Customized Footwear: Additional Focus Group

Customized Footwear: Additional Focus Group Questions

What changes in footwear are commonly required by customers?

One specific change that most respondents indicated that they'd like to see was an expedition of the delivery process. Members of the focus group indicated that a wait time of 2 to 3 weeks would be acceptable but that anything beyond this might be considered an inconvenience. According to respondents, especially those who were already reluctant to attempt shopping online at all, let alone for shoes, expediency was identified as a critical need. Some respondents cited the wait time for delivery as a primary deterrent for shopping online. This suggests that the need for faster consumer gratification should be considered a critical change in developing a customized footwear models. Most respondents indicated that they understood wait times could be longer for customized shoes but suggested that beyond 4 weeks, frustration could set in. Creating a streamlined process from the point of delivery to the point of order can help to satisfy the expectations of prospective customers.

2. How to make mass customized footwear attractive to customers?

There are several useful ways to make customized footwear more attractive to potential customers. In particular, customers cited concerns over quality and fit as a consequence of ordering shoes without being able to try them on. To mitigate this risk, it is incumbent upon the offering company to provide free return shipping or to otherwise make returns very easy. Because shoes are customized, it is difficult to guarantee that customer will be 100% content with the quality, make, style or feel of the shoe. In order to offset this condition, customized footwear can be made more attractive by being attached to return guarantees. For instance, one member of the focus group suggested that returns could not only be facilitated with the inclusion of a free return label with any shipment but also be allowing customers to return unwanted orders to brick-and-mortar locations such as distributors or participating shoe stores.

3. What prices will the customers be willing to pay for customized shoes?

Respondents suggested that they would be willing to pay slightly more for customized shoes than for ordinary shoe orders. However, the variance of responses here was also consistent with the variance between likely online shoppers and those reluctant to engage in ecommerce. Uniformly, those in the former category indicated that they would be willing to pay something in the range of 10 to 20% more on customized orders. Customers willing to spend $100 on a pair of shoes indicates that $110-$120 would be an acceptable range for a customized pair.

Respondents who demonstrated a less proclivity both for online shopping and for shoe-shopping in general indicates that whereas they might spend something in the range of $40 to $60 for a pair of shoes, that $60 to $80 might be a suitable price point for customized footwear. The findings in this section would demonstrate that focus group respondents in all categories indicated a willingness to pay a statistically significant percentage more for the service of customization.

4. Through what distribution channels are potential customers likely to buy mass customized footwear?

The best distribution channels are those which have already established a relationship of trust and accountability with prospective users. Therefore, it would be wise to consider those distribution channels that already offer platforms for standard ecommerce secure payment processing, third-party shipping, seller/buyer ratings and internal discount programs. For instance, eBay and Amazon are valuable for connecting a trusted ecommerce name with an individualized storefront. Also, in these instances, seller-ratings constitute an extremely valuable resource for prospective customers. Focus group respondents also identified the online shoe website Zappos as an outlet which has achieved a positive and well-known reputation in the specific subcategory of online shoe sales.