Footwear-APR-MAY21-P32-34 Retailer of the Month_Footwear_Jan10_p30 21/05/2021 10:02 Page 33
Our first shop opened in 2011 in Stratford upon Avon, and our second in Canterbury in 2019 – both situated in great locations in the town centres. Additional to myself, there are 4 people employed in Stratford upon Avon, and 3 in Canterbury. We do not have a high turnover of staff as the job requires a large amount of knowledge regarding foot health conditions to ensure we can deliver the best possible service to our customers and provide the best outcome. Both shops are in fantastic, lively towns bustling with tourism that allow small independent businesses to thrive (ordinarily). Whilst we have high street locations, the relationships we have with Podiatrists and allied health professionals is a core component of our business, so while we do cater to the high street, we do primarily work on a referral basis.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business? Tell us about your experiences, the difficulties you have encountered and how you have managed/are managing/trying to overcome these? It goes without saying that the government support with the grants and flexible furlough scheme has helped us keep on top of things and has definitely eased the financial burden brought on by Covid. Fortunately, our website undertook a massive overhaul at the start of last year which substantially increased our online sales and created a consistent revenue flow at a time where our shops had to temporarily close their doors due to lockdowns. Over the last couple of months we found ourselves being in a position where we needed somebody full time to help with the e- Commerce side of the business, creating marketing images, newsletters and general website related things.
Do you have an online shop/website and do you use social networking for business? Was this active during the lockdown? Part of our online presence includes using Facebook Messenger as it provides us with a platform that allows us to engage in conversation with our customers and provide quick responses to queries. We can talk one to one with them about their foot concerns and if they are not in a position where they can get to one of our shops, advise them on what footwear we think would solve their problems. This was definitely more active over the lockdowns as painful feet come and go regardless of whether our shops are open! Sometimes the fitting can be a little bit more complicated which is why we introduced our video consultation service. We talk to our customers over Zoom, Facetime, Skype, or any other video chat so they can receive the ShoeMed service no matter where they are.
What’s selling well? Any particular trends? Which are your best selling footwear brands – and why? Currently we are selling a lot of Joya, Finn Comfort, Fidelio, Waldlaufer and DB-Wider Fit shoes. These brands are indictive of the specialist nature of our business as they each offer unique features and benefits for the problem feet and/or ankles. Joya for example are popular among people working jobs that require a lot of standing and walking, as they provide relief from painful heel and forefoot conditions, correct your posture and generally reduce the strain of being on your feet.
How important is shoe fitting to your business? Are you or any of your staff members of the Society Of Shoe Fitters? Shoe fitting is a crucial component in our business and has been from the start. Every member of staff is trained in recognising conditions that affect the feet and how to fit the appropriate footwear. I am a qualified member of the Society of Shoe Fitters and other staff have undergone in-house training from both ShoeMed and the Society of Shoe Fitters. When retail is back to some sense of normality we do intend on pushing to make every member of staff a fully qualified member of the Society of Shoe Fitters.
Does your shop sell other items besides footwear, bags, gloves, tights, socks, below the ankle products? No, we like to focus entirely on fitting comfort footwear. The 10 years ShoeMed has been open have shown us there is certainly a demand for shops like ours and we do not want to get side-tracked from our core business! We do sell compression socks and insoles also, alongside the Healthy Back Bags.
Do you use an EPOS (retail technology) system in your shop(s)? Yes, the back end of our shops and website are run exclusively on Shopify. We found it to be an extremely user friendly software which provides all sorts of useful features including reports, tools and apps – most of which you normally have to use external, paid programs!
What is your favourite men’s footwear brand/manufacturer – ditto ladies/children’s brand – and why? Personally, my favourite brand for Men’s would have to be Joya thanks to the versatility in the styles and the wide range of sizing. For women, I am torn between Waldlaufer and Finn Comfort – two great German brands! I would probably go with Finn Comfort thanks to their Finnamic range of stable rocker soled shoes which, over the years have proven to be incredibly effective at relieving painful feet and ankles.
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