Payless Shoesource

GE2242 Assignment 2 (Due on 21.11.13)

(1) (20 points) Is a fad product appropriate to sell online and why? How about a fashion product? Provide examples of a fad product and a fashion product from Taobao.com.

(2) (20 points) Information technology firms, e.g., Google, Baidu, Taobao, provide free services for mass customers while charge fees for premium customers. Why this is a successful business model? Provide some details on how Taobao can make a profit.

(3) (60 points) Case Study

Paying Less for Fashion

Payless ShoeSource is an American discount footwear retailer founded in Topeka, Kansas in 1956 by brothers Louis and Shaol Pozez that is owned by Collective Brands, Inc, on a revolutionary idea - selling shoes in a self-select environment. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation which merged with the May Department Stores Company in 1979. More than 50 years later, Payless continues the self-select model combined with leading customer service to provide a fun and engaging shopping experience for our customers.

Today, Payless serves millions of consumers through its powerful global network of stores in all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. The company also has an expanding presence in the Eastern Hemisphere through franchising arrangements.

Payless have strategy product line, from one comprised almost entirely of store brands to one dominated by well-known national brands. Payless now sells shoes under numerous brand names that it either owns or licenses, including Airwalk, Champion, Spalding, Dexter, Shaquille O’Neal-endorsed Dunkman, and various Disney brands. Customer can buy many types of products with different prices by looking at size, width, color and design. For example, for boys’ shoes, they have many shapes, size, color, design, and numerous brands which they can get with difference price from $...