Betcha a Dollar I Can Tell Ya Where Ya Got Dose Shoes!*
Written: Oct 19 '05
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I’m willing to bet that back at the dawn of the age of eCommerce some smart guy (or gal) snapped up the domain name shoes.com and then sold it to the highest bidder, though I’m kind of surprised that Nike didn’t buy it (I guess they were saving their megabucks for swoosh.com). The ultimate winner was the Brown shoe company – the same people who make Buster Brown shoes (you probably wore them at about the same time you learned to walk), not to mention Bass, Naturalizer, and Dr. Scholl’s. Brown didn’t stop with their own few shoe brands, though: they put together a web store that sells darned near every brand known to man or woman (except perhaps the aforementioned Nike people, who don’t let many online stores sell their shoes).
I ran across shoes.com a couple of years back while buying running shoes through Amazon.com (I had a gift certificate, OK?), where they’re an affiliated vendor. This time I was browsing their site looking for shoes to replace the Merrell Pulse hikers I’d bought last year – seems Merrell redesigned them to have a more durable sole (they listened to my idea). I found the shoes – found ‘em fast, by the way – and ordered them, and they were on my feet less than a week later. The price was OK, but the clincher for my order was a personal dream: free! shipping! So I bit, and the new Merrell Pulse IIs are on my feet even as I write. Here’s the skinny on shoes.com for all you shoppers with tired toes…
Selection: You may not necessarily be looking for Asics running shoes or for a pair of Merrell hikers, I understand that. The folks at shoes.com carry a huge line of shoe brands, from Doc Marten to Steve Madden; from Acorn to Zeeta. In sport shoes, they’re major vendors for New Balance, Reebok, Asics, Adidas, Fila, K-Swiss, and most of the rest (though not Nike or Puma). They carry the Ms’s favorite boot brand, Ariat, though they don’t carry many of the western boot brands like Tony Lama, Justin, or Nocona. Style-wise, you can get anything from a pair of comfy Acorn slipper sox to a pair of Harley-Davidson grunt! lace-up manure-kickers. This is a place that pretty much typifies the thought, “If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it!” Note, however, that some really high-end brands (Jimmy Choo, Ferragamo, Manohlo Blahnik) aren’t in their offerings.
Navigation: Not being able to find what I want is a sure-fire reason to leave your website. Shoes.com makes it easy by giving shoppers both a “drill-down” search technique and a direct search technique. Drill-down lets you start in either of two ways: by brand (see above) or by classification. You can search for men’s, women’s, or kid’s shoes, any of which takes you to another level of search that lets you choose a type of shoe – athletic, casual, dress, sandal, etc. For a given type you then narrow your search even further: athletic shoes + basketball shoes, sandals + all terrain, boots + western, etc. Once you’ve reached that level of search, you can then select on any combination of brand, color, and size (they carry up to size 16 for men, BTW).
If you start by choosing a brand, you’re taken to a special page for that brand that breaks the selection down by type (boot, sandal, casual) and target market (man, woman, girl, boy). For every sub-classification shoes.com shows the number of styles available for this manufacturer and type - e.g., they sell forty-one different styles of Bruno Magli dress shoes for women and eighteen for men. This page, by the way, is different for each maker. You’ll find no dead links caused by the use of standardized forms, no links to unlikely merchandise such as “Men’s Reebok Wingtips.”
Conversely (yes, they carry Converse, too) you can use a search box to go straight to a brand and style if you already know the name.
An alternative to broadcast searches is a pair of special stores for wide and narrow widths, or you can concentrate on sale merchandise alone in their sale section, where each selection is marked with a bright red tag shouting the percentage of the markdown. There’s a “New Arrivals” shop for those who must be on the leading edge of foot fashion. Oh, and they stock accessories as well – handbags from Cole Haan, Bongo, and more; socks from Thorlo and others; and foot support and foot care products (remember that they’re the parent company to Dr. Scholl’s). They also sell K-Swiss clothing; mostly tennis togs. Look really hard, and you can even find belts and baseball caps…
Buying Stuff: Shoes.com uses the same shopping cart model as most other large websites, with that big yellow button that says “Add to Shopping Cart.” When it’s time to check out, you simply click on a checkout button and Bingo! you’re transported to their secure area. As with most web vendors, you need to create an account to save your preferences – contact, shipping, and payment. This gets you on their mailing list, though you can opt out if you want.
Payments: Credit cards, man, credit cards: VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and JCB. Although they sell gift certificates (which expire one year from date of purchase!) there’s no readily-apparent method of applying a gift certificate. No mention at all of methods for paying with case, check, or money order (do people still do that?).
Shipping: FREE! That’s right, whether it’s a $3.99 tube of Lotrimin or a $649.99 pair of Bruno Magli suede boots, they ship anywhere in the USA – all fifty states – for absolutely zero dollars and zero cents. Of course, if you’re in a huge hurry, you can pay a little extra - $11.50 for second-day or $20.00 for next day (plus extra for additional pairs). International rates, however, are dependent on too many variables – plus you’re liable for duties/tariffs/customs/baksheesh, etc.
Mine were shipped using standard UPS ground. It took two business days for shoes.com to get the order out the door and two business days for the shoes to reach my feet. That’s perhaps a little long, but acceptable if you’re in no hurry.
Taxes: Sales tax is charged on orders shipped to Tennessee, Missouri, or California. No problem for me, since I don’t volunteer to be shown the golden bear. Or something like that.
Prices: Except for sale items, everything seems to sell at or just below the manufacturer’s list price. At first glance this seems odd, because shoes.com has a 115% lowest price guarantee: find the same shoe at a lower price anywhere on the web within thirty days, and they’ll refund 115% of the difference. The fine print, however, clears up the “oddity”: they guarantee that their total price – including shipping and taxes – will be lower than the other guy’s total price. Since shipping is free and since nobody anywhere seems to have substantial discounts on shoes either, it looks like they’re pretty safe. Auction sites don’t count on that guarantee thing, by the way.
Return Policy: Within 365 days you may return any pair of unworn shoes free of charge using the form and shipping label included with every order. This is great if the shoes you bought are the wrong size and you want to exchange them, though not anywhere near as quick as the shoe salesman’s trip to the stock room. You can also get a refund if you just plain don’t like the things. If they’re worn, though, you’re on your own – you’ll have to take it up with the manufacturer.
Extras: Shoes.com is an affiliate of Amazon.com, so you can order your shoes through Amazon and use their gift certificates, premium points, and the like. Shoes.com has a preferred customer program, which gives away a free pair of shoes every week (you're not enrolled, though, if you order through Amazon).
Bottom Line: Great selection, well laid-out and usable website, unbeatable shipping costs, unbeatable return policy. Good customer service, average prices, average shipping time. Four-and-almost-a-half stars.
*You got 'em on ya feet!
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Merrell Pulse II
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About the Author
Location: ~240000E, 3300000N UTM15
Reviews written: 1713
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About Me: So long, everybody. It was fun while it lasted.
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