State of AI Apps Report 2025 is Live!
Sensor Tower · Abraham Yousef · September 2024
Shoe Carnival Steals the Show in BTS Campaigns
Footwear is a unique category in the back-to-school (BTS) supply list, as 60% of school-age parents make their footwear purchases close to the start of school. This corresponds to Sensor Tower data, as 70% of BTS advertising in 3Q23 took place in August, as retailers aligned their BTS campaigns with peak shopping opportunities. As of 3Q24 QTD, Shoe Carnival is the largest advertiser across the retail shoe cohort, accounting for 83% of BTS spend.
Key Takeaways:
Per ST data, Shoe Carnival is the primary advertiser across the retail shoe cohort when filtered by back to school keywords and accounted for 83% of US ad spend in 3Q24 QTD, followed by Genesco (8%) and DSW (6%)
As of Jul’24, US ad spend across the cohort is down 17% YoY, as most brands pulled back on advertising. However, Shoe Carnival and Genseco increased their BTS ad spend by 220% and 210% YoY, respectively, to seize consumer interest during this period of heightened demand
Shoe Carnival is not only the largest advertiser by paid share of voice for BTS creatives, it also edges out the competition in overall spend across the cohort for 3Q24 QTD. Shoe Carnival accounts for 24% of all spend, followed closely by Caleres, DSW, and Foot Locker with 20%, 18%, and 18% of spend, respectively
In 3Q24, ~15% of overall spend in the retail shoe cohort is connected to BTS, though most advertisers have only attributed 4% of their spend to BTS promotions on average during that time (ex-Shoe Carnival). This isn’t the case for Shoe Carnival, where nearly 60% of its 3Q24 spend is connected to its BTS promotion
The retail shoe cohort has heavily relied on Facebook advertising to reach consumers, with the network averaging 62% of BTS ad spend across the cohort, compared to 30% for Instagram
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