Converse brand revenue fell 15% year-on-year, and fell 17% in the last fiscal quarter.

In early and mid-August, VF Corporation, the parent company of the Vans brand, released its quarterly report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. As one of VF's two main brands, Vans' revenue fell by 21%, reaching only $581.8 million in the quarter. After VF Corporation sold the trendy brand Supreme in July this year, Vans' revenue further declined. Soon, the throne of VF's largest revenue contribution will change hands. The North Face, which focuses on professional outdoor sports, recorded $524.2 million in this quarter. It should be noted that the peak sales season for the North Face, the autumn and winter season in the northern hemisphere, has not yet arrived.

Converse and Vans, which mainly focus on canvas shoes, also combine sports with fashion. Take Vans as an example. In the past, the joint products of Vans and Supreme, and the joint products of The North Face and Supreme, were once the "darlings" of the fashion circle within the VF Group, and premium transactions were common in the secondary market. However, the reason behind VF's decision to sell Supreme was that the Supreme fashion brand itself was not selling well, and secondly, the joint benefits of its joint brands with Vans and other brands within the group were gradually declining.

The reason why canvas shoes are not selling well is related to their comfort, usage scenarios and other attributes. However, the lack of innovation in this type of shoes is also a difficult problem to solve.

Also developed from the 1950s to the 1970s, the full name of the German training shoes is the German Army Training Shoes. They were created and produced by the Dassler brothers who later founded Adidas and PUMA. They have always been used as German military training shoes. In the 1970s and 1980s, the German training shoes were German defense shoes. The German training shoes, which have become popular again in the past two years, retain the cushioning and comfort of the training shoes, and make them lighter based on the progress of sports shoes technology. The two major German brands have combined fashion design to make them look better.

PUMA's new generation of Palermo shoes launched at the end of last year are derived from Dexterity shoes. They are retro and casual, and use a variety of different colors such as latte color, guava pink color, blue and yellow contrast color, etc. They are sold out as soon as they are released, and can also be sold at a premium in the secondary market.

In sharp contrast to Dexterity shoes, canvas shoes have not been updated in terms of functionality. Therefore, "uncomfortable to wear" is the most common complaint of canvas shoe consumers. Converse canvas shoes, which originated from canvas basketball shoes, and Vans canvas shoes, which originated from skateboard shoes, have not made any fundamental changes to the shoe style. Therefore, the characteristics of canvas shoes, such as narrow toe and rough canvas, have never changed, and the comfort is naturally poor.

In the past, canvas shoes represented skateboarding and fashion, which were products and brand images that consumers valued. However, fashion is changeable, and sports fashion shoes are emerging in an endless stream. In addition, the competition in the sports shoe market is so fierce that many brands of running shoes have begun to drop to the 300-500 yuan price range. Few consumers are willing to spend 700-800 yuan to buy a pair of uncomfortable and replaceable sports shoes.

Therefore, Vans and Converse are also exploring the market. In the Vans Tmall flagship store, the best-selling item is a canvas shoe with a discount of 349 yuan. This product for the spring of 2023 has a tag price of 499 yuan. In the Converse Tmall flagship store, it can be seen that the overall price of canvas shoes is slightly higher than that of Vans. The best-selling item is the All Star classic high-top canvas shoe with a discount of 379 yuan. This new product for the summer of 2022 has a tag price of 449 yuan.

However, for brands like Vans, the downward trend in price range may be a temporary solution. Domestic canvas shoe brands such as Huili always have advantages in price range. In the Douyin women's shoe sales ranking during the 618 promotion this year, two domestic canvas shoe brands, Renben and Huili, ranked among the top three in the canvas shoe category. In terms of market share in the canvas shoe category, Converse still ranks first with 41%, but the second place is FILA, a brand under Anta Group, with a canvas shoe market share of 36%. On the same list, Vans' market share is only 9%.

In fact, the rise of the FILA brand in the field of canvas shoes and even footwear is worthy of reference for Converse. FILA itself is an Italian sports fashion brand, and its clothing design is its advantage. However, in recent years, FILA's share of footwear sales in the Chinese market has continued to increase. The fundamental reason is that it relies on the technical advantages of its parent company, a large sports goods group, to carry out technical innovation and design differentiation of shoes.

Converse can definitely introduce Nike's technology research and development capabilities to make its canvas shoes more comfortable. Vans, on the other hand, needs to find another way. After all, the brands under VF Group only have professional technology in sports products, but its technology research and development focus is on outdoor clothing products. Supreme, which was sold, and Timberland and Dickie brands, which are still under VF Group, do not have professional sports technology support.