The ancestor of hole shoes, Crocs, has fallen from grace

Author | Wang Xiaojuan

Editor | Huang Yu

In recent years, Crocs have become a must-have versatile shoe for young people. However, as the pioneer in the field of clogs, Crocs has recently been struggling.

Recently, Crocs announced a performance warning: it expects third-quarter revenue to decline by 9%-11% year-on-year. The news triggered a strong market reaction—on August 7th, Eastern Time, the stock price plummeted nearly 30% in a single day, marking the largest drop in nearly 14 years, with a market value evaporating by $4.17 billion.

Crocs CEO Andrew Rees could not hide his anxiety during the earnings call: "Consumers are not even entering stores anymore." This statement reveals the harsh reality of the fall from grace for the clog giant.

Looking back to 2006, when Crocs debuted on NASDAQ, it was a glorious moment, setting the record for the highest stock price increase on the first day of an IPO for a shoe company. In recent years, the clogs designed for sailing, with their unique "walking on air" comfort, quickly conquered the public, sparking a consumption revolution of "the uglier, the trendier," and were elevated to a pedestal by young people around the world.

At its peak, a regular pair of Crocs sold for as much as 2,000 yuan, while a diamond-studded collaboration model was priced at 9,999 yuan and still in high demand. In 2023, Crocs maintained its industry myth—annual sales reached 120 million pairs, with profits soaring to $793 million.

However, glory is hard to sustain. Crocs' Q1 2025 financial report shows that the growth rate of the main brand plummeted from 14.6% in the same period of 2024 to 2.4%, with the North American market even experiencing a negative growth of 3.8%. Once bustling wholesale channels and outlet stores are now deserted.

Worse still, Crocs reported a net loss of $492.3 million in Q2, primarily due to the failed gamble of acquiring the trendy brand HEYDUDE for $2.5 billion in 2022. The brand's valuation was halved, forcing Crocs to write down $700 million, which exceeded half of its annual profit.

The decline in Crocs' performance is due to both external environmental changes and internal reasons.

On one hand, tariff policies have added $90 million in costs for the company throughout the year. When CFO Susan Hilli attempted to pass on costs by "reducing discounts," the traffic to the promotional section of the official website plummeted by 40%, creating a vicious cycle.

Additionally, sports brands are making a strong comeback by leveraging major events, with the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics driving a surge in demand for professional sports shoes, squeezing the market space for casual shoes. In recent years, sports and outdoor footwear have consistently secured the most prime locations in shopping malls, reflecting consumer choices to some extent.

In the once-significant Chinese market, the encirclement by low-priced competitors is even more lethal. On e-commerce platforms, Skechers' "bubble shoes" are priced between 100-500 yuan, while domestic brands like Warrior and Semir have launched clogs priced around 100 yuan, breaking Crocs' brand exclusivity. Generic clogs are as low as 39.9 yuan, with single models selling over 200,000 pairs, crushing the competition with extreme cost-effectiveness.

As for Crocs itself, its innovation engine has long stalled. Relying on a single classic model for years, the core material Croslite™ resin has not been upgraded, failing to address core pain points such as support and breathability. The popularity of co-branding marketing (such as with Swarovski) has waned, and new product sales continue to be sluggish The product lifecycle has fallen into a paradox. Users generally report that "a pair lasts for several years," even joking that "it can last a lifetime." This extreme durability suppresses repurchase demand.

The limitation of scenarios is equally fatal. Crocs has long been labeled as "home slippers," humorously referred to as "dog-walking shoes." Its penetration in workplaces and formal occasions is insufficient, with a clear seasonality—summer accounts for more than half of annual sales, while performance plunges dramatically in autumn and winter.

In contrast to Crocs' predicament, the clogs category itself remains active.

According to JD.com's "2025 Life's Four Pairs of Shoes Trend White Paper," clogs, along with Birkenstocks, snow boots, and training shoes, constitute the core trends in the footwear market, with related social media topics exceeding 70.01 million.

The consumption attitudes of Generation Z have changed significantly, with shoe charms becoming a core vehicle for personal expression. Young consumers achieve "daily mood dressing" through shoe charms, and the "clogs outfit" topic on Xiaohongshu has over 110 million views.

Moreover, in recent years, the essence of consumer logic has changed; comfort has become a basic need rather than a scarce selling point. In addition, consumers demand "one shoe for multiple occasions"—covering commuting, home, and outdoor scenarios.

As the comfort of clogs has been standardized by affordable products, Crocs needs to find its positioning in the current market. For example, it could differentiate itself from ordinary clogs through technological enhancements or break free from the leisure label by expanding into new scenarios.

The Chinese market was once Crocs' last hope. With a growth rate exceeding 60% in 2024, its performance during Double Eleven was impressive, and the endorsement by Bai Lu ignited social media. However, in this era of cost-effectiveness, many consumers still choose to buy clogs for dozens of yuan on Pinduoduo.

The story of clogs continues; meanwhile, Crocs has clearly entered a low period