Do you get excited when you’re expecting something in the mail? It’s a funny phenomenon—you buy a pair of shoes from an e-commerce store with a three-day delivery time, and on that third day you’re checking your front door every five minutes to see whether your package has arrived!
If you’re like most people, there’s a very good chance that this is an all-too-common phenomenon. E-commerce is not only amazingly convenient, but the products offered online are usually less expensive than their retail counterparts. This is why, if you’re an e-retailer, it makes sense to sell shoes and fashion accessories online.
In this lesson, I’ll give you a quick run-down of the market and show you how to make the most out of this opportunity.
Some statistics
Fashion accessories and shoes make up a large piece of the e-commerce pie. In 2016, revenue generated from the online footwear industry was reported at USD $12 billion, with annual growth averaging 15.2% from 2011 to 2016. Figures from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) back this figure up: They report that online textile, clothing and footwear store sales grew by 14.8% between June 2016 and June 2017, and represented 14.5% of total sales made online. This double-digit growth is expected to continue for some time.
To put this into perspective, the annual revenue for brick-and-mortar footwear stores in the United States in 2014 was USD $31.3 billion, with year-over-year revenues increasing by an average of just 5% from $25 billion in 2009.
One final example—let’s look at a table from Nike’s annual 10-K report for 2016:
The key to Nike’s growth can be found in a short section beneath this table [emphasis mine]:
DTC revenues grew 17% for fiscal 2016, fueled by strong online sales growth, the addition of new stores and comparable store sales growth of 6%.
What all of these statistics show is that e-commerce is on the rise, and if you fail to jump on board now you will be missing a golden opportunity.
The advantages of drop shipping
You may be thinking, "Sure, there is a great opportunity for selling shoes and accessories online, but how can I compete with giant retailers like Nike and their enormous inventories?"
This is where drop shipping comes to the rescue for small e-retailers. One huge advantage to drop shipping is that you do not have to commit to purchasing an enormous inventory of items. This minimizes risk and increases your flexibility, allowing you to quickly take advantage of market trends.
If you are ready to take advantage of the huge opportunity drop shipping offers online store owners, we have close to 50 shoes & accessories suppliers offering drop shipping in the SaleHoo Directory. (Note that you need to become a SaleHoo member to access the Directory.)
Beware: The e-retail market is very competitive
The retail market is fiercely competitive at the best of times, and this is especially true for the online footwear sector. To stay competitive, you really need to hone in on a particular niche.
A niche is simply a smaller, more specific segment of a broader sector. For example, "leather boots" may be too broad of a term to focus on. But "black leather boots," or even "shiny black leather boots" are terms that are more likely to attract buyers.
The same logic applies for accessories. "Rings" is clearly too broad to attract any attention, but if your online store sells "oval opal rings," then you have a much greater chance of attracting interested buyers.
Why eBay may not be the right platform for you
Let’s face it: There are thousands upon thousands of retailers selling shoes and accessories on eBay. This means that your store will be competing against well-established e-retailers that have dominated the sector for years.
Why don’t you swing the odds in your favor?
A much better approach is to make use of SaleHoo Stores and sell your own products on your own website. You can complement this strategy by building up a following on the big social media networks, such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and others. They're effective marketing channels and don't require a huge initial investment.
Also, you should combine your social media efforts with Google AdWords and Facebook Ads campaigns so you can funnel relevant traffic to your store.
Collect your customers' email addresses
You should always collect your customers' email addresses to resell to them at some point in the future. A strong email list will be your greatest asset—you can send promotional emails when the seasons change, when school starts, when a new trend is receiving a lot of media attention and more. The possibilities are endless.
Just make sure that every promotional email you send is well-researched and provides value to your customers.
Be careful with big-name products
One final word of warning: be careful when it comes to popular brand items, such as Armani, Gucci, Prada or Adidas. Yes, these brands are extremely popular with consumers, but they are also the most imitated by scammers. The last thing you want is to sell fake brand items to your customers.
So skip the scammers. Keep your customers and your money safe by joining SaleHoo now. Gain instant access to hundreds of trusted suppliers who will help you start your own successful online shoe or fashion accessory e-commerce store.
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