The first big speech at the Inc. 500 Conference, where I’m blogging today, was by Tony Hsieh, the chief executive of Zappos. For those (few) of you who have seldom heard of Zappos, it is the online store based in Las Vegas that sells mostly shoes, has hit a billion dollars in sales & was bought by Amazon for close to a billion dollars. A interesting story & a impressive track record.
Here’s what I took away from the speech: Zappos is committed to customer service & has built a corporate culture to support that commitment. It gives free shipping on both the sale & the return of shoes. It frequently upgrades the shipping to overnight. It has been growing at approximately 20 percent a year. From my experience, a 20 percent growth rate is aggressive but at the same time allows you to maintain control on quality & service. Mr. Hsieh is all about happiness & has done some research. They concludes that it is a nice idea for people to spend some time & energy to figure out what makes them happy, as well as what makes their employees & their customers happy. That makes sense.
The company’s commitment to easy & free returns is commendable. But how plenty of are there? What does it cost? The Zappos story is inspiring, thought-provoking & impressive. Giving great customer service is an important message, as is managing your corporate culture. I would have loved some more math.
Unfortunately, Mr. Hsieh did not take questions. I have a few. I run a business. I am liking to understand the whole picture. During a one-hour speech, Mr. Hsieh seldom used the word profit. Is there any? I don’t know. They said Zappos would frequently issue a surprise upgrade of shipping to overnight. But when? & why? & who decides? & how much does that cost?
Of work, Zappos is privately held (the Amazon deal has not been done), & Mr. Hsieh doesn’t owe me or anyone else any more detail than they would like to give. I can tell you a couple of things for sure: They is a wonderful marketer. His customers are happy. They sold his company for a billion dollars. Those are nice things.
Labels: shoes
For most women, the answer to that query comes in two forms - yes, no, or sometimes. Now, keeping in mind that these designer shoes can cost hundreds, & sometimes thousands of dollars, the way a woman answers that query says a bit about her. If they says yes, that designer shoes are worth every penny, then this means that style & fashion are high on her list of priorities.
they place a bit of importance on our shoes these days. At four times in the long ago past, shoes were meant to protect our feet. Today, they are made to make a statement! Our shoes are a big part of our wardrobe. they can make or break an outfit, & womens designer shoes are all the anger. Womens designer shoes, however, are pricey! Are they worth it?
If they says sometimes, it means that in most cases, they are not worth it, but for special occasions they is willing to pay the price. It doesnt necessarily mean that they believes they are worth those outrageous prices it means that they is sometimes willing to pay it. If they says no, this basically means that they is price conscientious & they believes that they should get value & durability for her cash. The majority of women, believe it or not, fall into that last section, & they dont believe that designer shoes are worth the price tags that accompany them.
Designer shoes are indeed beautiful in most cases. there is also a bit of prestige in wearing shoes that were designed by famous design houses when a woman is wearing designer shoes, other women & often men sit up & take notice. However, that is much where the value of a designer shoe ends.
What about protection. Remember, shoes were originally designed to protect our feet. Todays designer shoes do nothing to protect the feet. It seems that the less shoe there is, the higher the price is & among the fashion conscientious crowd, the more the shoe is in demand. Have you seen a quantity of the designer shoes lately? Have you wondered how they stay on the foot?!? there is little or no protection, & in fact, the way a quantity of those designer shoes are designed, there is not only no protection, there is also danger involved when wearing them!
Looking from a durability standpoint, designer shoes are not sturdy in their construction. Can you imagine paying four hundred or more dollars for a pair of shoes, only to have the ankle strap break the first time you wear them? Can you see yourself running along a wet sidewalk after a light rain, in $1200 shoes that have the sole disintegrating as you walk? Most women basically are not willing to pay that kind of cash for two pair of shoes no matter whose name is stamped on them!
Are designer shoes comfortable? Comfort has rarely played a role in fashion. No, in most cases, they are uncomfortable. What about support? there is no support in most designer shoes unless they are designer sneakers. plenty of models literally ruin their feet over the coursework of time modeling designer shoes!
But because each woman has her own distinctive style, & her own priorities, designer shoes are well worth the cash to a select few these are the women who can not only afford to pay the prices, but are also interested in wearing the latest fashions designed by the most famous designers.
What plenty of people dont realize though is that these women are not in the majority of women these women are actually few & far between. Most women would not dream of paying over $100 for a nice pair of shoes others wouldnt dream of paying over $50, & some even refuse to pay over $25! Where do you stand on womens design
Labels: designer shoes, shoes
