Mass customization comes to Nordstrom footwear
Shoes of Prey is partnering with Nordstrom to house their design-your-own-shoes studio concept in six major locations across the country. The first Shoes of Prey Design Studio at Nordstrom will open today in Bellevue, Wash. Other studios will open in 2015.
Shoes of Prey is a multichannel, multimillion dollar retail brand that enables shoppers to design their own shoes. The company has been successful at identifying the demands for customization and recognizing a movement of behavior from customers who are demanding more from their shopping experiences.
"We are fulfilling a current demand where customers are looking to participate in the design process to get exactly what they want,” Shoes of Prey CEO and Co-Founder Michael Fox said. “Together we see customization and manufacturing-on-demand as the future of retail."
In partnering with Nordstrom, Shoes of Prey has an opportunity to tap into the retailer's legendary customer service and expand on giving their customers exactly what they want, when they want it. For shoppers whose size isn't in stock or whose personal taste don’t match the styles of the season, the design-your-own-shoes concept solves this problem and encourages shoppers to curate a collection of shoes.
The design of the Shoes of Prey Design Studio aims to bring many of the fun and various components on shoesofprey.com into the actual hands of the customer, and to empower women to design their perfect shoe.
The design studio will be nestled against the back wall of the Nordstrom shoe floor. The space will be easily identified with a towering flower sculpture (constructed out of shoes) blooming from a large central round table, and a lavishly decorated shoe-wall exhibiting some of the diverse styles and options available to the customer (over 70 trillion combinations are possible).
The environment is designed to excite and inspire ladies on the hunt for their perfect shoe to start designing. Multiple iPads featuring the brand's 3-D designer will be available, as will boxes containing swatches of 170-plus materials for customers to play with and get a feel for how the different combinations and textures work together. Expert "shoe stylists" will be available to guide shoe-lovers through the process so that they can create the exact combination that reflects their personal style and fashion needs.
Once finalized and purchased, the designs are all hand-made and sent directly to the customer's home in less than four weeks.