Footwear Insight

s &OOTWEAR )NSIGHT ^ *ANUARY&EBRUARY THE FOOTWEAR EYE By Daniel P. Smith F or Kathy Gates, the e-mail's subject line said it all: "Friends don't let friends buy running shoes online." Battling the increasing thrust of online shopping, Gates, owner of The Running Well Store, went on the offensive with an email to customers highlighting the differences between shopping online and visiting one of her two stores in metro Kansas City. Gates noted the hassle of online shopping, citing research from the University of Regensburg that found 30 percent of shoppers returned items purchased online, before underscoring the expertise of her staff and the ability of the stores' training groups to boost athletic performance. "At The Running Well Store, we believe in the perfect fit through a stride analysis, having top-notch customer service, excellent product knowledge and developing a supportive com- munity helping our customers achieve their goals," Gates' e-mail said. To hammer the point home, Gates also invited customers to share their best online shopping horror stories on the company's Facebook page. The social media post reached more than 2800 people and generated 22 comments as people relayed tales of weeks-long shipping delays and exorbitant fees, products not matching their online descriptions, shoddy packaging and ordered items wiggling into others' hands. "Everybody has an online horror story and can relate to the pain of shopping online," Gates says. "We wanted to highlight that we will send you out with the right product and back it up with a 30-day, no questions asked return policy." With e-commerce currently accelerating at an 8-12 percent annual clip, according to the National Retail Federation, and 2017 sales estimated to approach $450 billion, online shopping has emerged as a grave concern among the nation's brick-and-mortar retailers, including run specialty shops facing stiff competition from the likes of Amazon and Zappos as well as manufacturers' own websites. "Ten or 20 years ago, you could just hang out your 'Open' shingle and people would beat a path to your door, but that Golden Age of run specialty has passed and retailers have to get better at what they do because online is here to stay," Running Industry Association executive director Terry Schalow says. Taking online shopping to task Messaging, like The Running Well Store's e-mail, is one way running shops have worked to extract customers from the tug of e-commerce. From spotlighting the value of genuine human interaction inside a brick-and-mortar store to identifying the economic benefits of shopping local, many run shops are putting a full-court press on online shopping by trying to appeal to customers' hearts and minds. But messaging is far from the only strategy run shops are employing to compete with e-commerce. This summer, Pacesetter Sports in Terre Haute, IN, began price matching, boldly shar- ing news of its new store policy on the shop's highway marquee. Owner Brent Compton grew tired of seeing customers whip out their phones to investigate prices, some eventually leaving his store to have an item shipped to their home two days later for a $5 savings. "Competitive pricing is the single biggest factor that will get those customers to put their phones away," Compton says. "This assures our customers that we do not want to be beat on price." Though admittedly "scared to death" to initiate a price-matching policy, particularly in the age of liquidation and flash sales, Compton says he has only felt burned a "few times" since unveiling the store policy. "Most often, customers are pumped that we offer this and that's making them more loyal to us," he says, adding that the price-matching risk further dwindles if – and, admittedly, a big if – brands enforce minimum advertised pricing (MAP) on current models. Stores such as the Lincoln Running Company in Nebraska's capital city are offering free ship- ping as well as same-day delivery of products to local customers. "This has helped a ton," manager Ann Ringlein says of same-day delivery. "People are amazed by it and it makes them feel that we care and want to earn their business." Similarly, Fleet Feet Chicago debuted its "shoe valet" service, a fleet of vehicles, bikes and employees running product out to local customers within a certain radius, about four years ago. Fleet Feet Chicago senior VP–sales and marketing John Moloznik describes the shoe valet service as "a first step to tackling the convenience so many of today's customers want." FOOTWEARINSIGHTCOM The Battle With Online Shopping 2%4!), 4)03

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