Interest in valenki has risen substantially in Russia following the decline in footwear import volumes.
From January through November, Russians spent 2.41 billion rubles buying felt boots — according to information from the “Honest Sign” state tracking system, as reported by RBC, this represents the highest amount in the past three years.
Felt boot sales showed an increase of 27.6% compared to the identical period in 2023 (1.89 billion rubles). When compared to 2022, expansion reached 30.6%, and from 2021 — 56.6%.
This year, the need for valenki in Russia has climbed by nearly 20% year-on-year, with the primary catalyst for this surge being web-based avenues, as the Honest Sign informed the publication. According to Varvara Mikhailova, the chief of the consumer goods division at the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies, felt boot transactions on digital platforms rose by a factor of 2.5 in contrast to 2023, whereas brick-and-mortar sales fell by 10.2%.
The Federal Customs Service indicates that, from January through August 2024, footwear and textile item entries dropped by 9% annually, totaling $12.1 billion. The downturn in shoe entries was particularly acute starting in May, reaching a yearly reduction of 37% during the summer months, Alfa Bank pointed out. Alexey Fedorov, chairperson of the e-commerce board at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had previously stated that the primary factor behind the decline in imports was the Western penalties levied due to the North Eastern Military District in Ukraine, which notably complicated dealings with banks in “friendly nations” for Russian entities.