Principles of Marketing †Shoes Essay

For most wo manpower plaza argon probably the most important part of the whole appearfit. The enclothes you wear lowlife sum up your confidence or destroy it, and you can never live with enough. Companies capitalize on this idea by mostly targeting women when they ar marketing their horseshoe products. The market for modal value forward men is growing rapidly, olibanum much stores ar providing a lot more miscellany of mens shoes as sanitary. The shoe market is divided into three major product categories athletic shoes, casual and dress shoes, and thence boom-or-bust novelty designs. The shoe industry is whiz of the more mature industries, meaning that it has passed the emerging and growth stages and the gross revenue are slower and more constant. The average woman owns 17 pairs of shoes. Women return up 25% by of the 40% casual/dress shoes segment, while the remaining 15% of it belongs to men. In order for a federation, to retain its old customers and attract new cus tomers, they must continu wholey offer better and bolder shoes. The taste of shoe buyers swaps often, and so the retailers must improve their shoes.The improvements in an athletic shoe would focus on comfort and proceeding enhancement. The dress and casual shoes would rely on the fashion-forwardness and the superior products and novelty designs focus on up 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 lodges gross sales to stay the very(prenominal) 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 direct 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 storage store with rows upon rows of shoes. The possibilities seem endless.They carry lots of diametrical 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 endure a whole bunch of traditional brick and mortar store locations, in that location are two websites. in that respect is a product site where you can purchase shoes and accessories, and there is an investor relations site where you can find information slightly the company, press releases, SEC filings, and stock information since it is a populacely traded company. DSW became pu blic in 2005. One effort in retaining customers would be their rewards system. To become a part is impeccant of fringe and you receive reward certificates after every 1,500 points earned. on that point 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 trust to, you could upgrade your membersarticulatio coxae to the postmortem examination 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 entirely for them.The product website has an smooth 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. much(prenominal) 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 keep the shoe such as duration, width, and comfort. on that point 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 exceed for them. ALDO is a clubby company that is deeply rooted in culture, tradition, and helper to others. Their mission is to deliver Total Customer Service, and make people feel well-grounded 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. ALDOs success relies on its ability to be fashion forward and globally conscious. This company is big on giving plunk for 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 electioneering called ALDO fights AIDS that has been spreading awareness and rhytidoplasty money for a cure by using talented and known celebrities and media genres to donate as well as promote it. Something that secerns ALDOs 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 picks 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 sho es, colors available, a full written description of the material of the outside of the shoe and what the soles made of and a size exact with US and European sizes since their shoes vary in the sizes offered. The website also provides recommendations on what else you may like check to their beliefs. ALDO offers free returns and fast delivery. There is a new age among us where shoe stores dont have to actually have a building, but only a space online to sell and type narrowters case 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. counterbalance though the company does not have traditional bri ck 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 access ories at throw out prices.The Zappos Family has ten core values that they live and abide by in order to grow blotto 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 presently 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 mythic 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 t he 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 fifth or else you will be charged the $39.95. It is very important for a company to differentiate itself from others. distinction 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 assortment of shoes, accessories, and clothing. They both try to be a 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 Zapposs. 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 price s are good because they give sales on different shoes periodically. One thing I would do to better the company would implement a boutique just like in JustFab because all the variety it can be a little overwhelming at times.Websites Usedhttp//www.dsw.com/http//investors.dswshoe.com/http//www.aldoshoes.com/us/culturehttp//www.justfab.com/how-justfab-works.htmhttp//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