Most Americans Still Prefer to Buy Their Shoes in a Store, Survey Says

by · WWD
A YouGov study found that Americans still prefer to shop in a store for their shoes. Here, a shoe wall at Macy's in Herald Square in N.Y.C. on June 3, 2026.Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Americans still lean toward physical stores to buy their shoes.

YouGov conducted a study from August 2025 to August 2026 to find where Americans are buying their footwear and what role brick-and-mortar plays in that decision.

Nationally, 34 percent shop mostly or always in a store, versus 27 percent online. Another 34 percent split their purchases evenly between in-store and online.

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In-store shopping generally exceeds online in every state except Maryland and New York, where online is the narrow leader. And in Delaware, the split is even.

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Among the highlights of the data points, Hawaii and Kansas led the way for in-store shopping at 39 percent each, followed by Montana, Utah and Iowa at 38 percent each. Other data shows that Arizona, Arkansas, Minnesota and New Mexico at 37 percent lean toward in-store shopping, followed at 36 percent by Indiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, North Dakota, and Texas.

In contrast, the study found that Maryland and Delaware have the highest online shares at 32 percent each, followed by New York at 31 percent and Maine at 29 percent.

Kansas also has a 15-percentage point gap between the 39 percent who primarily shop in-store and the 24 percent who said they shop online. And among the mixed channel purchases, South Dakota and New Jersey top the list where 37 percent divide their purchases evenly between stores and online, followed by California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and North Carolina at 36 percent.