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Ugg Boots - What Gives?
November 07, 2006
UK internet searches for "ugg boots" nearly doubled last week - up 82% in market share of UK internet searches. Year on year, searches for "ugg boots" were up more than six-fold. I asked colleagues about it today - one suggestion was that the recent cold weather is driving consumers to look for the warm (if bulky) boots.
Did the recent cold-spell cause the surge? There is a definite seasonal pattern in searches for "ugg boots", as you can see in the chart below. Searches for "ugg boots" peaked later in 2005 - in the week ending 26th November 2005, but last week's peak exceeded the peak from 2005 by 69%.
What is going on? I have never liked Ugg's - chalk it up to a complex about my well proportioned (if slightly large) feet. Another colleague suggested a Kate Moss connection but after a flurry of internet searches, we came up empty.
We Hitwisers may be a bit too old to know about this trend... One of the top websites receiving visits from searches for "ugg boots" was Ugg Australia. 39% of UK visits to Ugg Australia were from 18-24 year olds last week.
Incidentally, if you are in the market for Ugg boots, you may be interested to know that this season's hot colour is "raisin". I ran a Hitwise Search Term Suggestion Report for "ugg boots" and among the 238 search terms that included the words "ugg boots" in the past four weeks, "ugg boots in raisin" was the top colour specific query, followed by "raisin short ugg boots" and "black ugg boots".
Posted by Heather Hopkins at 05:30 PM
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Comments
Dustin, Thanks for your comment. Definitely - influencers can dramatically affect fashion. I am not sure that the Oprah effect would be as strong here (in the UK), but it is definitely possible. Thanks for reading. Best, Heather.
Posted by Heather Hopkins | November 7, 2006 11:35 PM
Jannie Cahill, our Marketing Director, just pointed out to me that in reading style magazine Grazia last night, she came across a mention of Ugg boots (in a new style) and none other than Kate Moss was sporting them. Guess Kate's behind it afterall!
Posted by Heather Hopkins | November 8, 2006 12:45 AM
Hi Heather
I've been selling ugg boots for years on various sites and it's the usual Christmas rush. Demand is still very strong (not as much as last year from our stats), but the awareness is great.
Whilst people see them as a fashion item, those who wear them soon fall in love with the comfort and (I think) fuel the Christmas sales via word of mouth.
Cheers
Brendon
Posted by Brendon | November 22, 2006 09:57 PM
It seems that the demand for Ugg Boots is insatiable! When I originally did this post, searches for "ugg boots" had surpassed the level seen the last couple of years. They have since climbed further still. Here's the updated chart. I decided to use pink for the line this time around, as the most searched for colour of Ugg boots is now pink. (!)
The share of UK internet searches for "ugg boots" is up nearly four times over the same week last year and are up nearly five times over the past eight weeks.
Posted by Heather Hopkins | November 23, 2006 03:14 AM
Perhaps they are popular because as I went out to the car last night in the freezing cold, my feet felt nice and warm thanks to my Uggs.
Posted by Elizabeth Schatz | December 18, 2006 09:08 PM
I might be able to help since I'ver probably contributed about 20% of the hits myself. I think Ebay has a lot to do with it. Since discovering that boots bought online from Australia and New Zealand are a third of the price in UK shops, keen Ebay sellers are importing them privately, knowing they can sell them on Ebay for an easy quick profit. Its really confusing with prices in US dollars and Australian dollars but it becomes almost a game finding the best ones. Not to mention the confusion of Ugg Australia and Australian Ugg. One is supposedly manufactured in China, and the other in Australia. The Opra effect was simply excellent marketting, excellently executed!! Dare I also say that since Danielle wotsit and Jade have been in the BB house, they've both worn Uggs -- so lets hear it for the influencial Jade!
Posted by Pat Field | January 21, 2007 06:12 PM
Ugg boots are high fashion with the sloaney young girls in chelsea, worn with very short mini skirts ! It is just a trend, will die out no doubt. By the way I am middle aged, bought a pair from an aussie website and got sent a very strange pair of uggs. One was wider than the other and leant in as the top was not sewn onto the bottom in a straight line. Beware the ugg boot website, anyway it's just a name isn't it anyone can trade under the name ugg, so you never know what you are going to get. The ones I got were not of a very good quality.
Posted by Patricia Anne Dawson | April 11, 2007 05:57 AM
I kinda like those boots, maybe a tradition. I use to live in Oz and New Zealand and I have to admit they're very comfy! Actually in NZ a lot of people are wearing them just inside...probably because of the bad house insulations ;-)
Anyway it's a shame that "UGG Australia" was bought by the Americans (Decker) which then sued all Aussie and New Zealand companies who used the name Ugg boots - though it's a generic/common name for these kinda sheepskin boots for over 100 years!
At least in Australia Decker lost the fight because of the generic naming. Most companies outside Oz now only call them "Sheepskin Boots" - what they basically are.
I think New Zealand makes the best "UGG boots" - even better quality than the UGG Australia ones (just my 2ct) - but the best is they're amazingly competitive in price, means CHEAPER!
My tip: buy the real UGGs in New Zealand. I got mine online at www.newzealandsheepskins.com
Another tip: STAY AWAY from the chinese crap! Absolute rubbish.
@Heather
There might not be a Kate Moss connection but I think Gwynneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson got cought on film with UGG Boots.
Cheers,
Steve
Posted by Steve | April 17, 2007 01:10 PM
I think it makes sense that this would be at a high in the UK at year end. The peak coincides with one of the coldest periods of the year, together with one of the biggest spend shopping periods -- Christmas.
Also, being one of those who prior to owning a pair of uggs knew nothing of them, I can also say that the effect of owning a pair causes a major knock-on effect. Having purchased a pair of ugg sheepskin scuffs to get me through our Australian winter, I have now bought a number of pairs of them for friends and family around he world. I had family visiting from the UK recently and they now live in their uggs back home, even though it's no longer winter in the UK. And I'm informed that this coming winter will be even bigger than the last -- everyone who now owns a pair from last Christmas will be buying them en mass for this year's gift list. And considering that many suppliers ran out of stock last year, I would recommend getting in early....
Posted by David | July 28, 2007 12:51 AM
I tend to agree that the cold snap is a factor in the early searches for 'ugg boots'. There is no doubt about it ugg boots certainly keep the feet warm and cozy and especially the natural sheepskin stop the odor the the synthetic boots that are usually made in China create.
It seem that this 'season' will be a bumper one.
Posted by Maureen | September 5, 2007 10:23 PM
I think what you are seeing is the "Oprah effect". I remember after last year after LeeAnn Prescott wrote a piece about Uggs vs. Cowboy Boots, someone I knew was talking about Uggs being on Oprah. I thought to myself, "This will throw out the Ugg declining interest prediction" Hitwise made.
Oprah didn't fail us. Starting right after "Oprah's Favorite Things 2005" aired (Nov. 21st, 2005), searches for Uggs shot up! By Dec. 31st '05, searches for Uggs received six times the searches for cowboy boots.
Seems like fashion is something that a couple influencers can dramatically affect, making it a difficult thing to understand or predict.
Posted by Dustin Woodard | November 7, 2006 05:58 PM