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Calling all suppliers to professional Shoe Fitters and Independent Retailers – THEY NEED YOUR HELP AND THEY NEED IT NOW! We are all aware of how the Internet and supermarkets have been allowed to ride roughshod over our high streets and town centres.

Whatever you wish to buy whether it’s a washing machine or a lawnmower it is all too tempting to use a local shop and knowledgeable shop staff as a showroom and information centre, with absolutely no intention of buying from them because you know you can get it cheaper online, or from a warehouse style operation. Guilty? Yes most of us are and we ought to be very ashamed and rather scared! This is exactly what is happening to independent shoe shops and it should be a frightening prospect for EVERY footwear manufacturer and supplier, not just the smaller ones.

Whereas we were seeing a shoe shop closure once every few months, now it is a weekly occurrence. It is all too easy for brands to shrug their shoulders and think ‘that’s okay we have our own website’ or, ‘we will simply keep offering bigger margins to the multiples’, but there is no real profit to be made this way and you will simply be competing with thousands of others. The old adage ‘when one door shuts another door opens’ no longer applies. Villages and towns have become carbon copies of one another with large multiples occupying small shops, interspersed by coffee and charity shops 06

– what happened to individuality, vive la différence?

So ‘why is the Society of Shoe Fitters (SSF) so concerned’ you may be thinking, ‘why are they writing so passionately about independent shoe shops and not fitting’? Well if we don’t rattle some cages now and muster up some support for the independent shoe retailer, it will soon be too late and we will all suffer for their loss!

You have heard the Society of Shoe Fitters (SSF) speak out about the online sale of children’s shoes in particular, and we make no apology for that. We are not scaremongering, we are trying to educate and inform both our own industry and the public. There should be a Government Health Warning on all websites selling children’s footwear, anyone selling children’s shoes should be qualified to do so, and the sale of ‘fitting gauges’ to the public should be banned. There is a moral obligation but not a legal obligation to do so. It is irresponsible to sell gauges as a gauge is merely a starting point, they are all calibrated differently and they mislead people into thinking they know their own shoe size and fitting which is misinterpreted by the public.

Damage done in the formative years to young growing feet does not just affect their feet but their entire physiology. The bones in the foot

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do not ossify until around the age of 18. A small child (or a diabetes sufferer) cannot always tell if a shoe is too small and therefore toes can be malformed and their gait will develop unnaturally. If you walk differently to compensate for pain or discomfort, it ‘wears’ other joints and tendons, which would not be affected in normal gait. This in turn will cause all sorts of aches and pains that may require longterm health care, or even surgery in later life.

Society members come from all avenues of the industry, but predominantly you will find them in good quality Independent shoe shops.

These are usually the people who make ‘fitting’ their USP(unique selling point). In these shops you will find a variety of brands, many of whom cannot be found on the high street, as they are created for ‘difficult’ feet, or simply for the more discerning and knowledgeable customer who want to be comfortable, rather than those who are only concerned with the price or the latest fashion. These shops invest in the education of their staff and their loyalty is returned, whereas the staff employed in multiples or chain-stores will often move on quickly, their footwear education is limited, indeed in the majority of shops selling shoes the staff are simply shop assistants capable of working a till and finding shoes in a stockroom – shoes may as well be Baked Beans. Because only a third of the population have ‘average’ feet there is no substitute for a proficient shoe fitter taking a look at how you are walking and discussing your feet and footwear whatever your age. One slight mention of hard skin in a certain area of the foot will inform a qualified shoe fitter that the person is putting too much weight in that spot and may need a small orthotic to remedy the situation to make them more comfortable.

Without this the public simply go on often in pain, taking up valuable GP and clinic time, taking time off work, or having costly podiatry treatments.

If independent shops close there will be fewer places for manufacturers of quality or specialized brands to sell to, and less specialised

people to serve our families. The larger shops won’t want brand names; they are capable of having their own shoes made in bulk cheaply.

However good or bad their shoes are, this reduces choice and fit for the public, and in time prices will rise. We have seen it with energy companies, insurance companies, telecommunications and supermarkets, their offers are no longer cheap deals but inflated short term incentives and we have no choice but to pay because the shop on the corner has closed, our choice is limited. This is a ‘lose lose’ situation.

We all know banks can help the most, but there are ways you can help a little more to make business easier and drive footfall into your stockiest – keep some in-stock available, offer smaller pack sizes, agree individual credit terms, incentives assisted promotions, don’t go into ‘Sale’ too early, do not offer the same product you’ve sold your retailer cheaper online… these are just a few ways to help. In turn independents need to communicate their concerns and ideas, share business plans, keep promotions fresh etc. This is not a vast industry despite the number of shoes sold in the U.K. and if we don’t act now to help our independents it will be smaller still and far worse for everyone.

Just before Easter the Society will be promoting a: Keep Feet ‘Fit’ – National Shoe Fitting Week starting Monday March 25th 2013, with posters and press releases available. Independent shops and suppliers are welcome to join in and help fly the flag to remind the public you are there to serve and your shoes are great! For more information email: secretary@shoefitters-uk.org or visit the SSF stand at MODA in February.

The Society of Shoe Fitters, The Anchorage, 28 Admirals Walk, Hingham, Norfolk. NR9 4JL Tel. +44 (0)1953-851171 Email: secretary@shoefitters-uk.org Website: www.shoefitters-uk.org

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Retailers need more than ecommerce

By Ian Tomlinson Ecommerce is often seen as the saviour of retail, unlimited customers, huge growth potential. This is of course the case, but rather than competing with the same footwear retailers in your town or high street you are now competing against footwear retailers literally all over the world.

So how do you get your ecommerce site to stand out? Well, of course you can ‘optimise’ your website. This is when you positively influence the position of your website in Google, so it appears as high as possible.

But there are other ‘online’ channels that footwear retailers should be looking at, namely eBay and Amazon. eBay and Amazon are the two largest websites in the UK and their influence is growing. According to Retail Week their combined market share is one fifth of the UK’s ecommerce market. Many retailers have started selling on both these sites, as it is relatively cheap to start up. However, what stops many moving across to these channels is that it is another sales channel to manage and it is time consuming to upload product information and stock levels. Web-based retail systems, such as Cybertill, allow real time integration into eBay and Amazon so when stock is sold the products are removed. But what’s more they allow retailers to ‘click and sell’ as they can upload product information (such as images, stock levels, product description) at the touch of a button.

Today, independent footwear retailers need to be seen beyond their high street, and this is true of online as well. eBay and Amazon are perfect sales channels for retailers to generate additional revenue for their business whilst extending their reach.

I Ian Tomlinson is chief executive of Cybertill.

www.cybertill.co.uk info@cybertill.co.uk 0800 030 4459 32

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What are the regulatory requirements for footwear?

By Jack Brown, footwear technical consultant at Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services.

THE footwear supply chain is long and complex with the retailer, its agents and the manufacturers all striving to get the right design at the right price onto the shelves at the right time.

Ensuring that the shoe fits, is made ethically, is fit for purpose and of good quality are key elements to keep returns and complaints at a low level and to improve customer loyalty and brand image. Sustainability and the environment are also increasing concerns. And in addition to all of the above, are the actual legal obligations of the retailer and its supply chain partners. But what exactly are these legal requirements from a quality and technical point of view?

The main regulatory requirements for the footwear industry can be summarised as followed: 1. The European General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC) – producers and distributors shall take all the reasonable steps to ensure that the products they sell are safe. For footwear, this entails such as the heel attachment property of the shoe, the slip resistance of the shoe sole, the strength of straps and seams when under stress, the adhesion of the sole to the upper to prevent dangerous flapping toes.

2. Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals or the REACH Directive (EU Regulation EC 1907/2006) – companies that place products onto the EU market including manufacturers, importers and retailers of footwear, need to ensure that their products do not contain substances that have been classified as Restricted Substances as per REACH Annex XVII. If you are a retailer of footwear, you need to be aware that consumers can request to be informed of any potential SVHC contained in the shoes you sell. In this instance, you shall be prepared to answer consumers’ questions about the presence of SVHC in shoes and provide sufficient information to allow a safe use of these shoes within 45 days.

3. The European Labelling Directive for Footwear 94/11/EC – shoes sold to the general public must meet either the written text or pictogram requirements of the Directive and the public must be informed at the point of sale what all of the symbols actually mean to allow them to make an informed judgement as to the material make up of the shoes.

The health and safety of the consumer is still paramount as is compliance with the law.

Litigation claims for personal injury are very common and unlikely to go away. It may be appropriate to introduce an “intelligent testing and due diligence” approach and target the most important properties of the product from a legal and safety point of view. In other words focus more on heel attachment, sole bond, slip resistance and REACH. 44

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