You’ll save a lot of money buying running shoes online
It’s pretty clear that buying online can save you money, and quite a bit when it comes to running shoes, according to the latest survey released by the number-crunchers at RunRepeat.com.
How does an average of 38.14 percent – $46.19 per pair – sound? If you spend $120 on a pair of shoes at your local running store, that’s like getting every fourth pair free. There aren’t many discounts that good.
And this one gets better. If you manage to find the previous year’s model online, you can take off another 19.36 percent ($14.50) on average, the data show.
“For most runners, they know what shoes work for them, and for them, saving 38 percent on average, it makes sense to buy it online,” said Jens Jakob Andersen, founder of the website, which bills itself as the Yelp of running shoes. “I was surprised to see the number was this big.”
The independent running shoe website looked at 183,911 online purchases of running shoes on March 1, 3 and 6 and compared them with manufacturers’ suggested retail prices in bricks-and-mortar running shoe stores. More than 2,400 shoes across 36 brands – more than 99 percent of the market – were covered in the survey.
It turns out that 86 percent of all running shoes are available at a discount online, including top brands such as Nike, Brooks, Asics and Adidas, all of which can be found at 31 percent to 40 percent off.
The top savings were on Scott (62 percent), Reebok (53 percent) and Skechers (53 percent). Vibram FiveFingers and Topo Athletic shoes were at the bottom, with 15 percent off – still not too bad. When it comes to which online retailer provided the best discounts, Sierra Trading Post, at 41 percent, was tops, while RoadRunner Sports lagged the field at only 1 percent. Amazon boasted the second-best prices and gold for widest selection.
So what’s going on here, besides the obvious theory that online retailers don’t have the overhead costs of traditional stores? Andersen believes that the Internet enforces a price transparency that you can’t find at stores. Few people will take the time to price a pair of shoes at 10 running shoe stores, so manufacturers can control prices in those bricks-and-mortar facilities by acting as a sort of cartel. All the brands in a given store are marked up into much the same range, he said. But checking a dozen prices online requires only a few clicks, so competition is real and fierce.
“They are dictating this market,” Andersen said of the big footwear manufacturers. “But on the Internet, it is so hard for them to dictate it.” He acknowledged that one of the big drawbacks of shopping online is that you might sacrifice fit and comfort, which can’t be overstated when it comes to running gear, because you can’t try on the shoes. You can send them back, of course, but how many times do you want to do that?
Andersen said online three-dimensional scanning technology available through sites such as Shoefitr.com is making strides toward solving that problem. And if your conscience allows it, you always can try on a bunch of shoes at the store until you find one you like, then go home and buy them online.
As shops catch on to all this, sales of running shoes online are rising. In 2010, they made up 12.2 percent of all sales. In 2013, that share had grown to 18.1 percent, according to Running USA.
Nike running shoes are shown on display at Niketown in Portland, Ore., in July 2011. Shoes for runners have come a long way in recent years, with technological upgrades galore. But the best way to choose your shoes still is to try on many pairs — in a store, late in the day, wearing your usual running socks — and jog in them to see how they fare.
The coloured running shoes of competitors pound the ground near the start of the women’s marathon at the World Athletic Championships at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
The coloured running shoes of competitors are a blur during the women’s marathon at the World Athletic Championships at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)