Présentation PowerPoint - Digital Luxury Group

The Luxury Shoe Industry 

Analysis of Consumers’ Search Intentions and 

Brands’ Social Media Presence 

December 2011 

www.digital-luxury.com 

NEW YORK | GENEVA | DUBAI | SHANGHAI

“Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.” 

© Digital Luxury Group, DLG SA, 2011 2 

© Digital Luxury Group, DLG SA, 2011 

Photo Source: http://www.thefashionfiend.com/2011/06/01/fashion-icon


Objectives of this Research 

• The first digital analysis of the Luxury 

Shoe Industry 

• Measuring and analyzing customer 

intentions via search engine searches 

• Social Media & Community Management 

analysis of top shoe brands 

Photo Source: http://www.coutureinthecity.com


SCOPE: 

Based on Google searches in the top 

luxury fashion markets 

Data available upon 

special request 

4 

Photo Source: http://www.elle.com


SCOPE: 

57 luxury shoe brands sorted 

into 3 categories 

5 

Photo Source: http://www.thecelebrityhome.com


Category 1: MAISON 

• Brand includes a range of product categories, of 

which shoes is just one. Shoes do not represent 

more than 50% of revenues of the brand, presently 

nor in the past. 

• Brand established before 2000 

• Alexander McQueen, Azzedine Alaia, Balenciaga, 

Bottega Veneta, Celine, Chanel, Chloe, D&G, Dolce 

& Gabbana, Dior, Givenchy, Gucci, Isabel Marant, 

Kenzo, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Marni, 

Miu Miu, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Stella McCartney, 

Valentino, YSL 

Photo Source: http://www.lvmh.fr/lvmh-news/news#/news/435:


Category 2: SHOE HERITAGE 

• Brand’s original focus was on shoes, even if they have 

since expanded beyond 

• Shoes still remain major piece of the business 

• Bally, Casadei, Cesare Paciotti, Ferragamo, Fratelli 

Rossetti, GianMarco Lorenzi, Gina, Giuseppe Zanotti, 

Hogan, Jimmy Choo, Kurt Geiger, LK Bennett, 

Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Pierre Hardy, 

Pura Lopez, René Caovilla, Roger Vivier, Sergio Rossi, 

Sigerson Morrison, Stephane Kelian, Stuart 

Weitzman, Tod’s, Walter Steiger 

Photo Source: http://theculturedkids.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_ 

7

Category 3: NEW PLAYERS 

• Brand established after 2000 

• May or may not be solely focused on shoes 

• Often considered a trendsetter by its peers 

• Alexander Wang, Alexandre Birman, Brian Atwood, 

Camilla Skovgaard, Charlotte Olympia, Derek Lam, 

Gianvito Rossi, Jonathan Kelsey, Nicholas Kirkwood, 

Reed Krakoff 



Photo Source: http://magwood.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/

Highlights 

• The United States is the most shoe-crazy market, with more 

than 40% of total global searches 

• 35% of search intentions (brand searches not included) are 

related to specific shoe styles 

• Prada and Gucci combined represent nearly 50% of searches 

in the MAISON category 

• Christian Louboutin rocks the Web with 45% of the searches 

in the SHOE HERITAGE category 

• Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin lead on Facebook 



Photo Source:: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/

TOP LUXURY SHOE MARKETS 

based on Google search intentions 

IT 8.3% 

FR 9.6% 

BRA 5.7% 

GER 7.9% 

UK 17.0% 

JAP 2.8% 

USA 48.8% 

DLG –October 2010 to September 2011 

• More than 40% of the searches were made in the US 

• The United Kingdom is by far the first digital European market in 

the shoe industry 



Photo Source: http://todayimwearing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/

SEARCH INTENTIONS 

Clientele’s preferences towards luxury 

shoe brands 

• 91.68% of the searches are brand-related 

• 3.58% are related to styles (boots, ballerinas, highheels, 

etc…) 

• 3% related to distribution (POS, online shop, retailers, 

etc…) 

91.68% 

BRAND 


0.1% 1.0% 

3.3% 5.5% 7.6% 

OTHER 

16.0% 

35.8% 

30.8% 


11 

Photo Source: http://www.coquettishmish.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

FOCUS on STYLES in the US market 

Looking at over 3 million searches focusing on styles on 

Google in US from January to September 2011: 

sneakers 

boots 

pumps 

sandals 

heels 

loafer 

wedges 

thongs 

platforms 

booties 

ballet 

slippers 

high heels 

espadrilles 

ballerinas 

biker 

lace-up 


3.7% 

3.6% 

1.7% 

1.5% 

1.5% 

1.0% 

0.6% 

0.6% 

0.5% 

0.3% 

0.2% 

0.2% 

7.1% 

6.7% 

10.7% 

19.1% 

41.0% 

“Sneakers” represent more than 

40% of shoe style searches. 

Opportunity for luxury brands? 

12 

Photo Source: http://www.shoefanaticformen.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/

Top 7 Most Searched Brands in the 

MAISON Category (23) 

Prada 

Gucci 

Louis Vuitton 

Ralph Lauren 

Dolce & Gabbana 

Chanel 

Yves Saint Laurent 

Others (16) 

3.8% 

5.8% 

5.7% 

5.4% 


11.8% 

21.4% 

23.2% 

22.8% 

• Prada and Gucci lead, while Dior ranks 8 th 

• Azzedine Alaia ends the ranking with 0.1%. While the brand 

does not have a corporate website, the success of his designs 

within fashion circles and celebrities organically provides 

recognition. 

© Digital Luxury Group, DLG SA, 2011 Photo Source: http://www.lvmh.fr/lvmh-news/news#/news/435:

Top 7 Most Searched Brands in the SHOE 

HERITAGE Category (24) 

Christian Louboutin 

Jimmy Choo 

Salvatore Ferragamo 

Tod's 

Kurt Geiger 

Manolo Blahnik 

Others (17) 


Bally 

6.07% 

4.81% 

4.60% 

7.42% 

6.96% 

11.10% 


14.14% 

• Christian Louboutin rocks the Web 

44.89% 

• Jimmy Choo, Bally, and Manolo Blahnik combined represent 

only half the amount of searches for Christian Louboutin 

14 

Photo Source: http://theculturedkids.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_

Top 7 Most Searched Brands in the NEW 

PLAYERS Category (10) 

Alexander Wang 

Brian Atwood 

Charlotte Olympia 

Nicholas Kirkwood 

Camilla Skovgaard 

Alexandre Birman 

Derek Lam 

Others (3) 

3.41% 

2.62% 

4.62% 

3.64% 


10.79% 

18.16% 

27.19% 

29.57% 

• Two very tight players with more than 50% of market share 

combined, Alexander Wang and Brian Atwood. 

• Charlotte Olympia holds the third position with nearly 20% of 

the search volume. 



Photo Source: http://magwood.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/

Engagement Rate 

0.9% 

0.7% 

0.5% 

Brand Engagement and Popularity on Facebook 

Rene Caovilla 

Roger Vivier 

Walter Steiger 

Sergio Rossi 

0.3% 

Giuseppe Zanotti 

Ferragamo 

Gina Shoes Charlotte Olympia 

0.1% Stuart Weitzman 

GianMarco Lorenzi 

-0.1% 

Jimmy Choo 

Brian Atwood 

0 200'000 400'000 600'000 800'000 

Louboutin 

• Jimmy Choo and Louboutin communities on Facebook are 4x larger than all 

the other brands represented in this graph combined 

• Brands like Gucci, Chanel and Dior (not on the graph) respectively account 

for an online community of 5.5, 4.7, and 5.3 million fans, each with an 

average engagement of 0.12%, 0.14% and 0.32% - Dior largely dominates the 

debate! 



Fans 

Photo Source: http://youstrikemyfancy.files.wordpress.com/

Engagement Rate 

0.4% 

0.3% 

0.2% 

0.1% 

0.0% 

Brand Engagement and Popularity on Twitter 

Charlotte Olympia 

Stuart Weitzman 

Giuseppe Zanotti 

Sergio Rossi 

Walter Steiger 

Pierre Hardy 

Alexander Wang 

Jimmy Choo 

Louboutin 

-10'000 10'000 30'000 50'000 70'000 90'000 110'000 130'000 150'000 

Followers 

• Once again Christian Louboutin shows digital superiority on Twitter with a 

community 3 times that of Jimmy Choo and a much higher engagement rate 

• Charlotte Olympia and Alexander Wang have a qualitative community with a 

very high engagement rate 



Photo Source:http://ritournelleblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/


“A good shoe is one that doesn't 

dress you but undresses you.” 

- Christian Louboutin 

18

METHODOLOGY 

Search Queries 

Extracted from search engines, the search queries collected encompass a large semantic field 

related to the brands and include synonyms, plurals and misspellings. 

Languages 

Portions of these search queries are in English whereas some are translated from each key 

market language. 

Data Collection and Analysis 

Public and professional tools are used to automate search volume collection, thanks to DLG’s 

strong partnerships with search engines. Once collected, this data is filtered, analysed and 

translated into 10 intentions (brands, models, distribution, price, colour, etc…) using 

exclusive DLG technology. 

Harmonization 

Since multi-product brands, such as Chanel, Dior or Gucci, may generate significantly more 

search volume than pure players, data is harmonized to identify shoes-only demand. 

Facebook & Twitter engagement rates 

The engagement rate is a qualitative indicator measuring the level of interactivity between 

the brand and its fans/followers. 



Photo Source:http://ritournelleblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/

We create tailor-made digital strategies for the most 

admired luxury brands 

� 10+ years of experience working for the most respected 

luxury brands 

� Industry leader in watches and fine jewelry 

� Strong international presence with partners in Geneva, 

New York, Shanghai, Dubai 

© Digital Luxury Group, DLG SA, 2011 20

Contact Us 

shoes@digital-luxury.com 


@DL_Group 

© Digital Luxury Group, DLG SA, 2011 21

The Luxury Shoe Industry 

Analysis of Consumers’ Search Intentions and 

Brands’ Social Media Presence 


NEW YORK | GENEVA | DUBAI | SHANGHAI

Présentation PowerPoint - Digital Luxury Group

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