Nike is still the hottest footwear brand among younger shoppers, but brands like New Balance and Hoka are threatening to topple the athletic giant.
According to the 6,020 U.S. teens who responded to Piper Sandler’s 47th semi-annual survey this spring, Nike was the top choice among teens’ favorite footwear and apparel brands. Nike also earned the top spots for footwear and apparel preferences in Piper Sandler’s prior three surveys, which also ranked teens’ favorite brands and websites.
However, despite its top spot, Nike’s lost share in every category in the survey for the first time in several years. Nike’s mindshare — or a measure for consumer awareness — decreased 190 basis points year-over-year and 230 basis points from Piper Sandler’s fall survey. Meanwhile, New Balance gained mindshare. And in the athletic footwear category, On Running and Hoka gained mindshare among upper-income teens whereas Nike ceded mindshare in that category among the same group.
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“While Nike lost share in ‘athletic’ brand preferences in the Fall, we are now starting to see weakness in overall brand mindshare,” read the survey. “We think these share losses are a by-product of Nike’s lagging product innovation.”
Nike has recently come under criticism for its lack of innovative new products. In response to the criticism, Nike last month announced a plan to build a “multiyear cycle of innovation” to win over consumers, following several quarters of the company ceding share in the performance running market to innovative brands like Hoka, On Running and Brooks.
In apparel, Nike garnered 34 percent of the vote in the survey for top brand (down from 35 percent in the fall), followed by American Eagle at six percent and Lululemon at 5 percent. These were followed by Shein and Hollister, both at three percent. Nike’s share of the vote was larger in footwear at 59 percent, but was down from its 61 percent share in the fall. Adidas and Converse came in next with 7 percent share each, followed by New Balance at 5 percent and Vans at 3 percent.
Crocs fell from the sixth to the seventh position in footwear brands and Skechers was the 14th favorite footwear brand, up from 15th in the fall and 16th last spring. The newly public Birkenstock, which typically performs better in the fall survey, nabbed the No. 10 footwear spot this spring, up from 15th last spring.
“We think more closed-toe offerings from Birkenstock, including the popularity of the Boston Clog, have allowed the brand to resonate strongly outside of the Spring/Summer sandal season,” read the survey.
Overall, the survey found that teen footwear spending was down 1 percent year-over-year. Average income teen spending was down 3 percent, though upper-income teens footwear spend increased 5 percent.
