Principles of Marketing †Shoes Essay

For most women shoes are probably the most important part of the whole outfit. The shoes you wear can increase your confidence or destroy it, and you can never have enough. Companies capitalize on this idea by mostly targeting women when they are marketing their shoe products. The market for fashion forward men is growing rapidly, thus more stores are providing a lot more variety of men’s shoes as well. The shoe market is divided into three major product categories athletic shoes, casual and dress shoes, and then â€Å"boom-or-bust† novelty designs. The shoe industry is one of the more â€Å"mature† industries, meaning that it has passed the emerging and growth stages and the sales are slower and more constant. The average woman owns 17 pairs of shoes. Women make up 25% out of the 40% casual/dress shoes segment, while the remaining 15% of it belongs to men. In order for a company, to retain its old customers and attract new customers, they must continually offer better and bolder shoes. The taste of shoe buyers changes often, and so the retailers must improve their shoes. The improvements in an athletic shoe would focus on comfort and performance enhancement. The dress and casual shoes would rely on the fashion-forwardness and the superior products and novelty designs focus on improving profitability. The whole shoe industry has to be able to adapt to change and with the electronic era here. The biggest change the industry probably has to make is moving to an e-business adjusting a company’s sales to stay the same and even increase, while keeping up with the technology and trends at the same time. That could mean expanding internet sales and closing down low performing stores or just marketing their online segments harder. The Designer Shoe Warehouse, more formally known as DSW, opened in 1969 and over the years has become a â€Å"leading branded footwear and accessories retailer†. DSW offers a wide range of brand name shoes and sneakers for men women kids as well accessories. Their strengths rely in the distinctive and convenient store layout as well as the prices offered to customers. Some shoes at DSW are offered at lower prices than in other stores. DSW is a warehouse with rows upon rows of shoes. The possibilities seem endless. They carry lots of different brands and styles so everyone can find something that they like. The company has 364 stores in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as 346 leased departments for other retailers in the US. Not only does DSW have a whole bunch of traditional brick and mortar store locations, there are two websites. There is a product site where you can purchase shoes and accessories, and there is an investor relations site where you can find information about the company, press releases, SEC filings, and stock information since it is a publicly traded company. DSW became public in 2005. One effort in retaining customers would be their rewards system. To become a member is free of charge and you receive reward certificates after every 1,500 points earned. There are special deals and offers that are available to members only, such as, double-point shopping days twice a year, birthday certificates, and tracking purchases. And if you want to, you could upgrade your membership to the Premier Rewards status; for a small price. But, the Premier Reward members get all the perks, such as free next day shipping, triple-point days twice a year and access to events and offers that are just exclusively for them. The product website has an easy layout for customers divided into categories and sub categories. When a customer is in the process of looking for a shoe to purchase there are many great features included to help along the way. Such as full product detail that includes a colorful description of the shoe, the materials the shoe is made out of, and the dimensions. The customer can see ratings other people give the shoe such as duration, width, and comfort. There are also indications on the site that are more specific to feet preferences. Options such as choosing whether you want the shoe to come in a wide or narrow, the different colors and sizes available are given to the customer as well as, compare prices to show you how much you can save on a particular shoe. These details help the customers find a shoe that is the best for them. ALDO is a private company that is deeply rooted in culture, tradition, and service to others. Their mission is to deliver Total Customer Service, and make people feel good through the products that they provide. Similar to DSW, ALDO sells shoes and accessories to men and women. ALDO stores are found all over the world in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and 60 other countries. ALDO’s success relies on its ability to be fashion forward and globally conscious. This company is big on giving back and the employees participate in community service events, fundraisers and causes. One big cause ALDO participates in is the fight against AIDS. They have been involved with the fight since 1985 but in 2005 the ALDO Group launched campaign called ALDO fights AIDS that has been spreading awareness and raising money for a cure by using talented and known celebrities and media genres to donate as well as promote it. Something that differentiates ALDO’s website is that they have a ‘Trends’ tab on their website that describes the looks, or styles they represent and has a gallery of pictures to show how they would dress while wearing the shoes. To make it easier for the customer, they have a section on the website that has the top pic ks for both men and women. When thinking about purchasing a pair of shoes from ALDO there are many helpful things such as videos to teach you about the style of the shoes, colors available, a full written description of the material of the outside of the shoe and what the soles made of and a size guide with US and European sizes since their shoes vary in the sizes offered. The website also provides recommendations on what else you may like according to their beliefs. ALDO offers free returns and fast delivery. There is a new age among us where shoe stores don’t have to actually have a building, but only a space online to sell and showcase shoes. Zappos is one of those stores. Zappos was founded in 1999 at the peak of the internet boom because the founder Nick Swinmurn was dissatisfied with the shoe market. No one retailer had everything that he was looking for. The vision for the company is to have the best service and best selection online and they are living the vision, and have been evolving with the market for the past 9 years. Zappos has been called the Amazon of shoes. Even though the company does not have traditional brick and mortar stores they do have a warehouse that houses all of the shoes that they make available for sale. Zappos is a family that is made up of different members that do different things. The first member is Zappos.com, Inc. which has the facilities, finance Treasury and Accounting departments, the Help Desk , Human Resources, etc. The next member of the family is Zappos CLT which takes calls, emails and chat live with customers. Zappos Development is responsible for content, creativity and marketing. Zappos Gift Cards sells gift cards. Zappos Insights provides insight into the company culture and mentors people on Zappos Family culture. Zappos IP is comprised of development and the Project Management Team. Zappos Merchandising develops relationships with the vendors and purchase the products on the site. Zappos Retail consists of clothing and apparel to help with retail therapy. And the last member of the family is 6pm.com, LLC, this site sells shoes, clothing, bags, and accessories at discount prices. The Zappos Family has ten core values that they live and abide by in order to grow strong and fulfill their goal to have the best service and best selection online. When on the Zappos website it is extremely easy to navigate through the pages. There are many categories and sub categories to choose from and the selections under them are endless. Zappos currently houses 1,140 different brands of shoes clothing and accessories with the goal and plan on increasing that number. They sell merchandise from Crooks and Castles which sells hip clothing to Giuseppe Zanotti which sells expensive high fashion shoes, heels, boots, and sandals. A newer, all internet company is Just Fabulous or JustFab.com. This company is led by, fashion icon and owner of Baby Phat, Kimora Lee Simmons. JustFab keeps its members and customers up-to-date with fashion trends and styles. This company is differentiated because when you first sign up for JustFab, you take a style quiz about the different styles and looks you like. And every month your own style experts pick out items that they think you will like, and adds them to your boutique. There is a VIP membership, where members pay $39.95 for everything on the site and receive free shipping and returns. There is no obligation to pay but each month you must browse your boutique by the 5th or else you will be charged the $39.95. It is very important for a company to differentiate itself from others. Differentiation is key to getting and retaining customers, whether the differentiation comes from customer service, brand style, membership perks, etc. The companies selected all have things that differentiate them from each other, most of them relying on their rewards programs and customer service. DSW and Zappos pride themselves on having a wide range and variety of shoes, accessories, and clothing. They both try to be a â€Å"one-stop-shop† getting all of your needs fulfilled in one place. I think the personalized stylist in the JustFab Company is a brilliant idea because it is a form of interactive marketing. They are increasing relationships between the customer and the company. The only critique of JustFab is in the variety and styles. Most of the shoes and clothes they sell look cheap and ugly, but that is the price to pay when you are only spending about $40.00 for a pair of shoes, when they can run from $60-$200 for a good pair, or even more. ALDO has a strong sense of community and the products are extremely stylish. The AIDS campaign is also a good sense of social responsibility that increases the goodwill of the company. Out of all the companies the best and most effective business model and presence would have to be Zappos’s. The Zappos Family established a set of goals in the beginning and have been working toward them ever since. They live, work, and thrive by their ten Zappos Family Core Values. They are constantly working on growing the company and offering more brands to sell. The prices are good because they give sales on different shoes periodically. One thing I would do to better the company would implement a â€Å"boutique† just like in JustFab because all the variety it can be a little overwhelming at times. Websites Used http://www.dsw.com/ http://investors.dswshoe.com/ http://www.aldoshoes.com/us/culture http://www.justfab.com/how-justfab-works.htm http://about.zappos.com/ http://www.statisticbrain.com/footwear-industry-statistics/ http://www.investopedia.com/terms/ http://articles.philly.com/2011-10-18/entertainment/30292867_1_shoes-foot-pain-women http://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Industry_Report.aspx?id=7259