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