Onlineshoes.com trots out specialty ‘shops’ as business grows

Onlineshoes.com lays claim to being the nation’s first online shoe business and since its launch in 1996 the company has continued to add features and technology to improve site functionality. Internet Retailer estimates the company logged $80.2 million in sales for 2006, up 63.6% from about $49 million in 2005.

President and CEO Dan Gerler attributes the company’s growth to several factors. “We continue to improve the site and implement new features that add value. Our marketing campaigns, including e-mail, direct mail and affiliates, have been very effective. And we have strong repeat business,” he says.

It helps to have a good foundation, Gerler says, and one of its building blocks is a 90-day unconditional money-back guarantee.

Onlineshoes.com, No. 129 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, implemented dress and kids shoe shops on its web site last year. “The kids product exceeded our expectations and did well in the fourth quarter,” Gerler says. Other specialty shops include narrow, wide, running and newly arrived shoes, along with accessories and bags.

A site navigation upgrade last year included technology from Mercado Software that eased the product search process, Gerler says. Onlineshoes.com also implemented a new enterprise resource planning application from Escalate Retail in late 2005 that took much of 2006 to integrate with other information systems.

The ERP system helps keep inventory current by subtracting product sales in real time so consumers can see what’s available. The system also integrates with warehousing and fulfillment systems and provides “a database we can manipulate,” Gerler adds.

Gerler’s introduction to the shoe business came in his father’s corner store in Seattle, which opened in 1968. Although the majority of Onlineshoes.com’s business is conducted online, there are several physical stores in the Seattle area called The Shoe Advantage.