Home Blog Insights Ecommerce NewsUnlocking the Leading 20 US DTC Footwear Brands

Unlocking the Leading 20 US DTC Footwear Brands

by Sneha Pandey , Insights Manager

5 Min. September 29, 2023

Nike captures a quarter of the market, while Merrell drops out of the top 20

The digital rankings of the US footwear industry from January to August 2023 tell a story of triumphs and challenges for digital brands. According to Similarweb’s market assessment based on audience loyalty, branding, marketing cost, and consolidation, the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) footwear industry falls within a highly competitive market difficulty score compared to other industries in the US. Audience loyalty is increasingly high with 45.8% exclusive visitors, as are customer acquisition costs, with a $1.8M average PPC spend per site amongst the top 20 players, underscoring the substantial investments required to secure a foothold in this fiercely contested digital space.

The digital rankings of the US DTC footwear industry reveal the largest companies online in the US across the industry based on total unique visitors, market share, and year-over-year percentage changes.

This showcases how Similarweb 3.0 unlocks insights into digital markets.

Key takeaways

Nike.com’s Digital Dominance: Nike.com emerges as the undisputed leader, tops the list with a staggering 201.94 million total unique visitors from January to August 2023 growing 9.21% from the same period last year and capturing 25.05% market share.
Adidas and Skechers Secure Strong Positions: Adidas.com and Skechers.com secure strong positions, claiming the second and third spots with 86.4 million and 60.31 million unique visitors, respectively. Adidas’s notable 17.62% year-over-year growth and Skechers’ substantial 30.15% growth highlight their resilience and competitiveness in the digital space.
Under Armour, Crocs, and New Balance Sustain Momentum: Brands like Under Armour, Crocs, and New Balance maintain robust positions, attracting 45.46 million, 39.14 million, and 38.03 million unique visitors, respectively. Their steady market share and positive year-over-year growth reflect effective strategies for engaging online consumers.
Merrell Faces Digital Challenges: Merrell.com experienced a decline, dropping out of the top 20 with 11.03 million unique visitors. While the brand shows a 5.81% year-over-year growth, it falls short compared to competitors, indicating the need for strategic reassessment to regain lost ground.

*Disclaimer: This ranking is based on the DTC digital footwear industry, with parameters limited to companies that have a major footwear component to their business model. Components below 20% segment share are excluded.

Winner spotlight: Nike

Nike.com has undoubtedly emerged as the frontrunner in the US footwear industry’s digital landscape, securing the top spot with an impressive 201.94 million total unique visitors from January to August 2023. This robust figure signifies a remarkable 9.21% growth compared to the same period last year, showcasing Nike’s ability to not only maintain but expand its digital presence.

Audience Growth

The 25.05% market share captured by Nike.com further solidifies its dominance in the online space, indicating that a quarter of the digital traffic within the US footwear industry is directed towards the brand. This significant market share not only attests to Nike’s enduring popularity but also highlights the brand’s emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales and digital strategy over the last few years.

In 2020, Nike announced the Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy, which focused on direct, digital sales, building on the previous Consumer Direct Offense strategy from 2017. With the COVID-19 pandemic functioning as a catalyst, Nike’s shift to DTC sales accelerated, and the company began employing a combination of scaling back wholesale partnerships while expanding direct channels like the Nike website and app.

However, with pandemic ecommerce tailwinds slowing down and market dynamics changing, Nike has had to re-evaluate its distribution strategy and move towards a better balance between DTC and wholesale. While Nike’s key DTC competitors seem to have gradually decreased the company’s market share – a few points lower – the company’s dominance is not yet in serious danger.

Dropping off the list: Merrell

In contrast, Merrell.com has faced challenges in maintaining its digital standing, evident in its drop from the top 20 in the US footwear industry’s digital rankings. With a total of 11.03 million unique visitors from January to August 2023, the platform has experienced a growth rate of 5.81% compared to the same period last year. While growth is positive, it falls short in comparison to competitors, resulting in a decline in market share to 1.37%.

Taking a look at Merrell’s customer acquisition channels, it is evident that the company struggles with brand recognition in comparison to others, reflected in both their direct and organic traffic. Although Merrell has a high amount of monthly visits, their audience growth (new visitors) is only 16% from last year, which is 15% below the ranking average.

Merrell has high loyalty in its audience and above-average returning users however, they are not as successful as their competitors in attracting new customers to their site. Due to this over time, their audience base has been decreasing and other competitors have surpassed them.

Cost Efficiency & Top-Of-Funnel Disconnect

In the last 12 months, Brooks & On has managed to drive significantly more traffic while keeping their PPC spend relatively low compared to players like Under Armour, Nike, Adidas, etc. Merrell spends less on average monthly on PPC than Brooks & On. However, this lower spend has still not resulted in driving much more traffic. Larger players like Nike & Adidas are generally cost-efficient, spending far more than Merrell on PPC each month.

While Merrell.com has demonstrated growth in unique visitors, its descent from the top 20 and the decrease in market share indicate the need for strategic recalibration to navigate the evolving dynamics of the US footwear industry’s digital landscape.

Other notable names such as All Birds, Timberland, and Saucony were also out of reach of the top 20.

Diverse market presence

These rankings reflect the diversity of the footwear market, encompassing athletic giants like Puma and Asics, iconic casual wear brands such as Converse and Vans, and specialized footwear providers like Birkenstock and UGG. Each brand’s digital standing speaks to its unique market positioning and appeal to online consumers.

Looking forward, digital sales are braving a tougher, more uncertain environment. As consumers cope with tighter wallets in a tough macroeconomic environment, companies that fail to innovate or drive brand affinity may continue to face weaker demand. With companies already deploying markdowns amid cost pressures, decreased discretionary spending may continue to impact both DTC and wholesale channel growth.

These insights highlight the ongoing competition for consumer attention and loyalty in the online space. Brands that leverage effective digital strategies, especially influencer and social media marketing, as well as innovation and responsiveness to changing consumer dynamics emerge as frontrunners, while others face the imperative of recalibrating their approaches to thrive in the evolving digital landscape.

The Similarweb Insights & Communications team is available to pull additional or updated data on request for the news media (journalists are invited to write to press@similarweb.com). When citing our data, please reference Similarweb as the source and link back to the most relevant blog post or similarweb.com/blog/insights/.

Methodology

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