Survey: Huge price check on running shoe prices 2018

1000 prices, more than 30 models, 8 retailers. We’ll show you where you can buy your running shoes next time.

Video Intro to the study:

Facts about the study:

Over a period of 5 days – spread over a week – we have analyzed just under 1000 prices on running shoes. More than 30 of the most popular models from 8 retailers (statistics from our website) have been analyzed and we are now able to give you an updated version of our price survey for 2018..
The survey was based on a completely normal period (week in February) where there is no tendency for major reductions or other forms of evasion in relation to obtaining the most correct data for the survey.

You can find sheets with diagrams and other documentation in this Excel sheet.

13 quick facts from the study

We’ll start right off with some fun facts and observations regarding the study.

• You save an average of 12.94% more by shopping in Germany than in Denmark
• The freight is almost double in Germany, England and other countries compared to Denmark.
• You save an average of 290,- per running shoe compared to the recommended price by shopping online.
• The average savings in Denmark has a difference of 263,- from the most expensive to the cheapest online purchase
• There is an average saving of 22.72% compared to the recommended price by shopping online.
• Adidas is the brand with the least savings online
• The Danish webshops are a total of 74 kroner from the average savings in total.
• Mizuno has the 2 models with the greatest savings throughout the study
• 4 retailers are within one percentage point of average savings
• Not a single running shoe has a suggested retail price of less than a thousand kroner.
• If you are a neutral runner, you can save an average of 3.57% more on your running shoes.
• All 30 models of running shoes could be found online at a discount
• 58% of the running shoes included in the study have an average saving of +20%

Danish webshops are more expensive, or are they?

When you look at the survey in general, you will see that Denmark generally appears to be a more expensive country to buy running shoes in. But that is not the whole truth. Because if you take a sober look at the country’s largest online provider of running shoes, namely Løbeshop.dk, then you will very quickly discover that the study shows that they are far ahead when it comes to matching the price of foreign competitors.
This gives consumers a completely different way to shop for running shoes. Because now one of the barriers that has always kept Danes from shopping in “local” Danish webshops is the price. And when all of this is put up against the excellent service that all the Danish webshops in the test guarantee, the consumer probably can’t ask for much more.

There will always be a good feeling when doing business within the country’s borders. And Løbeshop.dk actually makes that possible with their current pricing policy. At least it’s not the slight deviation in the percentages from Løbeshop.dk to any of the foreign players that should scare customers away. Then there can be all sorts of other factors that come into play, such as selection, service, etc. But Løbeshoppen is also very well equipped in terms of those parameters.

Løbeshop.dk is on par with many of the foreign web stores.

No study without risk groups

If we stay in Denmark and take a closer look – some people might be surprised that Sportmaster appears so much more expensive than, for example, løbeshop.dk. But that may not be the case in reality. Because in one month alone, from February 22 to April 1, Sportmaster has launched 6 campaigns, of which at least 5 can be attributed to running shoes, where you can get considerable discounts. This really just shows that the online stores do not all run exactly the same strategy. But as a starting point, both Sportmaster.dk and Løbeshop.dk realized that if you want to sell running shoes in Denmark, one of the most important competitive parameters is the price (unfortunately). Otherwise, the order from a German or English webshop is no further than one click away.

Sportmaster is not just a running concept like Løbeshop.dk for example is. Sportmaster is Denmark’s largest sports chain nationwide when it comes to physical stores. And their webshop is huge, their pricing policy is as mentioned different, but if you dig a little deeper than this study, I think when it comes down to it that Løbeshop.dk and Sportmaster.dk are very similar to each other in terms of prices on running shoes.

Not everyone wants to compete on price

If you take a look at the study, you will very quickly see that what, among other things, is helping to reduce the average savings in Denmark is a webshop like Løberen.dk. And why is that?
From our perspective, it’s brave, and we can only take our hats off to their supposed tactics. Because while “all the others” are fighting for customers on the parameter called price, Løberen.dk probably a little more on loyalty. Not understood in such a way that the other webshops do not want the loyal customers, but when you buy a running shoe from, for example, løberen.dk, it seems a bit like you actually want to focus on ALL parameters other than price. Here, the good service, the guidance and of course the atmosphere are the main focus. And all of that is at the expense of the price
This is of course also a natural consequence of some other costs. Some staff must always be paid in such a special store as Løberen.dk – and that costs money. A running shoe expedition can easily run up to 45 and 60 minutes. So I can easily see that you have to calculate with slightly different prices than those that are standard on the internet. At the same time, it also seems, from the knowledge I have of the runner, that you do something to educate your staff in running shoes, so that the consumer also gets the experience that they end up paying for at the runner. It is not “just” a schoolboy or a schoolgirl who stands and puts things into the cash register. These are active salespeople who know what they are talking about.

With their online strategy, Løberen also has to attract people into their physical stores, because without knowing any sales figures, it can be concluded that if shipping is paid on an order placed in the webshop, the discount will be negative. Consumers are not used to this when shopping on the Internet.

It may be worth buying running shoes abroad

Although the study shows that in some places in Denmark you can find running shoes at really good prices, there is no doubt that if you want to be 100% sure of finding the absolute cheapest prices, you should look towards England and Germany. There is a clear tendency that you will find your running shoes significantly cheaper in Germany than in Denmark, if you look across a wide range of webshops. If we exclude the 2 “Nordic” countries from the study (Denmark + Sweden), there is an average saving on running shoes of a whopping 27.48%. It is also worth taking.
We mentioned earlier that the good service in Denmark is of course a parameter, but if we are honest, the service is not much of a problem when we shop abroad. At least not in the cases where we have had the pleasure. We regularly buy running shoes abroad, and if you can live with the one extra day it takes to get it delivered, then there are some really good prices and percentages for you as compensation.

The average savings on running shoes per webshop. Denmark is at the bottom

Germany is the place for bargain hunters

The “Running Shoes in 2018” study shows that the The big winner is the German webshop 21run.com And you might think that it’s because they choose a few selected shoes and sell them cheaply. But that’s not the case at all. A wide and very well-assorted selection to choose from. It’s rare that we fail at 21run.com if there are any running-related items missing from the range.
Germany is close by, so it often doesn’t even take long to get goods delivered. If there are problems with an order or otherwise, our experience is that the Germans are very friendly and really want to help.

One could easily argue that there is no level playing field when Danish webshops have to try to compete with, for example, German ones. Because as you may be aware, the VAT in Germany alone is 7% lower than it is in Denmark. This is a relatively big advantage for the Germans in terms of business..
England has a VAT rate of 20%.

Germany is the cheapest. The country has the highest average savings on running shoes

Did you know that:

Adidas running shoes! – are prices dictated?

Another fun fact that the study shows is that Adidas is probably the best brand to keep their recommended retail prices in the market. At least when we look at Denmark and Sweden. It is not the big discount given on the regular prices. If you take their average savings over the entire study and compare it to the brand with the most savings, there is about a 37% difference..
It is not about the large number of models of Adidas running shoes that are included in the test, in fact only the 2 most popular and used, namely Supernova and Ultra Boost. And especially Adidas Ultra Boost keeps a price very constant around 1,500,- It is very striking if we have to give our assessment. Why is it that Adidas Ultra Boost can do that, and for example Asics Gel Nimbus immediately drops to 1,200,-? 1,100,-? -1,000,-? Well, Ultra Boost is a great running shoe, but it is not that fantastic either. One could almost suspect that there was a requirement that the price should be kept? Especially if you consider that we previously did a similar price study a few years ago, and Adidas was the brand you could save the most money on. A lot has happened since then, and there may be fluctuations in both the number of models, trends and prices. but it is remarkable how significant a difference there is. It could smell a bit like Adidas has been re-branding their brand on running shoes again.

The image above shows a clipping from our previous price survey on running shoe prices.

Most popular running shoes only sold at a discount

The most popular running, or rather the most popular running shoe brand for 2 years in a row, measured by our users is Asics. And it is very funny and a bit thought-provoking that all shoes, all measurements and everything in the study almost point in the direction that this brand should not be bought at full price under any circumstances. You probably shouldn’t with many brands, but it is extremely thought-provoking that Asics, which are so popular, are SO cheap. You should not buy aAsics running shoes at a price higher than minus 20% discount. It seems like 20% is the minimum.
So it may well be that Adidas has models that keep the price down, and maybe they do it artificially and who knows, maybe also a little dictating. But Asics stands with products likeAsics Gel-Nimbus 20 andAsics Gel Kayano, which are repeatedly sold to the consumer with a minus 30-35% discount. This is of course positive for the consumer, not so positive for the webshops that sell the shoe. Their margin and profit on these shoes is very small. So it is not even Asics as a brand that faces the challenge, no, unfortunately it is webshops around Denmark and Europe. Asics will probably make the money they need from selling to webshops. A somewhat boring trend for the many hopeful webshop owners.

Running shoes you should shop for without shipping

One place where the Danish webshops can win, and do, is on another very high-profile competitive parameter. The shipping when you order new running shoes. It is basically the case that you are very close to getting free shipping at the vast majority of webshops in Denmark when you just order running shoes. Some limits already start at 499,-, but otherwise it is typically 799,- and 999,-
But the shipping to the customer is not the only parameter when talking about shipping. It is at least as important that the customer can exchange their running shoes painlessly and without charge if they have arrived a size too big or too small. And here the Danish webshops are ahead in the shoes and do it well. So it is a clear Danish advantage. It becomes a little more difficult if you have to exchange a size in your new running shoes, bought in a foreign webshop. Not only is it administratively more difficult, it also takes a lot longer. So with that fact we can perhaps conclude that buying running shoes from abroad is good if you know your size.

Are running shoes really overpriced?

You might be surprised. Because when new models hit the market, it doesn’t take a split second before the model lands on a shelf with at least a 15% discount. And from there it just drops further and further down..
So you could argue that a running shoe should never have been priced so high. Because if both physical stores and webshops still calculate it with a discount for customers, then it’s basically a bit misleading? Or is it?

There is basically a discount on ALL running shoes online.

It is a myth that webshops have lower costs

The eternal song it can almost be called. But let’s make it clear once and for all, a webshop does NOT have lower costs than a regular physical store. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is probably more the other way around. So that webshops in today’s very demanding online shopping times are forced to constantly optimize and upgrade to stay ahead..
It has always been said that a webshop can sell goods cheaper because a webshop, for example, does not have the same staff and rent costs. But that myth is so outdated that it is outdated once again. Because if you want something on the Internet today, it requires much more than a basement room, a laptop and a few different IT skills. If you want to be at the forefront of what is really fun today, and bite spoons with the big boys from abroad, it not only requires a lot of in-house technical knowledge, both in the form of subject experts, but also in terms of computers. No, it also requires well-functioning customer service, because people expect that, and most likely also a large warehouse that needs to be staffed, heated and maintained, because if you do not have many products, you will be excluded from your range.
So when a store owner of a physical store stubbornly claims that a webshop has fewer expenses and can make more money, I would go so far as to say that it is a horizontal AND vertical lie. The costs are just different, and in most cases higher. Then that myth is probably debunked.
So not only is shipping more expensive from abroad (you probably guessed that), but there’s also the fact that in Denmark you can exchange for free, and without so many frills. That’s a parameter worth highlighting for Danish webshop owners.
Sweden can become a competitor in terms of shipping prices – but if you take our survey, and then take the best Danish webshop and the Swedish one, there is over 8% difference in prices in the 2 webshops. So you can calculate for yourself whether you want to pay shipping in Denmark (if it is imposed) or you want to go for a price that is on average 8% higher?

Info chart about the study

Below you will find an infographic about the study. There you can graphically find some of the most interesting points in the study. You are more than welcome to use this infographic on your own website or similar. Just remember to link back to the original.

It’s okay to share and use this infographic on your own website. Just remember to link back to the original (this page). Infographics can also be requested in higher resolution. Then send an email to mail@inrunningshoes.com