Shoebuy.com stocks up its online inventory

Though it’s now a part of IAC/InterActive Corp., Shoebuy.com continues to operate with autonomy. And lately Shoebuy, No. 127 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, has been busy redesigning its web site, adding more lines of merchandise and exploring new e-commerce niches.

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In time for the holidays, Shoebuy has expanded its total number of SKUs to about 400,000 and the value of its online inventory from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, says CEO Scott Savitz. The company also has redesigned Shoebuy.com and added a faster internally designed search box. With a more intuitive search box, shoppers now can look up data by size, brand name and other specific terms. “We have added more drill down capability,” Savitz says. The redesigned Shoebuy.com also features a cleaner layout and an expedited checkout process. “The site is much faster and we wanted to have the redesign done in time for the holidays,” Savitz says. “This was our summer project.”

Though Shoebuy’s roots are grounded in selling footwear online, the company is slowly expanding into more accessories and apparel categories. In 2005 Shoebuy added outerwear and launched Bagsbuy.com. With the new redesign, Shoebuy now carries more than 300 brands and has added new lines of accessories such as sunglasses and wallets. “We’ve added 90 brands in the last year,” Savitz says.

Shoebuy was acquired by IAC, No. 23 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, for an undisclosed sum in February. Shoebuy is implementing more marketing and merchandising arrangements with other IAC e-commerce and retail units, including HSN.com and Cornerstone Brands. But IAC also enables Shoebuy to function with a great deal of autonomy. “One of the benefits of the acquisition is that IAC has a lot of best practices we can implement,” Savitz says.

Shoebuy won’t break out specific web sales, but Savitz says business is brisk. Repeat buyers now account for about 60% of all sales and the site draws about 3 million visitors each month.