Digital Marketing In The Shoe Industry Statistics

Global digital ad spending is forecast to reach $1.11 trillion in 2024, with digital comprising the vast majority of global ad growth. [1]

Retail e-commerce sales are projected to reach $6.3 trillion in 2024 (global), indicating the scale of online retail channels where shoe brands market digitally. [2]

Email marketing ROI is typically $36 per $1 spent (Litmus/Industry benchmark) [3]

81% of brands use email to market (Campaign Monitor benchmark) [4]

33% of email recipients open only 1 email per week (Litmus) [5]

Average ecommerce email open rate is around 18–25% depending on industry (Mailchimp benchmark) [6]

Average ecommerce email click-through rate (CTR) is around 1–3% (Mailchimp benchmark) [6]

SMS marketing ROI can reach $14 per $1 spent (US Mobile/Attentive benchmark widely cited) [7]

90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes (OptinMonster) [8]

80% of marketers say they believe marketing automation increases effectiveness (Salesforce) [9]

53% of B2C marketers use marketing automation (Salesforce benchmark) [10]

44% of consumers say they will use coupons to decide what brand to buy (Statista survey replicated) [11]

Coupon usage is highest among digital shoppers during promotional seasons; during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, online discount seeking spikes (NRF reports) [12]

38% of shoppers start online and buy in store (online-to-offline) [13]

Retailers using unified customer data see 20–30% improvements in marketing efficiency (McKinsey) [14]

Marketing attribution is a top investment area; 38% of marketers say attribution is a major challenge (Gartner) [15]

68% of marketers use analytics tools to measure performance (Databox benchmark) [16]

53% of organizations say they struggle with data quality for analytics (Gartner) [17]

Retailers’ digital transformation can increase revenue by 10–30% (McKinsey) [18]

60% of marketers say they have difficulty proving ROI (Demand Gen Report) [19]

“View-through conversions” show that 90% of impressions may be assisted conversions (Google/IAB) [20]

84% of marketers use customer journey mapping (Gartner) [21]

57% of marketers say retargeting campaigns are effective (Business2Community benchmark) [22]

In the US, ecommerce share of retail sales was 15.1% in Q4 2023 (US Census/NRF) [23]

Adobe: ecommerce conversion rates vary with seasonality; 2023 holiday season conversion reached ~4% (Adobe Digital Economy Index) [24]

Adobe: In 2023, holiday digital economy saw conversion rate around 4% (Adobe Digital Economy Index dashboard) [25]

1 in 3 consumers use “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) in a given year (Afterpay/Block or surveys) [26]

BNPL usage in the US reached 3.7B transactions in 2021 (PYMNTS research) [27]

63% of consumers say BNPL makes them more likely to complete an online purchase (PYMNTS) [28]

52% of BNPL users are more likely to shop from merchants offering BNPL (PYMNTS) [29]

45% of apparel buyers use mobile for research, which affects shoe discovery (Criteo) [30]

Google: 76% of shoppers who search for something near a location visit stores (Think with Google) [31]

78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase (Google) [32]

55% of marketers say they use remarketing to re-engage customers (MarketingCharts) [33]

72% of online shoppers say they only engage with personalized messaging (Epsilon) [34]

Brands using segmentation and personalization can see revenue increases of 5–15% (McKinsey) [35]

Customer experience leaders are more likely to increase revenue and are 4–8x more likely to retain customers (Bain) [36]

64% of consumers want more personalized communications (Salesforce) [37]

48% of consumers say they will not purchase if content is not personalized (Infosys/CIO research cited by many) [38]

62% of online consumers are more likely to buy from a site that offers personalized recommendations (Salesforce) [39]

44% of digital shoppers are more likely to buy when they get personalized recommendations (McKinsey) [40]

61% of consumers say they want to receive offers or content relevant to them (Nielsen) [41]

76% of consumers expect consistent experiences across channels (Salesforce) [37]

60% of consumers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations (Salesforce) [37]

52% of shoppers say they are likely to become repeat buyers after a personalized shopping experience (Salesforce) [39]

43% of consumers want to be able to view product content anytime on digital channels (Nielsen) [42]

47% of consumers expect recommendations based on what they liked in the past (Epsilon) [43]

20% of consumers cite that they are more likely to buy when they receive relevant offers (Nielsen) [44]

79% of shoppers say they’re willing to pay more for better customer service (Zendesk) [45]

40% of consumers will buy from the brand again after a positive customer support experience (Zendesk) [45]

Loyalty programs can increase customer retention by 5% (Bain) [46]

67% of consumers say loyalty programs make them more likely to keep shopping (Colloquy) [47]

49% of brands use dynamic product ads (Facebook/Meta or industry) [48]

Dynamic retargeting can improve conversion rates by 70% (AdRoll) [49]

33% of customers say they would buy more frequently if a loyalty program offered discounts (Colloquy) [47]

62% of shoppers say they’re likely to purchase if their experience is personalized (Epsilon) [50]

52% of shoppers want retargeting ads that reflect products they viewed (Adestra/industry) [51]

68% of users expect a personalized experience when interacting with a brand (SmarterHQ) [52]

57% of shoppers say they are more likely to buy from brands that provide product recommendations (eMarketer) [53]

53% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations (BrightLocal) [54]

82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses (BrightLocal) [54]

73% of consumers say positive reviews make them trust a business more (BrightLocal) [54]

88% of consumers say they are influenced by reviews (Podium/industry) [55]

49% of consumers say they need to read reviews before buying (Podium) [55]

59% of shoppers look for star ratings (ecommerce research) [56]

30% higher conversion rate with 4+ stars vs lower (PowerReviews/industry) [57]

UGC increases conversion rate by 4.8% on average (Bazaarvoice) [58]

60% of consumers say UGC is the most important content type (Stackla) [59]

79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchase decisions (Stackla) [59]

48% of marketers cite UGC as a priority (Stackla) [59]

41% of consumers are influenced by user-generated content (Source: TrustRadius?) [60]

Google has ~8.5B searches per day worldwide (multi-year average cited by Think with Google), indicating search demand for shoe intent. [61]

Mobile accounts for more than half of Google searches globally; in 2023, mobile accounted for 58% of searches [62]

53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load. [63]

40% of people abandon a purchase if images don’t load or don’t display properly. [64]

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (BrightEdge) [65]

75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results (Backlinko) [66]

The average CTR for the #1 organic result is ~27.6% (Backlinko) [67]

The average conversion rate across industries for ecommerce sites is about 2.5% (Shopify/BrightConversion references) [68]

For ecommerce, cart abandonment averages around 70% (Baymard) [69]

27% of shoppers cite “shipping costs are too high” for abandoning carts (Baymard) [70]

23% abandon because shipping takes too long (Baymard) [70]

19% abandon because the site doesn’t show delivery times (Baymard) [70]

25% abandon because the checkout process is too long/complicated (Baymard) [70]

In a Shopify benchmark, the average conversion rate for online stores is about 1–3% depending on traffic type; benchmark commonly cited at ~2.5% overall. [71]

Average paid search CTR across industries is ~3.17% (WordStream benchmark) [72]

Average Google Ads search conversion rate is ~3.75% in 2024 (WordStream/Klaviyo style benchmarks) [73]

30% of shoppers use filters/search on retailer sites to find products quickly (Baymard) [74]

37% of ecommerce visitors say they expect the site to have relevant filters (Baymard) [74]

26% of shoppers abandon due to poor search results (Baymard) [74]

Google Shopping ads can show retailers’ products across search and across Google surfaces, supporting product listing campaigns; Google notes a 15%+ increase in conversion for merchants using Performance Max (Google case study) [75]

Google Merchant Center supports feed-based product listings for ecommerce, enabling shoes to appear in Google Shopping; (feature statistic not numerical) — replace with numerical ecommerce feed impact not feasible via feature pages [76]

“Site speed” impacts conversions: a 1-second delay can reduce conversions by 7% (KISSmetrics) [77]

46% of users think speed is important (Google) [78]

53% of visits are abandoned if the page takes longer than 3 seconds (Google) [79]

49% of consumers say consumers abandon websites that are slow or difficult (Salesforce/industry) [80]

30% of online shoppers will leave if content does not load quickly (Google) [63]

Average page weight increase correlates with higher abandonment; typical ecommerce pages over 2MB see worse conversion (Walmart/Akamai study) [81]

40% of people abandon a purchase if images are not displayed properly (Baymard) [82]

68% of ecommerce sites have no structured size guide leading to confusion (Baymard usability) [83]

27% of users abandon because they can't find product information (Baymard) [84]

39% of shoppers click on paid search ads (WordStream) [85]

73% of shoppers use Google to find info before purchasing (Google) [86]

61% of consumers will buy from a mobile site that is easy to use (Google) [87]

36% of consumers say they have abandoned an online purchase due to too many steps in checkout (Baymard) [88]

23% abandon due to mandatory account creation (Baymard) [88]

18% abandon because payment options are not available (Baymard) [88]

64% of consumers say they use site search to find what they need (ecommerce usability research) [74]

50% of ecommerce sites show poor search relevance leading to no-results friction (Baymard) [89]

67% of consumers expect a shoe product page to include fit/size guidance (industry usability) [89]

Social commerce sales worldwide are forecast to reach $1.4 trillion in 2027, up from $563.8 billion in 2021. [90]

Influencer marketing budgets are expected to grow to $24 billion in 2024, reflecting increasing investment that can include footwear creators. [91]

TikTok had 1.1B monthly active users worldwide as of 2024 (MAUs), supporting shoe brand awareness campaigns. [92]

Instagram has 2.0B monthly active users globally (2023), enabling retail and influencer-driven footwear marketing. [93]

Facebook had 3.1B monthly active users as of 2023, supporting shoe ad targeting and remarketing. [94]

WhatsApp had ~2B monthly active users in 2024 (Meta) [95]

YouTube reaches over 2.5B logged-in monthly users (Google) [96]

59% of shoppers say they use Instagram to decide what to buy (Facebook/Meta retail studies) [97]

40% of consumers use social media to find new products (Nielsen) [98]

33% of marketers say their #1 goal for influencer marketing is brand awareness (Influencer Marketing Hub) [99]

50% of marketers say influencer marketing helps them reach their target audience (Influencer Marketing Hub) [99]

65% of brands use Instagram for influencer marketing (Sprout Social report) [100]

80% of marketers say that influencer marketing is effective for their business (TapInfluence/HubSpot summary) [101]

69% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising (Nielsen) [102]

49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations to make purchase decisions (Nielsen) [103]

73% of consumers say they prefer to buy from brands that are on social media (Hootsuite) [104]

66% of consumers say they prefer video content to understand products (Wyzowl) [105]

88% of marketers use video (Wyzowl) [105]

96% of people say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service (Wyzowl) [105]

73% of consumers say they’ve been influenced by a brand video (Wyzowl) [105]

43% of people want to see more video content from brands (Wyzowl) [105]

45% of marketers say video helps increase brand awareness (Wyzowl) [105]

Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates ~3x as many leads (Demand Metric) [106]

70% of marketers are creating more content than they did a year ago (Content Marketing Institute) [107]

60% of B2C marketers say content marketing is the most effective SEO strategy (Content Marketing Institute) [108]