"Ugly shoes" staged a big comeback! Sales exceeded 20 billion yuan in one year

In recent years, Crocs have become extremely popular both at home and abroad, and the originator of Crocs is none other than Crocs.

Thanks to its main product, Crocs, it has become a global hit, with sales of nearly US$4 billion (approximately RMB 29.1 billion) a year!

How did Crocs become popular all over the world?

Crocs (Chinese: 卡洛驰) is a well-known American footwear brand founded in 2002. Its iconic product, Crocs, has been widely praised and recognized in the global market for its fashion, comfort and practicality.

Initially, Crocs shoes were aimed at sailors and outdoor athletes .

The founders of Crocs loved rowing, but they had never found a pair of shoes suitable for rowing on the market. After research, they found that a Canadian company produced a resin material called Croslite, which was comfortable to wear and had excellent anti-slip properties. So they found this company and designed a rowing shoe, and Crocs was born. Subsequently, Crocs debuted at the 2002 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show in the United States.

(Image source: Crocs official website)

Later, the shoes quickly became popular among different groups due to their comfort, lightness, waterproofness, ease of standing for a long time, and ease of wearing and taking off, as well as cleaning. Currently, Crocs products have been sold to more than 40 countries and regions in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

On the Amazon platform, Crocs has several basic hole shoes that are on the Amazon Best Sellers list.

As early as February 2006, Crocs successfully listed on the NASDAQ and set a record for the highest first-day stock price increase for a footwear company's initial public offering.

In addition to its mainstay Crocs, Crocs has added new products such as canvas slip-ons, leather sandals, Mary Janes, golf shoes, and also started selling sunglasses, swimwear and T-shirts.

Crocs's recognition by global consumers is closely related to its strong product power.

Crocs products are made of patented Croslite™ material, which is very comfortable, waterproof, non-slip, odor-resistant, lightweight, and traceless . It can fit the curve of the foot better as the body temperature changes, making it very comfortable for consumers to wear. In addition, Crocs products have won the Ergonomics Institute certification in the United States , which can minimize the possibility of human body injury when wearing.

Crocs has long attached great importance to product innovation, such as the development of LiteRide technology, which makes the product 40% softer, 25% lighter and more comfortable than the previous Crostile resin material.

It is worth mentioning that Crocs’ DIY culture has become one of the brand’s signature features. This feature has not only attracted a large number of consumers, but also promoted the brand’s continued growth and innovation.

There are many small holes on the upper of Crocs for ventilation, which gives consumers space for "secondary creation", and DIY hole shoes have become very popular.

In 2006, Crocs acquired Jibbitz , a supplier of upper decorative accessories. Since then, decorative buckles have become one of Crocs' important products.

(Image source: Crocs official website)

When consumers buy Crocs, they also buy various accessories for personalized decoration. This additional sales not only increases the average order value, but also increases the brand's revenue.

Crocs' products were able to quickly capture the market, and social media marketing also played a crucial role.

Crocs has established brand accounts on multiple social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and X (Twitter), and has posted attractive pictures and content on major social platforms, including joint information, outfit renderings, emoticons, creative stories, Vlogs, promotional videos, unboxing and DIY videos, etc. These contents not only showcase the characteristics and advantages of the products, but also increase the fun and interactivity of the brand, successfully capturing a large number of consumers.

Crocs also invites users to co-create content on social platforms, and enhances user participation through UGC content marketing. A large number of fans will DIY through decorative buckles and share them on social media platforms. For example, on TikTok, the topics about Crocs and Crocs challenge have more than 4 billion and 10 million views respectively.

Crocs also expands its brand voice through co-branded marketing, collaborating with mainstream stars such as Justin Bieber and SZA. These stars have great appeal among Generation Z, further enhancing the brand's popularity and influence.

Crocs was once mocked as "ugly shoes" and was on the verge of bankruptcy!

Although Crocs has achieved outstanding success in the global market, the brand was once mocked as "ugly shoes" during its development, suffered heavy losses, and was even on the verge of bankruptcy.

When Crocs' hole shoes were first launched, the upper covered with holes and the anti-slip strap design caused aesthetic controversy among some consumers, and they were considered "ugly shoes".

Faced with external doubts, Crocs adopted a positive response strategy and launched the slogan "Ugly can be beautiful" , turning "ugly" into a brand feature .

In 2017, Crocs launched a global marketing campaign with the theme "Come As You Are", inviting celebrities to talk about their experiences of self-acceptance and staying true to themselves, emphasizing the importance of "being yourself", and elevating the debate over beauty and ugliness that consumers are hotly discussing to a value concept, advocating personalized expression.

At the same time, Crocs also collaborates with well-known brands and designers in different fields to break consumers' inherent impression of Crocs hole shoes.

In 2016, fashion designer Christopher Kane embellished Crocs with gemstones and brought them down the runway .

In 2018, Balenciaga added thick soles to Crocs sandals at Fashion Week .

Crocs has collaborated with fast fashion brand GU and has launched a Crocs co-branded clothing series.

Crocs also collaborated with beverage brand Coca-Cola to launch a uniquely colored shoe series using Coca-Cola's classic red and white color scheme and logo .

Through these joint collaborations, Crocs has broken the inherent impression of the brand in consumers' cognition and gained more creative inspiration and market opportunities.

In addition to reversing consumers' stereotypes, Crocs also survived the bankruptcy crisis.

In 2008, Crocs suffered a heavy blow and was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The global financial crisis that year also affected Crocs . Due to the company's blind expansion of product lines and the impact of market changes, the brand lost $185 million in one year. The stock price plummeted from $69 a year ago to around $1 , and the brand was on the verge of bankruptcy.

In order to survive the financial crisis, Crocs began to reform internally. The company reorganized, changed management and reformed its business . Crocs refocused its business on Crocs , while reducing other product lines, closing a number of stores with poor returns and reducing investment in small regional markets .

Later, Crocs Group's performance grew steadily and it successfully weathered the crisis.

In 2023, Crocs Group's sales reached US$3.962 billion, a record high, an increase of 11.46% year-on-year, and net profit reached US$793 million, a year-on-year increase of 46.73%.

Crocs released its third quarter financial report as of October 30, 2024.   The cumulative revenue for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2024 was US$3.112 billion , achieving revenue growth for several consecutive quarters.

Crocs successfully achieved a turnaround from being on the verge of bankruptcy to becoming a global best-seller through precise market positioning, flexible marketing strategies, joint cooperation, promotion of DIY culture and multi-channel marketing.

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