Footwear Retail Industry

Footwear Retailer Industry - Browns Shoes, Aldo, The Shoe Company

The mid-range priced footwear retail industry has many small to medium sized companies that offer different footwear designs. Traditionally, footwear has been seen as an article of clothing that was worn on a person’s feet. Overtime, footwear has undergone a complete turnaround, from being a utility product to a hardcore fashion product . In addition, the evolution of the Internet has resulted in a growing number of companies to introduce e-business into their business strategies. This has resulted in a highly globalized footwear industry, providing new streams of revenues for companies, and more alternatives for consumers. Three footwear retailers that have transformed and developed online shopping websites are Browns Shoes, Aldo, and The Shoe Company. Aldo focuses its products on Aldo-branded footwear, while both Browns Shoes and The Shoe Company’s product lines are focused on a variety of different brands.

Power of Suppliers (Medium): In the footwear retailer industry, there are many suppliers such as shoe producers (Joe Madden, Nike), and raw materials (leathers and plastics) can be obtained from many different suppliers. Thus, one can conclude that suppliers have low bargaining power because footwear and raw materials required to produce footwear can be obtained from a wide range of different suppliers. However, it may be difficult for medium sized retailers such as Aldo to switch suppliers quickly at a low cost. The sourcing relationships and long-term contract arrangements can be very difficult to change in a short period of time. Therefore, the power of suppliers is relatively medium in the industry.

Barriers to Entry (Medium): The barriers to entry in the footwear industry are medium because the ability to perform e-business creates new business opportunities. A new shoe start-up company could purchase their products from suppliers in Asia, and sell them through both retail outlets and...