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According to the Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report, as of October 2022, the import profit margin of China and Vietnam totaled 80.6%, lower than 81.5% in the first nine months. This has opened the door for some major second tier suppliers to seize market share from the former two manufacturers (especially China).

Other countries among the top five footwear producers in the US market showed this growth.

According to the observation of Huacheng import and export data, the shipment of footwear from Vietnam, the second largest supplier, increased by 20.6% during this period, reaching 5413.7 million pairs. This is higher than the year to date growth rate of 16.8% in the first three quarters of this year.

Imports from Indonesia, the third largest supplier, increased by 53.4% to 164.8 million pairs. After the growth of 52.7% in the first nine months of this year, Indonesia's import volume soared for the fourth consecutive month to more than 50% since the beginning of the year, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

The shipment from Cambodia increased by 38.1% to 65.9 million pairs, while the import from India increased by 46.9% to 35.67 million pairs.

As most of the commodities in the key fourth quarter have been in stores, retailers and brands to improve their inventory, the import of American footwear continued to slow down in October, growing by 19.2% to 2.27 billion pairs so far this year, up 21.95% in the previous nine months, according to the latest data from the Office of Textiles and Clothing (OTEXA) of the Ministry of Commerce.

Footwear imports have slowed steadily in recent months, as businesses and suppliers are struggling to cope with weak consumer demand and high inventory. As of August, imports have increased by 24.8% so far this year and 27.4% in the first half of the year. For many people, the tightening of inventory management seems to have worked, as reported by Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

Diane Sullivan, Chairman and CEO of Caleres, said last month: "In the third quarter, even when consumers were coping with this challenging macroeconomic environment, our quarterly sales reached a record $798 million, nearly 2% higher than the third quarter of 2021."

The retailer's inventory growth was about 19.5%, in line with expectations, 15.8% lower than the second quarter of 2022.

Shoe Carnival announced in late November that its profit in the third quarter was 12.8%, the highest profit in the year after 12.4% in the previous quarter, and it achieved double digits for the seventh consecutive quarter.

"As we have seen in the past seven quarters, we continue to provide excellent product margins," said Carl Scibeta, chief marketing officer. "Compared with 2019, the profit margin of these products continues to rise by more than 700 basis points, which is the result of our transformation of promotion strategy."

According to the report of OTEXA, after the growth of 18.8% in the first three quarters of this year, the footwear imported from China, the largest supplier, increased by 12% to 1.21 billion pairs in 10 months.

Vietnam, the second largest supplier, increased its footwear shipments by 20.6% during this period to 5413.7 million pairs. This is higher than the year to date growth rate of 16.8% in the first three quarters of this year, as reported by Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.