Soon after reading the prompt, I knew I wanted an article on the sneaker industry. It is something that I am incredibly passionate about, and I know that there has been a recent downturn that I could write about for this discussion.

In 2020, the demand for goods as a whole spiked, and this was especially the case for sneakers. Many Americans were stuck in their homes for most of the day, leading to an extreme spike in online shopping. Due to increased demand, obtaining the latest Jordan release was difficult for people who had been causally buying them. Sneakers that used to be easily accessible in a local Footlocker months after the initial release date would be sold out within minutes of release. As a result, the resell market for sneakers began to boom in 2020. This led to many people getting into sneakers and further increasing the quantity demanded to the point that Nike could not match, causing an excess demand. This problem forced Nike to increase the price of Jordans by thirty to fifty dollars, depending on the shoe, so that they could get the portion of money that resellers were gaining on the after-market.

Fast forward to 2022, the sneaker market is expected to face challenging macroeconomic conditions in 2023 with falling consumer demand (Li, 2023). America is going through a recession, and goods worldwide are as expensive as they have ever been; this is also the case with Jordans. Every Jordan release costs 200 dollars, which is not sustainable for most people who want to keep up with every release. This has led to a decrease in the demand for Jordans and Nikes, which has led to a surplus of sneakers at retailers. Many stores have been forced to put shoes on sale quickly after release to ensure that they keep a fresh stock of shoes. While many stores have overreacted to this shift, in many ways, the sneaker market has regressed to the mean. People who took advantage of the sneaker community for a chance to make money have moved on to other things, and casual sneaker enthusiasts can purchase sneakers the same way they did in 2019.

Reference:

Li, N. (2023, January 9). Global Sneaker Sales Decline, Signaling Market Downturn. Hypebeast. https://hypebeast.com/2023/1/global-sneaker-sales-decline-market-downturn-info

respond with value-added comments to your classmates.