CHILDRENS FOOTHEALTH
network of mum panelists, of which it has thousands nationwide, on behalf of Footwear Today. They asked those mums who have children with larger feet: “What are the difficulties you face buying shoes for your children?”
Mums want larger shoe sizes for children! C
hildren’s feet are getting bigger and it’s causing problems for mums. MumPanel, a specialist marketing consultancy who bring together mums and leading brands to help develop customer led products and services that are driven my mums’ insight and opinion, consulted its
MumPanel Founder, Lynne Barcoe, says: “Overall most of the mums we interviewed wanted to make sure their children’s feet are in the most appropriate, comfortable and correctly fitting shoes. This can be very challenging as children are getting bigger and so are their feet.
Feedback from MumPanel review: (
www.mumpanel.co.uk) Mums have a number of issues regarding their children’s feet and shoes - too big, too narrow, too wide and too expensive. Main issues are with large feet: • Limited choice and many have to go for adult shoes that are not appropriate for school.
• Cost – the bigger the size the more expensive (including having VAT added).
• Some shoe stores do offer a larger range for school shoes and trainers including Clark’s Bootleg
http://www.clarks.co.uk/find/department-is- kids/gender-is-boys/size-is-_5bd/product-is-20339107, which goes up to size 10 in boys. However, mums feel there is a limited range (especially for trainers) to choose from and they are more expensive (VAT appears to be added i.e. Size 6 is £38 but size 7 is £42?)
• Some mums have an issue with large feet but others have children with slim fitting feet (especially school shoes) and they really struggle to get the right fit.
• On the other foot, some mums have children with wider feet and need to go up a size to fit (especially trainers).
• The actual shoe fitting service and sizes seems to vary from shop to shop.
“Many mums do not want special larger shoe ranges that are more expensive with limited choice. Instead they would much prefer to see the normal shoe ranges expanded to provide more inclusive choice for their children’s feet and at reasonable price.
“Manufacturers need to understand the size of the market and look at a customer led strategy that fulfills the demand. This would be beneficial in both cases, satisfying loyal customers and increasing sales.”
What the mums said:
Sarah from Pool said: “I have a 14-year-old son who is a size 12. We have to buy men’s shoes for him as we struggle to get appropriate school shoes. We often end up buying trainer style ones, as they offer the nearest fit!”
Caroline from London, said: “My daughter is 10 years old and is a size 5. My son is 5 and is a size 13. Children go through so many pairs of shoes and they are expensive enough at a young age but I’m having to go up to adult sizes for my daughter and what is available in her size is not always suitable for a 10 year old. Children do seem to be having much larger feet nowadays and I can’t think why the industry doesn’t cater for children with larger feet rather than having to buy adult shoes.”
26 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
• MARCH 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52