Nike named the nation’s favourite trainer brand

A new study by The Sole Supplier has found that Nike was the most
popular trainer brand in the UK in 2018, and that Manchester is the
official ‘Sneaker Capital’ of the UK, with the most trainer-obsessed
consumers.

The Sole Supplier, the UK’s hub for casual footwear, analysed search
traffic and found that 19 of the UK’s 20 biggest cities pledged allegiance
to Nike releases last year, except Glaswegians who were most keen to get
their hands on a new pair of Yeezys.

When it came down to the most sought after Nike release in the UK, the
limited-edition Nike Air Max 1/97 Sean Wotherspoon caused the biggest hype
and was the most popular sneaker of the year in Belfast, Sheffield,
Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester, Cardiff and Brighton.

Bucking the trend, Glasgow named Yeezy its favourite sneaker brand, with
the highest hype-levels surrounding the release of the Yeezy Powerphase
Calabasas Grey in December 2017.

For casual footwear brands and retailers looking to increase their UK
sales, Manchester above all other cities was crowned the most
trainer-obsessed city, beating out London into second place, and Nottingham
into third.

George Sullivan, chief executive at The Sole Supplier said in a
statement: “The UK has become a nation of sneaker-heads as streetwear
becomes the era-defining style. It’s interesting to map the hotspots for
trainer culture and exciting to see Manchester, London, Nottingham,
Newcastle and Liverpool lead the pack.

“When it comes to brand loyalty, the UK’s largest cities all pledged
allegiance to Nike in 2018 based on our click-through rate, except
Glaswegians who were most keen to get their hands on the Yeezy Powerphase
Calabasas Grey. Let’s see what 2019 holds in store!”

This research follows data from the Grand View Research, which stated
that the global athletic footwear market size is expected to reach 95.14
billion dollars by 2025, which represents a huge opportunity for retailers,
technology platforms and investors as “casual” footwear becomes an
era-defining style.

Image: courtesy of The Sole Supplier