Increase in Demand for Athletic Shoes and Rising Penetration of E-commerce Is Driving Shoe Materials Market Growth

Increase in demand for athletic shoes and rising penetration of E-commerce is driving shoe materials market growth. Shoe Materials Market size is forecast to reach $26.7 billion by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 6.5% during 2020-2025. 

The shoe materials market is growing at a significant rate during the forecast period, owing to the rising demand for athletic shoes. Athletic shoes include sportswear, trekking shoes, aerobic shoes, cycling shoes, and running shoes. Growing fascination and perception about the health benefits of sports and wellness practices, active involvement of young people in sports and associated activities, increasing rate of disposable income of customers and others are expected to be main trends contributing to enhancements in the demand for shoe materials, thus boosting the market growth. Simultaneously, people have begun to understand that sports and exercise practices will help ensure good health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Obesity is a significant health concern in developing nations such as the United States and Europe, with one in three citizens being obese. The area community relies on sports such as yoga, gymnastics, and jogging to reduce obesity. The market for sports shoes is also higher in these countries.

The increasing prominence of sporting activities such as the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, the ICC World Cup, and others have accelerated the demand for athletic shoes, which in turn raises the growth of shoe materials in the market. In order to avoid muscle injury, leg injuries, knee pain, hip pain, and back pain, people are now gradually recognizing the meaning of wearing the right form of shoes for athletic events. As a result, the market for athletic shoes is projected to increase sharply over the coming years.  In June 2019, New Balance launched a fuel cell platform for running shoes. The New Balance Innovation Design Studio developed the new FuelCell formulation system with the aim of using it to make it much easier for athletes everywhere. With four efficiency models: FuelCell 5280, FuelCell Rebel, FuelCell Propel, and FuelCell Echo, the latest FuelCell range boasts the best rebound properties of any New Balance performance foam. Such developments are expected to positively impact market growth during the forecast period 2020-2025.

North America holds a major share of the shoe materials market, owing to the presence of a large number of wealthy individuals with good disposable income in this region. According to the Wealth-X High Net Worth Handbook 2019, North America is home to 41% of the world's high net worth individuals (HNWIs). There were 618,000 millennial millionaires in the U.S. in 2019, according to a survey by CNBC LLC, of which about 93 percent of millennials have a net worth ranging from USD 1 million to USD 2.5 million. Therefore a rise in the number of HNWIs and millennials raises the demand for luxury goods, including footwear, which in turn influences the growth of the market for shoe materials in the region.

However, Covid-19 has had a severe impact on the luxury footwear industry. Store closures due to quarantine and lockdown measures have resulted in bleak consequences, with revenue declining dramatically from January to April 2020. Sales of footwear declined by nearly 42 percent in the U.S. at the end of the first quarter of 2020, according to a survey by World Footwear. Which is affecting the growth of the shoe materials market.

E-commerce, or electronic commerce, which includes the exclusive purchase and sale of goods and services through electronic networks, has a massive global market. Online shopping is the most well-known method of e-commerce. By making it simpler and more convenient, e-commerce has streamlined the shopping process for customers. E-commerce, in all its iterations and variations, is expected to offer anything not readily possible through conventional stores retailers. Amongst other market product lines, the shoe market has a number of influences that work against it in the traditional shopping stores context. Shoe retailers need greater warehouse space since shoes generally come in more sizes and shapes than apparel items. Compared with developing countries such as India and China, online shopping is more common in developed countries such as America and Japan. The new shopping situation differs from what it was 10 years ago. Due to the advent of e-commerce, the market has a tremendous opportunity, which makes shopping cheaper, easier, and more convenient. According to FDRA- Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America every year Americans spend 6253.8 billion INR on Shoes. The footwear industry has evolved significantly over the years and has expanded with the use of advances in technology and rigorous strategies. Over the projected duration of 2020-2025, e-commerce platforms are set to rise as a continuous revenue source for athletic footwear manufacturers. In emerging markets, including India and China, promising growth from e-commerce platforms is pushing manufacturers to redirect their sales strategies to these countries. According to the Indian Footwear Leather and Accessories Production Scheme, the Central Government has authorized the investment of $ 348 Mn for the three financial years from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020. These investments have been made for the construction of facilities for the leather industry, resolving environmental issues relevant to the leather sector, generation of employment, and rise in the manufacture of footwear among others. Global demand for shoes is growing and e-commerce is definitely feeding the boom that is propelling the market growth for shoe materials.

Several companies operating in this sector are engaged in the research and development of new products in order to keep pace with customer expectations and market penetration. For instance, BASF invented a hybrid material made of polyurethane foam as a matrix material called ETPU. In 2018, Dow Inc. launched new soling systems, to serve the “athleisure” and protective footwear markets. Enerlyte polyurethane elastomer is a system developed for the active user to carry the "athleisure" market to lightweight, robust, high "energy-return" and soft-touch soles. Prominent producers are entering into mergers and acquisition deals in order to develop new materials and broaden their geographical footprint. Therefore it is expected that these ongoing initiatives by leading players will attract multiple customers and thus generate numerous opportunities for shoe materials market. 

  

The major companies in the shoe materials market include Huntsman Corporation, Dow Inc, BASF SE, Anhui Anli Material Technology Co. Ltd, Trencilo S.L, Adidas, NIKE Inc., Garrett Leather, JBS S.A. and Braskem S.A. among others. In 2020, Huntsman Corporation launched PU footwear system at SIMAC. A revolutionary polyurethane midsole material, tested and qualified by uvex for use in its uvex 1 G2 safety shoes, has been developed for the safety and military shoe market. 

In 2020, Expanded Thermoplastic Polyurethane (E-TPU) BASF collaborated with Maincal, the leading Argentinean footwear company, to introduce the first safety shoe made with Infinergy ® in South America. The main focus of the key companies are centered towards the product launches and collaboration in different locations of companies, thus enhancing their product portfolios for various end-use industry. The continuous developments in the shoe materials are the major factors set to buoy the shoe materials market during 2020-2025.