Strong Toning Shoes Sales Boost Skechers And Reebok
Toning shoe sales have been rising rapidly over the last eighteen months – during a period when adverse economic conditions have seen footwear sales generally decline. Toning shoes sales were just $ 17 million in 2008. Toning shoe sales sky-rocketed to $ 252 million in the first four months of 2010. The list of the top ten grossing athletic shoes at this time includes no fewer than six toning shoes – two Reebok Easy Tones and four Skechers Shape Ups.
The big attraction of toning shoes is that they promise to give the wearer a free lower body workout if they wear them whilst walking about normally during the course of their daily business. No need to make time in your day to visit the gym – and no costly membership fees to pay either. All you need to do is to wear a different pair of shoes and you will have a pert butt and toned legs before you know it.
Toning shoes provide this walking workout by the use of a specially designed sole. Each brand has its own unique design of sole. Skechers and MBT Shoes use a thick, curved sole, FitFlops use a sole which uses varying densities of materials and Reebok Easy Tones have special air pods incorporated.
Whilst the exact mechanism may vary from brand to brand, the general theory seems to be that the sole should introduce an element of instability during the course of normal walking activity. This prompts the lower body muscles to attempt to re-establish balance – which makes them perform a little additional work. That’s how the toning and trimming is achieved.
The different manufacturers have had a variety of different tests and trials performed which, by and large, seem to back up their claims. User feedback is also extremely positive and a lot of happy customers even report additional benefits which are not claimed by the footwear manufacturers. Notwithstanding their apparent popularity, there are many who doubt the validity of the claimed benefits of toning shoes and who regard them as little more than the latest health and fitness fad.
Looking at the sales figures, there is very definitely a market for toning shoes. Women are clearly the target market. Skechers, currently the biggest player in the toning shoes sector, have seen their share of the women’s sports footwear market increase by a factor of three – rising to 17%, which represents annual sales of $ 226 million. Reebok have also seen their market share increase to just under 7%.
Even in better market conditions, these would be regarded as extremely impressive results. How effective toning shoes are is a subject which will doubtless be discussed for some time to come – but they have certainly improved the looks of both the Skechers and Reebok annual accounts.
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