Have you started your holiday shopping yet?

If the answer is “yes,” consider this an achievement unlocked.

If you answered “no,” you’re not alone. 

Every holiday season brings about a new set of data and interesting statistics that we take into Q1 to help formulate strategy for the following year. Some of this information is quite surprising, and some of it makes sense just based on how things have been trending in the retail industry. 

Putting your best foot forward is key to successful marketing in any industry—but it’s particularly so in the footwear category.

If you’ve made it this far, we have good (maybe bad?) news: that will not be the last of our shoe puns in this blog. Proceed with glee if groan-worthy jokes are right up your alley.

This Friday, millions of people will be shopping. And millions of people won’t.

Every year, it seems more “conscious consumers” opt out of Black Friday and into the Small Business Saturday/Shop Local movement, started by American Express in barely post-recession 2010 to keep Main Street alive. Almost a decade later, the movement has proven its value: a recent survey found that among consumers who plan to shop on Small Business Saturday, 96% said the event “inspires them to go to small, independently owned retailers or restaurants that they have not been to before or would not have otherwise tried.”