The E-Commerce Footwear Trust Problem Is Creating Winners and Losers
Table of Contents
DOVER, DE / ACCESS Newswire / October 31, 2025 / The e-commerce footwear market is heading toward $224.58 billion by 2033, but here’s what the numbers don’t show – most brands are losing money trying to get there. The reason? They’re solving the wrong problem.
While established players throw millions at virtual try-on technology and AI recommendations, a handful of upstart brands like Bareroots Footwear are figuring out something more fundamental. Trust matters more than tech. Alot more.
Bareroots announced this week it’s expanded to 600+ styles across four countries after nearly failing in its first market. The trajectory is interesting not because of the growth itself, but because of what it reveals about where the e-commerce footwear industry is actually heading.
What’s Really Happening in Online Footwear
So here’s the thing about e-commerce footwear that everyone knows but nobody wants to talk about. Return rates sit at 19.9% online versus 5% in stores. That 15-point gap isn’t a sizing problem or a technology problem – it’s a confidence problem.
“What we’re seeing in the market is that customer acquisition costs keep rising while the brands that focus on retention are actually growing profitably,” says Maarten Klijnsma, founder of Bareroots. “It’s not rocket science – if you can get someone to buy twice, your economics work. If you can’t, you’re just burning money on ads.”
The data backs this up. Bain & Company research indicates that increasing retention by 5% can boost profits anywhere from 25% to 95%. Yet most e-commerce footwear brands still optimize for first-purchase conversion instead of repeat purchase rates.
Why? Because it’s easier to measure and faster to show results to investors. But easier doesn’t mean better.
The Market Split Nobody’s Talking About
Look, the e-commerce footwear space is splitting into two camps and most people haven’t noticed yet. On one side you’ve got brands dependent on paid advertising to drive every sale. On the other you’ve got brands building word-of-mouth machines through customer experience.
McKinsey’s consumer research makes this pretty clear – family and friends influence purchase decisions way more than advertising. Which means brands that create advocates have a structural advantage that compounds over time.
Bareroots claims 60% of their growth comes from organic discovery rather than paid ads. If that holds (and that’s a significant if), it means they’ve cracked the trust problem that keeps most new footwear brands stuck in the paid acquisition trap.
“The competitive landscape is interesting because everyone’s focused on technology and product innovation while the real opportunity is in operational excellence,” Klijnsma explains. “Can you deliver shoes faster than promised? Does your packaging make someone feel good about their purchase? Do actual humans respond to customer emails? That’s where trust comes from.”
The company expanded from one struggling market to operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia with 600+ styles in under six months. That kind of velocity is unusual without venture capital backing, which Bareroots doesn’t have according to company sources.
Where This Gets Interesting
The broader trend here is about market concentration. As the footwear e-commerce space matures and customer acquisition costs rise, the brands with strong retention metrics will capture disproportionate market share. The rest will struggle or dissapear.
Market projections show steady growth toward that $224 billion figure, but what’s less clear is how that growth gets distributed. Will it follow the typical power law where the top 20% of brands capture 80% of profits? Probably.
Bareroots is betting they can be in that top tier by focusing on metrics most brands ignore – repeat purchase rate (they claim 28% within 90 days), referral velocity, and customer lifetime value. It’s basically the opposite strategy from most venture-backed e-commerce companies that prioritize growth at all costs.
“We’re not trying to be the biggest footwear brand out there,” Klijnsma says. “The goal is to be the most trusted for everyday shoes. If we do that well, the growth follows without needing to spend a fortune on ads every month.”
Whether that strategy scales beyond their current size remains to be seen. Operating in four countries with 600+ styles requires operational complexity that plenty of e-commerce brands have stumbled on. But the early indicators suggest they’re doing something right.
What This Means for the Industry
The thing is, if Bareroots’ approach works at scale, it creates a template for other challenger brands to follow. Build trust through experience rather than buying attention through advertising. Focus on retention metrics instead of conversion rates. Optimize for advocates instead of transactions.
That’s bad news for the established players who’ve built their business models around brand recognition and paid acquisition. It’s also potentially problematic for the venture-backed brands that need to show aggressive top-line growth to justify valuations.
Research on brand loyalty shows customers who trust brands spend 67% more over time. Which means the brands that figure out trust-building now will have massive advantages in a few years when everyone else realizes paid acquisition doesn’t work anymore.
The e-commerce footwear market is growing steadily, but the real story isn’t the growth rate – it’s which brands capture that growth profitably. Based on what we’re seeing from companies like Bareroots, the winners probably won’t be who most industry analysts expect.
Time will tell if this analysis holds up. But when a bootstrap footwear brand can scale to four countries and 600 styles by focusing on trust instead of technology? That’s worth paying attention to.
About Bareroots Footwear
Bareroots Footwear offers over 600 styles of everyday footwear through its e-commerce platform, operating in the United States, UK, Canada, and Australia. Founded in 2024, the company focuses on combining style, comfort, and accessibility in its product range.
Join millions of self-starters in getting business resources, tips, and inspiring stories in your inbox.
Unsubscribe anytime. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from BigBCC. By proceeding, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
SELL ANYWHERE WITH BigBCC
Learn on the go. Try BigBCC for free, and explore all the tools you need to start, run, and grow your business.
