How Resale Hedges Footwear Brands Against Economic Headwinds

Between pandemic demand shocks, supply chain volatility, inflation, and tariff uncertainty, the footwear industry has been subject to a relentless wave of macroeconomic disruption.

Now, just as input costs are beginning to stabilize, brands and retailers are grappling with an oil shock that will put pressure on both transportation prices and materials. Footwear brands face a specific vulnerability others don’t—key materials like foam, nylon, and polyurethane are petroleum-derived, meaning oil price volatility impacts input costs directly.

At the same time, returns remain a structural challenge. Fit drives the majority of returns, with 75% of consumers reporting they’ve returned items because they didn’t fit.

The result is a growing pool of lightly-used inventory that rarely makes it back to full price, and is often liquidated at 10 to 20 cents on the dollar.

Resale addresses both sides of this equation. The brands moving now are starting to see it become a meaningful revenue channel.

What Resale Solves For Footwear Brands:

• Hedges against rising input costs: Resale reduces dependence on new production, helping offset margin pressure from rising oil and material costs.
• Provides an accessible price point: Keeping products in circulation attracts price-sensitive consumers while maintaining brand perception.
• Recaptures lost revenue: Brand-owned resale brings secondhand sales in-house instead of losing them to off-price retailers and third-party channels.

The Reality: Persistent Economic Uncertainty Isn’t Going Away

If the past few years have made anything clear, it’s that macroeconomic uncertainty and supply chain disruptions become part of doing business in the retail space. Resale offers a powerful hedge against such pressures:

• No new raw materials required: Resale inventory doesn’t depend on oil-derived inputs like foam or polyurethane, because the items have already been produced. 
• Reduced supply chain exposure: Most resale operations are domestic, avoiding the complexity and the cost transportation that results from shipping globally.
• Built for durability: Many footwear categories, particularly heritage and performance brands, are designed to last, making them ideal candidates for second (and third!) lives.

Archive powers brand-owned resale for the industry’s leading footwear brands. Dr. Martens ReWair surpassed 30,000 resold pairs in just two years, demonstrating strong consumer appetite for secondhand. And On has taken the next step in its journey toward circularity, launching Cyclon™ to enable customers to ^trade in used gear and shop refurbished products.

Here's What Brands Are Doing About It

1) Generating Revenue From Excess Supply

Returns and excess inventory are among footwear's greatest operational challenges, and resale is one of the most effective ways to address them

According to a 2026 report from Capital One shopping, 75% of consumers have returned footwear due to fit issues, and much of that inventory can't be resold as new.

Historically, that inventory has gone to off-price retailers like TJ Maxx at deep discounts that erode both margin and brand positioning. Recent reporting from The Business of Fashion called the current moment a “golden age” for off-price retailers, with strong growth and rising valuations as they absorb surplus inventory brands can’t move. Brand-owned resale reclaims that value and keeps products (and customers) inside your ecosystem at prices that protect premium positioning.

Forward-thinking footwear companies are reclaiming this value through resale. Karhu's Renewed program is a strong example. Rather than letting returned and unsellable inventory sit idle, Karhu funnels it into its resale channel, where 60% of resale shoppers are new to the brand, and resale has made up 6% of total revenue since launch.

2) Catering to the Value-Driven Consumer

Macroeconomic pressure isn’t only hitting brands’ supply side. It’s reshaping demand, too. McKinsey data shows shoppers in 2026 are pulling back on discretionary spending, prioritizing value as economic uncertainty persists.In addition, over a third of consumers say they plan to spend less than usual on footwear in the next three months. Resale meets that moment, bringing price-sensitive shoppers into your brand ecosystem at a lower entry point without markdowns on your mainline business.

Archive data shows that on average, 50% of resale shoppers are new to the brand, and about half convert to full-price.

Take New Balance as an example. Its Reconsidered program has sold 100,000 pairs of shoes in just over two years, and the brand recently announced it would expand into apparel, driven in part by a growing customer base that first engaged through resale.

“Reconsidered has been an impactful platform for New Balance consumers to access popular, like-new or gently worn styles while helping to extend the life of our footwear. We've seen an influx of new customers come to us through Reconsidered, so we're excited to continue offering them even more options through our expansion into the apparel category." - Tracy Knauer, VP North America Marketing, E-Commerce & Consumer Analytics

3) Future-Proofing Footwear Through Circularity

Global economic pressures faced by the footwear industry—and retail at large—aren’t showing signs of disappearing any time soon. Resale helps brands create and grow new revenue streams, unlock trapped inventory value, and meet evolving consumer expectations, all while reducing dependence on volatile supply chains.

Ready to future-proof your footwear business and see what resale could generate for your brand?
Get your custom resale GMV projection and learn how we turn resale into a long-lasting growth channel.