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ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

thestartupfoundry.com

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Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#31

Post by dotBen »

JSig wrote: post #23

A year ago I wrote up some notes for an idea that has elements of this. Funny enough, I sent it to Google and Amazon. I don't know why I bothered. I just wanted to tell someone, I suppose. I did not have a blog then... well I barely have one now. Also, The plan was not exactly something I could do on my own. The idea was called Travel Packs. You're going to travel? Send your itinerary to Google and it will decide wha…

Lesson to learn here: an idea is just an idea. It's all about execution.

I also had the idea, I'm sure Jeff Bezos has had the idea, Tony Hsieh, Nike execs...

Point is these guys delivered. The single greatest lesson any entrepreneur can learn.

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#32

Post by edw519 »

If this works as advertised, it's a killer app for the on-line apparel industry.

I've had customers with consistent 60-70% return rates on footwear. It got so bad that customers would buy 3 sizes of the same shoe, planning to keep the best fitting pair and returning the other 2. They'd rather eat double shipping than go back and forth 2 or 3 times. The overhead from processing and restocking the returns consumed all their profit, but they had to keep the footwear to complete their product lines. This would have been great.

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#34

Post by steveklabnik »

r00fus wrote: post #19
gfunk911 wrote: post #9

I was initially confused by the demo. Potential use cases 1. I have a perfect fitting shoe, I'd like to buy another perfect fitting shoe of a different brand. 2. I haven't found the perfect fitting shoe. I'd like to find one. I assumed this would be solving problem #2, but it solves problem #1. I thought I would tell it "I'm currently in shoe X, and it's the right length but chafes on the right side" or something of…

This is actually pretty useful to a small but loyal group: runners. I know folks who run marathons and such, they are fanatical about the right fit and buy 3+ pairs when they find a good fit, because of rapid shoe model obsolescence/changes. Perhaps with this small but profitable niche they can expand their technology into the mainstream for the likes of you and me. I'm definitely going to suggest this site to my run…

The founders are runners. Breck did the Boston Marathon in 2:29:36 this year... 73rd place overall.

Oh, and your running friends can already use this over at Running Warehouse, for example: http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRS-ASKNS3M.html

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#36

Post by jrockway »

Honestly, I would just like to get 3 sizes with each shipment, try them all on, and pick the best... but without having to advance them 3x the cost of a pair of shoes.

I don't find returning to be a big deal. You put the shoes back in the box they came in, print a label, and drop it off at the post office. Still easier than going to a store, and once you know your size for a given brand, you don't have to do this anymore.

I've also found that shoe sizes don't really vary all that much, in my experience. I wear size 11EE boots, 11EE running shoes, 11EE sneakers, and 11EE dress shoes. I think the problem that a lot of people have is that they order standard-width shoes even though they don't have standard-width feet. Then the fit comes down to how tight the laces are, etc.

But I digress. Zappos will probably not go out of business if they don't buy this company.

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#37

Post by jrockway »

smackfu wrote: post #28

"Buying shoes online sucks. Sizing between brands (and sometimes even within brands) is different." Zappos (who Amazon owns) does show whether shoes fit true to size or whether to size up. Is this really that much better?

This data seems to be based on reviews, and reviewers are typically morons that know nothing about shoes. I order by size, ignoring the reviews, and I've only had one pair of shoes from Zappos not fit well.

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#38

Post by JeremyHerrman »

cschwarm wrote: post #35

Cool! A German retail site offers something in the same direction: http://www.mirapodo.de/groessen-kompass I've been working on a similar concept for dress shoes. http://sizeadvisors.com/

Wow the German site asks you to measure your foot with a paper, pencil and a ruler. Although ShoeFitr must already have your shoe in their database, the huge win is there's nothing asked of the user besides what shoe they already like and you can find it from brand name and colors.

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#39

Post by latj »

The problem is that the different dimensions to the products dont actually exist. Getting those measurements would come at a great cost. The question is would it be cheaper than shipping returns? Another question- China has industrialized- the next step is dealing in information. When will the suppliers realize they are losing out on a lot of money by not doing the photography and measurement at the factory?

Re: ShoeFitr: The company Amazon must buy immediately

#40

Post by cschwarm »

JeremyHerrman wrote: post #38
cschwarm wrote: post #35

Cool! A German retail site offers something in the same direction: http://www.mirapodo.de/groessen-kompass I've been working on a similar concept for dress shoes. http://sizeadvisors.com/

Wow the German site asks you to measure your foot with a paper, pencil and a ruler. Although ShoeFitr must already have your shoe in their database, the huge win is there's nothing asked of the user besides what shoe they already like and you can find it from brand name and colors.

Correct. I didn't say it's better.

But it's possible to solve the other use case. 3D-foot-scanners are already out there for shoemakers, so taking measurements could become easier in the future.

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