Forum Moderators: buckworks
Just as Amazon has revolutionized the way you shop for books and music, Endless.com will change your expectations of shopping online for shoes and handbags. Our new site allows you to shop your way—using our unique category, brand, size, heel height, color or price selections-- and most importantly, for a limited time, we'll pay you $5 for the privilege of shipping your order overnight.
I didn't realize shoes were such a hot seller online. I thought that was one of those things that most people like to touch, feel and try on for size?
I thought that was one of those things that most people like to touch, feel and try on for size?
Me too - but I've also never known Amazon to sneeze without thoroughly researching it first.
This also brings up an age-old wonder of mine. When is it best to break a category, topic, etc. off onto its own domain?
Apparently, Amazon thinks that shoes and handbags are deserving of their own real estate not under amazon.com.
Easy to sell shoes, hard to make money on them. I understand that Zappos just turns a tiny profit despite huge and rapidly growing revenue.
Returns and exchanges are killers in "shoe biz"
A real headache I should imainge for the owners of the site.
It does however make me wonder why Amazon have split this off, was it because of the high level of returns, hence a perceived dissatifaction with Amazon that made them do this?
Dont really want to polute Amazon with negative thoghts in the buyers minds which in turn may affectfuture purchases.
To my knowledge Zappos has never turned a profit
Maybe one week they ONLY had 20,000 pairs returned and turned a brief profit. :)
I know that Wal-Mart stopped selling shoes online a few years ago due to returns. That was despite excellent revenues. I trust them over Zappos and the like. And Wal-Mart wasn't giving all this freebie stuff away then.
I got into this space over 7 years ago when it was relatively easy. Today, it's not so easy and the competition has really picked up steam over the last 18 months.
I should have referenced an interview in Wired Magazine about 3 Months ago with the Zappos CEO, the author of that article printed that Zappos had never turned a profit. Their free shipping was essentially described as "Long term customer acquisition strategy".
However, that would mean that they'd have to vary their business model and/or logistics over the current players. Has endless tried to do anything different?
