THE CLICK FACTOR; SHOE E-TAILERS ARE NOW EXPERIENCING A RESURGENCE IN SALES. EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO SUSTAIN THE MOMENTUM.(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)

Footwear News, July, 2002 by Slezak, Michael

If Internet shoe retailers ever had to settle on the perfect theme song, Gloria Gaynor's disco classic, "I Will Survive," would be a fitting choice. While last year's dot-com fallout had many pundits predicting that e-tail footwear sites would go the way of the 8-track, the past few months have proven them wrong.

To the surprise of many, online footwear sales surged 6.8 percent to $582 million for the first quarter of 2002, up from $545 million for the same period last year, according to The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y. Internet sales accounted for 6.8 percent of the footwear market on a dollar basis for the first quarter of 2002, up from 5.8 percent for the same period a year ago, representing a 17.2 percent increase in share. Unit sales climbed as well,...

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