Britain revealed as a nation of shoeaholics, with one in eight women owning over 100 pairs of shoes

ONE in eight women in the UK owns more than 100 pairs of shoes, a new quarterly industry report has revealed.

Research commissioned for Shoeaholics.com, the multi-brand footwear retailer that is part of the Kurt Geiger group, found that on average women have between 30 and 35 pairs of shoes in their wardrobe.

But a poll of 2,000 people found that 12.5 per cent admitted to being shoe addicts, owning a startling 100 pairs or more.

Analysis of Shoeaholics sales data, conducted for its new quarterly Shoe Report over the last six months, found that men are now outspending women in all categories of shoe. While women spend an average of £87.43 on a pair of shoes, men are spending on average £93.28 per pair.

Sneakers have become the most popular style of shoe, accounting for 50 per cent of Shoeaholics sales over the last six months compared to 20 per cent five years ago as people adopted more casual attire in the coronavirus lockdown. However, as rules are relaxed and people have begun to return to offices and nights out, sales of more formal wear such as heels have increased sharply.

Women are set to stand taller this summer, with the average heel height increasing from three inches to four inches.

Shoes are seen as an emotional purchase, with 43 per cent of people admitting to buying shoes for how they make them feel. Lockdown has done little to dampen shoppers’ enthusiasm for shoes, with 49 per cent of Shoeaholics customers buying six or more pairs over the last 12 months and ten per cent buying ten or more.

The research also found that the UK’s shoe style icon is Jennifer Aniston, with 37 per cent of shoppers looking to her for inspiration, followed by Holly Willoughby with 25 per cent, Dua Lipa with 20 per cent, the Duchess of Cambridge with 14 per cent and singer and TV presenter Rochelle Humes in fifth with 7 per cent.

Mark Hoyal-Mitchell, Head of Shoeaholics, said: “We knew that Britons were a nation of shoe lovers, hence our name, but even we were surprised by how many pairs millions of people have added to their collections. The one in eight women who own over 100 pairs must give over a remarkable amount of wardrobe space to house them.

“Inevitably, thanks to the pandemic we have seen big changes to the way people shop and what they shop for over the last year. Peak shopping periods have moved from the commuter hours of 7am to 9am, when people traditionally shop online while travelling to work, to 6pm to 8pm as shoppers working from home log off for the day.

“Sneakers are currently the biggest shoe category in the UK, but with lockdown lifting the next fastest growing categories for us are heels and bags, up 40 per cent on this time last year. High heels are getting higher – it seems that after a year of being locked down people are ready to step up their style game in towering stilettos.

“It’s also interesting to see that men are now outspending women, investing more in the most expensive pairs of shoes.”

Shoeaholics was established in 2014 by Kurt Geiger as an online-only shop but has now opened seven stores. It is a multi-brand retailer for men and women offering over 100 brands on its website and in stores and is part of the Kurt Geiger Group who sells over four million pairs of shoes per year ranging from £40 to £2,000 in price.