If you will indulge me, as I don't know if we have done this before - or I really don't want to look - please indicate your 'typical' shoe size. What I am really trying to find out is the amount of customers who are 'off the grid' of what has become typical buying patterns for shops these days. More and more, shops are buying 9-11 only, satisfied to serve what most in my business believe is 70% of the market. I still believe in 'niche' marketing, so you may be able to tell where I am going with this, but small independent shops and brands need to focus on what the big boys pass on, IMO.....so please take a moment and let's see what a sample actually tells us about the marketplace for footwear. Also, Tutee's post about 1930's footwear reminded me what it was like some time ago, when I first began and merchandising/servicing a customer was much simpler than it is now. In the past, the market basically required an investment in 5-8 main patterns/colors....this allowed for a focus on sizes and fit. Sometime in the 80's (from my view), the requirements of customers changed so that shops had to focus on a much broader selection of merchandise - sales didn't go up, neccessarily, so size scales went down, as owners were forced to spread their available funds across a much greater sku pattern. At the same time, the marketers took over the business and they saw little return in an investment in sizes/widths....it was easier to simply open more accounts selling the same 10 shoes in the same small size scale.
I believe there is opportunity, still, in serving a group of clients of a certain size scale.....I won't say which of these options I am thinking of, but would like to establish some 'proof', as it were. Or, if I am wrong based on a small sample here, at least there can be some indiation to other posters here who regularly wonder why such-and-such a brand only offers XYZ sizes which they can't wear.
So, if you could, please take a second to check off your 'typical' size (no need to get exact, or reference different lasts, just getting a range) and, hopefully, I will get enough replies to 'see something'.
For this, I have done ranges, as the poll options will not allow exact sizes in the amount I am asking.....and for width I consider the following:
AA/A/B = Narrow
C/D/E = Medium
EE/EEE/EEEE = Wide
Thanks for participating -
Ron
I believe there is opportunity, still, in serving a group of clients of a certain size scale.....I won't say which of these options I am thinking of, but would like to establish some 'proof', as it were. Or, if I am wrong based on a small sample here, at least there can be some indiation to other posters here who regularly wonder why such-and-such a brand only offers XYZ sizes which they can't wear.
So, if you could, please take a second to check off your 'typical' size (no need to get exact, or reference different lasts, just getting a range) and, hopefully, I will get enough replies to 'see something'.
For this, I have done ranges, as the poll options will not allow exact sizes in the amount I am asking.....and for width I consider the following:
AA/A/B = Narrow
C/D/E = Medium
EE/EEE/EEEE = Wide
Thanks for participating -
Ron