Analyzed and studied one of the leading footwear companies across the globe. The company is involved in manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing of footwear products in India. The company offers a wide range of footwear and related accessories under established and company-owned brands.
Our team visited some of the exclusive Brand outlets, retail stores, dealer shops across multiple cities and tried getting insights from the people & owners to empathize with them. Rather than conducting a survey we emphasis on spending a few days at all shops to understand customers better.
Pain points -
No Wedding footwear range available - The company lacked in design and wedding footwear. Customers visit Brand stores as they could relate it with trust and quality but due to the unavailability of wedding footwear collection though they have trust in Brand had to return without buying any footwear.
Inappropriate Store Layout -Brand exclusive store outlets didn’t have a uniform store layout. Also, they don’t change their layout s per the season or occasion.
Tier-II and Tier III cities People are unaware of many brands provided by the company The stocks available for sales in these cities were not what stocks are available in Tier I cities. It also provides accessories, but these accessories are not available or are limited in Tier II and Tier III cities.
Interacting with customers and observing them we gained insights on what pain points lies while purchasing. We always work by keeping the customer at the center as throughout we follow the design thinking approach. After empathizing with our customers we did segmentation and competitor analysis of the footwear industry to brainstorm about possible ideas. Stakeholders mapping was done to understand the exact customer needs and related factors of the industry. Post Detailed primary data analysis which we collected we come up with following some innovative solutions for business.
Product innovation-
New Line for Wedding footwear Introduction of a new collection of Wedding footwear would add up more sales to Brand.
Changeable heels - With this idea in mind we thought if Customers are provided with a designer base and if the heels were changeable then the same footwear can be used for different occasions. The mechanism used for changing the heel is to push the button from inside and slide it out.
Changeable Straps - Another idea that pops up from the pain points of the customer was changeable straps matching the same footwear on different outfits. Keeping the designer base same with the use of a simple lock mechanism.
Innovation in stores layout
Racks tilted to 30 degrees for better visibility -This will enable a customer to view the bottom shelf stocks in a better way. So the stock available on the bottom shelf will be available and customers will take interest in buying them as well.
Cartoon mannequins in kids’ section - By having cartoon mannequins in the kids’ section, kids will be interested in going to that place and will ask their parents to buy footwear for them. This will increase sales of Brand apart from their regular school shoes. Mannequins of Chota Bheem, Shin chan and trending mannequins for children would attract more customers in that section.
Mobile Shelving – Stopper wheels Having a mobile shelf will help the store to change its layout more frequently. This type of layout will help Brand to change its store structure as per the occasions and seasons.
Circular Racks Circular rotating racks provide more visibility to customers. Apart from that more stock can be accommodated in that space.
Marketing Innovations to tap unexplored market -
Increase online presence through digital marketing by continuous posts on social media platforms and running ad campaigns. If Brand promotes paid ads through digital marketing this will create a good online space for Brand. Apart from this Brand should also regularly post on Social Media to enhance its online presence and consequently, its online sales will increase.
Use of state transport as a medium for advertising for rural penetration Brand can post their ad campaigns on state transport buses to increase its rural penetration.
Advertising of sub brand related to foot health products in hospitals and medical stores Advertising of this brand in hospitals and medical stores will help Brand to increase sales of its medically recommended footwear.
Design thinking tools and frameworks and on-ground field research helped us to come up with such innovative ideas.