Strategy was the name of the game this year for shoe firms over Thanksgiving week.
Some holiday promotions for Thanksgiving week were better than a year ago, but there were brands that also held back on their discounting.
According to Bank of Securities analyst Robert F. Ohmes, he and his team visited different Dick’s Sporting Goods store on Black Friday — the sporting goods retailer was closed on Thanksgiving Day — and its Field House banner, and found them well-stocked, although in-store traffic was light.
“We noticed minimal discounts aside from Black Friday deals which ran Wednesday, Nov. 26, through Monday, Dec. 1, versus Sunday, Nov. 24, through Saturday, Nov. 30, last year,” he said. Footwear promotions included 25 percent off women’s Nike Air Max 270 shoes, versus 30 percent off a year ago, as well as $30 off Brooks Men’s Adrenaline GTS 24 running shoe and 25 percent off select kids’ Nike Panda Dunks and select Air Max 270 shoes.
According to Ohmes, stores were among the most crowded of the stores he and his team visited. Black Friday promotions included 25 percent off select apparel, while footwear discounts were as marked on the shelves and included brands such as Nike/Jordan, New Balance, and Adidas styles. Ohmes said the discounts are “in-line with Dick’s commentary of aggressive inventory cleanup at Foot Locker in the fourth quarter.
“The [Foot Locker] stores we visited had limited allocations of Nike’s new running constructs — Vomero Plus, Structure 25, Pegasus Premium shoes — and Hoka and On stock-keeping units,” Ohmes observed.
In a Bank of America research note on specialty and department stores, equity analysts noted that promotions in the athletic and footwear space increased for most retailers. It noted that Hoka offered 20 percent off sitewide for members versus 15 percent off select styles last year. They also found that Under Armour increased its discounts from 30 percent off sitewide in 2024 to between 30 percent and 40 percent off sitewide this year. The North Face increased it discounts to 30 percent off versus 25 percent off last year, while its VF sibling Vans also raised its discounting to 40 percent off “almost everything” versus 30 percent off last year, according to the report. Crocs offered $25 classics, versus $30 classics in years past.
Nike also offered sales too, with up to 50 percent and 25 percent extra off select styles. That compares with promotions of up to 60 percent and 30 percent extra off select styles in 2024. And Lululemon continued its usual pattern of continuing to clear select colors and styles.
BTIG’s Janine Stichter said of the retailers and brands she tracked, promotions were running higher year-over-year. She also said that Foot Locker offered what appeared to be broader and deeper promotions on key items.
“Hoka continued its trend of leaning into more member-exclusive promos to drive its DTC business, a strategy that began in late summer,” the BTIG analyst said of the brand, a division of Deckers. “The brand launched a spend-more-save-more promo for members offering $40 off $200 and up to $60 off $300-plus in the week before Thanksgiving, and featured a straight 20 percent off for members on Black Friday Weekend. This compares to just a free gift with purchase in previous years.”
According to data from Salesforce, mobile shopping was the digital default for consumers over the weekend, with 72 percent of global orders and 81 percent of global traffic initiated on a mobile device. In the U.S., 72 percent of orders and 79 percent of traffic came through mobile.
Salesforce added that social media drove 14.3 percent of all global digital traffic to retailers’ sites over the weekend, or up 8 percent year-over-year, and was 15 percent in the U.S., or up 5 percent year-over-year. The top performing global shopping categories included active footwear at up 13 percent in sales growth year-over-year. In the U.S., active apparel and footwear saw an 18 percent sales growth year-over-year.
