Dear Caramia
To get specific information on distributors/companies, you
can look for company listings in trade directories. Check out
the following sources:
- Thomas Register (http://www.thomasregister.com ),
which contains a listing of companies in every industry,
with links to company web sites. Registration is free. Or go
to your local library and check out the Thomas Register
books: Products and Services (19 volumes) with 50,000
separate product and service headings to help you find who
gives you the best product, lowest price and fastest
delivery; Company Profiles (2 volumes) to help you contact
over 149,000 companies; and Catalog File (8 volumes) to help
you make a buying decision before you pick up the phone as
it contains photos, specs, engineering drawings, performance
tables.
- Harris Infosource provide information profiling American
manufacturing establishments and their decision-makers.
Searching their online database is free at http://www.harrisinfo.com/index.html
- BizWeb (http://www.bizweb.com)
offers a listing of 185 companies, within and outside of US,
of companies involved in the shoe industry
Note, however, that information provided in trade directories
may be limited. To get the specific information you need, you
may have to contact these companies directly. Info like minimum
order and wholesale price purchasing will be discussed in your
negotiations. Your price may be based on the volume that you
intend to buy, and how soon do you need it.
With regards to opening a Web site, my suggestion is to use
the Web only as your communication, branding and marketing tool.
The Web is not a suitable distribution channel for shoes.
Unless you have a very strong word-of-mouth, an unknown shoe
brand like yours will have a tough time selling on the Internet.
Shoe buying entails a lot of trust with potential customers.
Your product is not like a book or a CD or products that are
generic every where you buy them: shoes have to be
"customized" for the buyer. It has to fit the buyer in
terms of length and width. Generic products like books and CDs
do well on the Internet, but shoes generally do not.
If you create a purely Web-based venture, it will be very
difficult for your business to overcome the age-old practice of
buying shoes. When people buy shoes, they want to be able to see
how well it fits, how it feels on their feet, and whether they
look good on it. On the Internet, users cannot try on the shoes
and test how comfortable they will feel when wearing them.
Customers are buying the experience of shoe shopping - which the
Internet simply cannot provide.
Given this, you will face a lot of shoppers who may be
dissatisfied or discontented with your products for a wide range
of reasons - shoes look differently on the screen, poor fit,
looks bad on their feet, etc. Customers may either return your
merchandise, or keep it but will never buy from your site ever
again. If you pursue the Internet route, be sure to create a
good return handling system and be ready to pay the price of
chargebacks.
A Web site to complement your retail store will be your best
approach. If you do decide to take the risk of making your
business a pure-play Internet venture, you have to think hard of
what will make people to buy shoes on the Internet. That will be
a real challenge.
Good luck!
Thank you for being part of Power HomeBiz Guides.
Nach Maravilla is
the Publisher of Power Homebiz Guides. He has over thirty years
experience in sales and marketing of various products, which
covered as he jokingly describes, "from toothpicks to
airplanes" He also had extensive experience in
International trading and he always excelled in special promotional
ideas for retail outlets.