Shoes ‘made in’ Portugal have a strategic plan of 600 million euros
The Portuguese footwear industry studied the world market to define the strategy for the next decade and give figures for its ambition for growth. “We look at the world, we analyze our target market and the consumer profile of Portuguese shoes. We realized that the market is not that big, but we still have a lot of room to grow”, he says to express Paulo Gonçalves, director of communication for the sectoral association APICCAPS.
“Only 9% of the world’s population has a special appetite for buying shoes produced in Portugal, which means that 700 million people are concerned in a universe of 8 million”, he adds. Considering that the sector sells 80 million pairs of shoes, “we can think that we have already conquered 10% of our target public. Now it remains to reach everyone else,” she adds.
In a sector used to carefully studying trends and the path to follow to define guidelines for its companies, the seventh strategic plan, prepared for the horizon of 2030, marks the investment to be made to achieve all the foreseen objectives in 600 million euros, 140 of the millions of which are already advancing within the scope of the PRR – Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The work, developed by CEGEA – Centro de Estudos do Núcleo do Porto at the Catholic University, led by Alberto Castro, was ready in 2020, but did not advance due to the pandemic and ended up undergoing some changes in order to respond to market changes, the which is reflected, for example, in the idea of the Digital Academy, one of the proposals that make up the 113 actions divided into 24 packages of measures defined for 145 target cities, 60% of which centered on the US and Europe, according to “an ongoing analysis and directed”.
In the estimates, for example, the probability that the potential market for Portuguese footwear is provided by consumers who have an income equal to or greater than the average GDP per capita of the OECD countries in 2020, that is, around 38,500 dollars, benefits .
The model, tuned according to demographic studies, consumption patterns and country typologies, intends to lead the sector to export 3 million euros in 2030, 50% more than the forecast value for 2022 (1.9 to 2 million).
“We are working in a difficult environment, in which it is very risky to make a forecast, but this is our goal and for now, in 2022, everything indicates that the financial year will close with a registered record”, underlined Paulo Gonçalves.
“Green Commitment”
On the table, along with Academia Digital, are things like an anchor brand entrepreneurship project to encourage industrialists to invest in their own brand, or the “green commitment”, which should bring together a hundred footwear brands in a protocol of sustainability early in 2023.
Another point foresees the creation of a working group with institutions and 20 companies that will be “guinea pigs” of a pilot experience to define how far it is possible to go in terms of inclusion, whether of foreigners, women or people with disabilities.
“We have to distinguish ourselves with a pact of things that includes inclusion and social responsibility, along with product quality, fair prices, sustainable production”, adds Paulo Gonçalves, confident that this will be the image that those who buy created in Portugal will have more and more of the country.
The idea is, once again, to assert the Portuguese industry as “an international reference in the footwear sector and reinforce orders with creativity, innovation, production efficiency, technology, management and added value.
“Integrating Element”
With this “strategic shock”, the sector is preparing for another decade of growth, believes entrepreneur and president of APICCAPS Luís Onofre. “This plan is more than a vision, it is a commitment by the sector to ensure its competitiveness at an international level and continue to generate value for our country”, he underlined.
But I defend above all that this work base is an “integrating element”, with lines of action to be implemented collectively, but also giving space for each company to frame its individual strategy” .
Over the past four decades, with the support and guidance of the strategic plans defined by APICCAPS, the sector has managed to triple employment, quintuple production and multiply exports by 13.
The qualification imperative
As for the challenges, the diagnosis is also made: “There are several factors that raise the reflex climate, such as “the scarcity of traditional labor, the sharp increase in inheritance and its reflections on monetary policy, the emergence of new distribution channels, the emergence of new competitors, changes in those influenced by consumers or reflection on the evolution of consumption”, recalls Luís Onofre.
More: the sector cannot “exclude international value chain management solutions that managed to strengthen competitiveness”. ”, as this is “the solution that guarantees greater strategic independence, and it is desirable that it represents a growing share of exports”, says the president of APICCAPS, he intended to qualify as “the great imperative”.
Consisting of 1500 companies, responsible for around 40,000 jobs, the footwear sector exports more than 95% of its production to 172 countries on five continents. Until September, Portugal exported 61 million pairs of shoes, worth 1537 million euros, which represents a growth of 22.5% compared to the same period of the previous year.