thredUP Purge Surge: Heels đź‘ đź‘ź
Today thredUP, the world’s largest thrift store, released their latest “Purge Surge” study exploring how women’s attitude toward heels is shifting in today’s climate. thredUP processes millions of items each month, translating into countless data points showing what’s going into and coming out of women’s closets.
Lately a slew of celebrities have been kicking off their heels in favor of flats — Kristen Stewart ditched her heels on the Cannes red carpet, Maya Rudolph and Tiffany Haddish went barefoot at the the Oscar’s and Serena Williams traded heels for flats to hit the dance floor at the royal wedding, to name a few. To find out if these celeb-sightings are a sign of a larger shift, thredUP’s data scientists crunched the numbers to find out if women across America are trading in their heels as well. Here’s what they found.
Women are Purging Their Heels More Than Ever
In examining data from December 2017 through May 2018, thredUP discovered a 38% heel “purge surge” — or increase in volume of heels sent to thredUP in the past three months.
The chart below shows this notable spike in the clean out of heels from closets over the past few months.
Women May Be Replacing Heels with Sneakers
Within the same time period, demand for sneakers on thredUP increased 46% in the past three months, compared to three month trailing average.
There is a correlation between the increased rate at which women are purging heels and the increased rate at which women are buying sneakers on thredUP.
In other words, the rate at which women are cleaning out their heels over the past three months corresponds directly with the rate at which women are buying more and more sneakers over the same timeframe.
“Celebrities have been ditching their heels on the red carpet, and it turns out our customers are purging heels from their closets as well,” said Erin Wallace, brand director at thredUP. “Our data demonstrates that athleisure is certainly a prevailing trend as women seek out more casual, comfortable footwear.”
Some Shoe Brands are Surging or Being Purged More than Others
To view thredUP’s past Purge Surge studies, click links below:
thredUP Purge Surge: Spring 2017