When Shoes of Prey announced last October that it was shuttering concessions in six Nordstrom stores in the US and its David Jones flagship in Sydney, some wondered whether the move marked the beginning of the end for the customisable shoe retailer.

But eight months later, Shoes of Prey co-founder and chief creative officer Jodie Fox stands by the decision and says the return to selling online-only has freed up funds that were previously sunk into the company’s bricks-and-mortar operations.

“I guess the positive thing is that we’ve been able to invest in the online space. We’ve stated publicly that having the six stores took up 25 per cent of our cost, which is a large chunk to invest in something that’s very confined in terms of reach. That number instantly flipped around [when we closed the stores], which is a relief and a good thing,” Fox told IRW.

As a result of this reshuffling, Shoes of Prey most notably has been able to cut its shipping time in half to just two weeks, an impressive feat when you consider the trillions of possible combinations of style, colour, material, heel height, toe shape, width and embellishments that customers around the world may order at any given time. 

This is something Shoes of Prey has been working towards for years, since the online retailer first started to bring manufacturing in-house in 2014. It entailed not only building its own factory in China and hiring hundreds of specialised employees, but also working with shoe-making equipment and material suppliers to adjust existing machinery and processes to its unique needs.

“We built something that, to my knowledge, has never existed before, which is a factory that produces shoes on-demand at scale,” said Fox.

This represents a significant turning point for customisation in retail more broadly. Even as a growing number of startups like Mon Purse, InStitchu and Disrupt Sports make it possible for online shoppers to personalise handbags, suits and sporting goods, the trend is unlikely to gain traction with a mass audience, unless shipping times can be shortened dramatically.

And while some Australian retailers are focused on shaving hours off their same-day delivery windows, many online retailers require a month or more to produce and deliver items to customers.

“I think it’s really special to have something made just for you, but the only way that’s going to become someone’s first choice is if it meets all the other criteria that off-the-shelf products offer. [Two-week delivery] is a step in that direction,” Fox said.

A different way of doing things

Shoes of Prey makes its shoes in a three-storey, 43,000 square foot facility in Dongguan, China, a city known for its shoe-making expertise. But unlike most of the footwear companies manufacturing in Dongguan, Shoes of Prey can’t always tap into the existing supply network and way of doing things.

“Finding the right mix and split of shoe-making processes between a single cobbler making an entire shoe at one end of the scale, and traditional mass manufacturing at the other [was a challenge],” Christopher McCallum, chief operating officer for Shoes of Prey, told IRW.

McCallum is based in China and runs the factory on a day-to-day basis. He explained that the company has developed its own software to ensure each customised shoe is made correctly and uses a fully ‘lean’ manufacturing mindset to speed up production. Shoes of Prey also works with suppliers to get stock replenished quickly.

“We’ve refined our manufacturing processes and now produce and deliver custom-designed shoes in two weeks guaranteed, worldwide. But we don’t stop there. Customers can expedite delivery and receive their shoes in as little as one week,” he said.

In speeding up the manufacturing process, however, the retailer has needed to rethink some steps entirely. For instance, McCallum explains that standard shoes often sit for weeks or months before customers receive them, giving glue odours time to dissipate. Shoes of Prey can’t wait that long, so the company’s suppliers needed to develop new adhesives. The retailer has also worked with logistics suppliers to develop new export processes, since shipping can sometimes take longer than the manufacturing process itself.

“It’s almost a Darwinian moment,” Paul Greenberg, founder of the National Online Retailers Association, told IRW.

“I remember thinking when the guys first started that five to six weeks for on-demand production out of China was really reasonable, but the fact that it’s under two weeks is incredible,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fox is leaving open the possibility of systematising the Shoes of Prey method for other retailers to use in future.

“At the moment, it’s for our purposes, but given that I believe on-demand manufacturing is more environmentally and financially sustainable for companies, and that we’re the only ones that have built something like this, to my knowledge, I do think that’s a possibility for the future,” she said.

Beyond manufacturing

Shoes of Prey’s return to selling online-only has ushered in a variety of changes beyond the company’s day-to-day operations in China.   

“Manufacturing is really exciting because we’ve seen an amazing result that we’re proud of, but you’ll start to see a lot more changes coming though other parts of the business, like creative and marketing work and a lot more product launches,” Fox said.

“One of the things we’re rolling out right now is an exciting influencer campaign. We’re working with micro-influencers, and there’s a real appreciation there for each other. We’re so inspired by the shoes they’re creating.”

The retailer has also gained Lizzie Francis, ex-CMO of US-based online fashion company Gilt Groupe, as an executive chairman. This reflects a broader shift underway at Shoes of Prey, where the focus is less on the novelty factor of customisation and more on fashionability and style.

“It’s so interesting because for so long we were a ‘what and how’ company. What is it? You can design your own shoes. How can you do it? We have a great online design tool,” Fox said.

“But the thing is, we have a real passion for making sure our shoes feel and look beautiful and spend a lot of time sourcing the right leathers out of Italy. All of that is really about us shifting the weight a little bit. We will always be powered by technology, but we are a fashion company and that’s the part of ourselves that we’re growing into now.”