Footwear brands have kept their word when they spoke about price increases due to tariff uncertainties.
Most brands, when they have raised prices, did so only for select shoe styles as opposed to across-the-board increases. And data from Telsey Advisory Group (TAG) shows relatively modest increases when prices were raised, while some shoes didn’t see any price increase.
Indeed, TAG has been tracking the prices of a cross section of apparel, shoes and home products since the reciprocal tariff disclosure in April. A July 8 report indicated that a Sam Edelman Felicia ballet flat priced at $100 remained at the same price without change since April. That was also true of a Steve Madden Klayton Bootie, priced at $119.95, as well as a Vans Old Skool Shoe at $70. An Ugg Tazz II shoe saw a $5 increase, or 3.6 percent increase, to $145 from week ago prices, while a Hoka Bondi 9 sneaker also rose $5, or 2.9 percent, to $175.
And there was no price change for an Adidas Samba OG, which kept its $100 price tag since April. There were week-over-week price changes for two On shoes: the Cloud 6 rose $10, or 6.7 percent, to $160, and the Cloudtilt was up $10, or 6.3 percent, to $170. The Nike Vomero 18 didn’t see a week-over-week increase, but did have a price increase of $5, or 3.3 percent, to $155 at some point since April. The price change likely occurred on June 1 when some Nike increases took effect. Also holding steady since April in the July report was an Asics Gel-1130, priced at $100 at Foot Locker, as well as a New Balance 1960 sneaker at $150, also sold at Foot Locker.
A follow-up TAG report from Aug. 18 on pricing analysis showed that all tracked, with one exception, continued to hold steady with no further increases following the end of the Aug. 1 deadline for tariff freezes, except for China, which has an extension through November. The one shoe exception was the Asics Gel-1130, sold at Foot Locker. Since the July 8 report, the price has gone up by $10 to $110, reflecting a 10 percent increase.
Tariff fears rose after U.S. President Donald Trump won last November’s presidential election. Those concerns skyrocketed after he disclosed a plan for global reciprocal tariffs this past April. Shoe brands were already making plans to shift their sourcing and production at the start of 2025, and the new tariff rates had them thinking about other levers available to absorb some of the cost increases.
In May, Steve Madden Ltd. CEO Edward Rosenfeld told investors in a first quarter earnings call that the company had “selectively” raised prices, but that it was taking a “surgical approach,” with differing amounts depending on brand, product category and style. Allbirds, also in May, said it is managing through tighter inventory buys as it evaluates on an ongoing basis the possibility of future price increases.
Sports apparel and footwear brand Nike raised some retail prices on June 1, on average between $2 and $10, but not on any Jordan product and it kept all kids products, whether apparel or footwear, at current price points without any plans for increases. In addition, Nike kept price points steady on all product under $100. Prices for footwear at between $100 and $150 saw increases up to $5 and those at $150 and higher saw increases up to $10. But Nike also maintained the $115 price point for its popular Air Force 1 sneaker, a favorite among the working crowd and service providers.
Executives at shoe brands that recently posted second quarter earnings results didn’t talk about any increases for the fall shopping season. Birkenstock’s CFO Ivica Krolo said pricing “is not the only lever we have,” noting that optimization of product mix and vendor negotiations were also options.
On Holding AG’s CEO Martin Hoffman noted that raising prices selectively had no impact on second quarter profitability. He added that the premium, fast-growing brand has “multiple opportunities to compensate for [the tariff] impacts of our cost sold.” One tool at its disposal that it hasn’t needed to do yet is have a dialogue with its partners, both retail and factory, about mitigation efforts in the form of price concessions.