51
Jorge Reyes INTEXT REPORTS ESPADRILLES IN CHICAGO
Jorge Reyes
INTEXT
REPORTS ESPADRILLES IN CHICAGO
2
Guide 1. Case study ............................................................................................................................. 5
2. Chicago ................................................................................................................................. 7
Cook County ......................................................................................................................... 7
Money .................................................................................................................................. 8
Prices .................................................................................................................................... 9
Weather.............................................................................................................................. 10
Facebook Reach .................................................................................................................. 10
3. Platforms ............................................................................................................................ 11
Sandals market: quantitative trends .................................................................................... 11
Type of Sandals .................................................................................................................. 11
Occasion ............................................................................................................................. 12
Heel Height ......................................................................................................................... 12
Color ................................................................................................................................... 13
Brands ................................................................................................................................ 13
Price.................................................................................................................................... 14
Material .............................................................................................................................. 14
Others: Themes , Accents & Patterns .................................................................................. 15
3. Price Statistics ..................................................................................................................... 16
Zappos ................................................................................................................................ 16
Sandals Vs. Espadrilles: Prices .......................................................................................... 16
Sandals and Ratings: Prices.............................................................................................. 16
Espadrilles: Reviews and Prices ....................................................................................... 17
ESPADRILLES BRANDS...................................................................................................... 17
Being relevant or best seller? .......................................................................................... 18
Espadrilles: Relevance vs. Best Sellers (Zappos) ............................................................... 18
Worst Sellers Espadrilles Zappos:Prices ........................................................................... 19
Catalogue: ....................................................................................................................... 20
Counting the Reviews: ..................................................................................................... 20
Amazon ............................................................................................................................... 20
ON .................................................................................................................................. 20
Catalogue ........................................................................................................................ 21
DSW ................................................................................................................................ 21
Catalogue ........................................................................................................................ 21
3
ONLINE SHOES ................................................................................................................ 22
Catalogue ........................................................................................................................ 22
Lori’s ............................................................................................................................... 23
Catalogue ........................................................................................................................ 23
Website Comparisons...................................................................................................... 24
Prices: ............................................................................................................................. 24
5. Reviewing reviews............................................................................................................... 26
Best seller Reviews .............................................................................................................. 26
Worst seller Reviews ........................................................................................................... 28
Reviews Chicago .............................................................................................................. 29
Blogs’ buzz .......................................................................................................................... 30
Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 31
6. Blogs ................................................................................................................................... 32
Notable Lists: ...................................................................................................................... 34
Elle .................................................................................................................................. 34
Luckymag ........................................................................................................................ 34
The zoe report ................................................................................................................. 35
7. SEO / SEM ........................................................................................................................... 36
Google Adwords Display...................................................................................................... 36
Target ............................................................................................................................. 36
Keywords ............................................................................................................................ 43
Conclusions & Strategy ........................................................................................................... 44
Relevance: .......................................................................................................................... 44
Own website & Social Media ............................................................................................... 44
Platforms: ........................................................................................................................... 44
Our brand on Google:.......................................................................................................... 45
Adwords: search.............................................................................................................. 45
Adwords: Display............................................................................................................. 46
Facebook ............................................................................................................................ 47
Costs & estimated reach online: .......................................................................................... 47
SEO ................................................................................................................................. 47
Adwords: Search ............................................................................................................. 48
Adwords: Display............................................................................................................. 48
Communication................................................................................................................... 48
4
Pricing ................................................................................................................................. 50
Reviews & Rating ................................................................................................................ 50
Core values ......................................................................................................................... 51
5
1. Case study
In this case study I will work with a fictional footwear brand named Ramon Puig. Ramon Puig
is a Spanish footwear company located in Alicante, they make espadrilles for women and
would like to know if they could be more attractive for the US market, and the Chicago market
more concretely since they would like to sell online and through showrooms in the city.
Ramon Puig has no previous experience in selling in the US and don’t want to make a big
investment in this market, they’d rather sell online.
Ramon Puig has their own e-commerce website but wish to be on the main e-tailer platforms
in the US.
The united States represent a huge opportunity for IG. Although the competition is extremely
tough, IG believes they can start selling their qualtiy shoes online, minimizing the initial
investment. They are aware of the difficulties of entering in department stores and don’t think
a local showroom can give them good results after a brief experience they had in 2008. They
would like to focus their efforts in the Chicago’s market as they deem they have a good shot of
establishing themselves as household in the area and they have a big distributor ready to
collaborate with them as soon as they have acquired a certain reputation.
The current state of electronic commerce in the US, which is, as
supposed, steadily growing: according to go electronics360 86.1
million U.S. households at the end of the first half of 2013 had
broadband Internet access, translating into a 70.2 percent penetration
of all American households.
79,5 million
people in the
USA has bought
online.
Source: americommerce
6
According to Americommerce, in 2014 e-commerce accounted for 8% of sales and by 2019
could outperform brick-and-mortar sales.. It is a 220 billion dollar market estimated, growing
at 17%.
Ramon Puig wants to know what their next actions should be, taking into account they don’t
have neither big budget nor a marketing department.
“We want to make an impact in the most
competitive market in the world”. Ramón
Puig, shoemaker.
7
2. Chicago
Cook County
Based on the US census from 2012, there are more than 2
million women over 15 in the Cook County (2,182,613 to be
precise) which may be assimilated to Metropolitan Chicago.
With a noticeable majority of 18 year-old women, the market
is attractive enough to aim it locally.
There are almost a million women (967,032) between 19 and
39 years.
0 50 100 150 200 250
85 years and over
80 to 84 years
75 to 79 years
70 to 74 years
65 to 69 years
60 to 64 years
55 to 59 years
50 to 54 years
45 to 49 years
40 to 44 years
35 to 39 years
30 to 34 years
25 to 29 years
20 to 24 years
15 to 19 years
10 to 14 years
5 to 9 years
Under 5 years
Total 5.197.677 100 %
Female 2.680.510 51,6 %
Male 2.517.167 48,4 %
18 years & over 3.968.963
Male 1.891.809 47.7%
Female 2.077.154 52.3%
Table 1. Population by gender (Cook County). Source: US Census, 2012.
Age pyramid (women)
Graph 1. Women’s age (Cook County). Source: US Census, 2012.
8
Money
Cook County has a median household income of 54,648 USD and
Chicago is the 3rd city in the US in GDP according to official
estimations, behind NY and LA. The state of Illinois has 9 counties in
the top 100 richest counties in the country, only overcome by
California (23) and New York (9) but their income distribution shows
us a middle-class city.
Chicago is also considered an Alpha city by the Globalization and
World Cities Research Network (GaWC) (2012). Which indicates a
high international profile and a global importance.
Median household income 54,648
Mean household income 77,976
INCOME AND BENEFITS (IN 2012 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
Less than $10K
$10K to $14K
$15K to $24K
$25K to $34K
$35K to $49K
$50K to $74K
$75K to $99K
$100K to $149K
$150K to $199K
$200K or more
Hispanic influence:
Chicago is one of the
major focus of Hispanics
population in the
country, almost a million
people (988,518) over 5
year old speaks Spanish
at home.
77% of the 1,245 million
Hispanics are Mexican.
(966) .
Graph 2. Income and benefits (Cook County). Source: US Census, 2012.
9
Prices
Numbeo gives us an oversight of prices in Chicago compared to New York. Consumer prices are
22,62% lower in Chicago, and the rent is 43,55% lower too. Local purchasing power is stronger
in Chicago (+16,67 higher).
In the clothing and shoes expenses, people at Chicago can rejoice at their lower prices,
however, their salaries tend to be notably lower. Chicago is best suited for quality brands not
at the extreme of the high end.
Clothing And Shoes New york Chicago
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 56.73 $ 43.83 $ -22.74 %
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M) 51.47 $ 32.14 $ -37.55 %
1 Pair of Nike Shoes 87.90 $ 79.44 $ -9.62 %
1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes 126.07 $ 92.31 $ -26.78 %
Average Monthly Disposable Salary (AT) 4,418.77 $ 3,468.65 $ -21.50 %
Table 2. Clothing and shoes prices in New York and Chicago (2014). Source: numbeo.com
10
Weather
The weather is obviously a very important factor when it comes to sandals, especially in a town
so polarized such as Chicago, with frozen winters and torrid summers. Our market is seasonal
in Chicago.
Facebook Reach
In this day and age, a good indication of demographics is Facebook, here we can see a list of
targeted searches which proves the maturity of this market. There is a wide range of
combinations, here is a table to name a few:
Location Age Gender Interests Behaviors Potential Reach
Chicago 15 - 50 female 1.600.000
Chicago 18 - 30 female 800.000
Chicago 15 - 50 female Shoes 480.000
Chicago 15 - 50 female Sandals 74.000
Chicago 15 - 50 female Shoes Online spenders
30.000
Chicago 15 - 50 female Shopping and fashion
Online spenders
68.000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Avg Max 0 3 8 15 21 27 29 28 24 18 9 3
Avg Min -8 -4 0 6 11 16 19 18 14 8 2 -4
Avg -4 -1 4 11 16 22 24 23 19 13 6 -1
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Weather in Chicago
Table 3. Chicago’s monthly weather. Source: weather.com
Table 4.Facebook Advertising reach. Source: facebook.com
11
3. Platforms
Although it is possible to direct customers to our own website, we must take into
consideration the big e-tailer platforms, where we will find most of our customers, used to
browse through these big platforms.
The most important and accurate platform when it comes to the US market and Chicago is
Zappos. We will also study Amazon, Shoes Online, DSW and the local Lori’s. However, Zappos
(acquired by Amazon in July,2009 for $940 millions) is the most popular and successful web
specialized in footwear focused in the US.
Sandals market: quantitative trends
The different categories of sandals presented by Zappos give us a neat big picture of the
preferences of the US market:
Type of Sandals
Let’s start with the types of sandals. These are not mutually exclusive categories.
Note that this are not exclusive, a shoe may be included in more than one category. Espadrilles
remain a strong category as we can see with 489 items.
Type Qty
Wedges 3714
Thong 3244
Comfort 2997
Platform 2366
Flip Flops 2167
Slide 1607
TStrap 1228
Euro 1049
Sling Back 715
Espadrille 489
Gladiator 437
Toe Ring 255
Athletic 187
Fisherman 87
Jelly 72
Huarache 67
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Occasion
The occasion profile will be valuable to get an insight of the mood for the sandals: casual is the
word by a landslide, which can only benefit our products, often seen as a casual complement
for summer attire.
Heel Height
Sandals are preferred flat or almost flat, which makes sense if we remember the casual
mindset
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Flat Under 1in
1in 1 3/4in
2in 2 3/4in
3in 3 3/4in
4in 4 3/4in
5in & over
Occasion Qty
Casual 9341
Dress 886
Outdoor 508
Athletic 127
Wedding 101
Office & Career 41
Action Sports 22
Little Black Dress 22
Prom & Homecoming 20
Evening & Cocktail 5
Nightclub 3
Work & Duty 1
Other 3
Heel Height Qty
Flat 1685
Under 1in 2043
1in 1 3/4in 2520
2in 2 3/4in 1637
3in 3 3/4in 1059
4in 4 3/4in 493
5in & over 112
13
Color
Formal dark colors are preferred, although white tends to be more common for the
espadrilles.
Brands
Zappos’ catalogue offers up to 306 brands, most of them well known among the great public.
Among the Spanish brands we can find Bass, Camper, El Naturalista, Pedro García o Pikolinos.
Color Qty
Black 2800
Brown 1166
White 615
Beige 593
Blue 562
Tan 493
Gold 399
Red 388
Multi 334
Pink 334
Gray 320
Silver 302
Orange 213
Navy 202
Green 176
Pewter 158
Bronze 155
Taupe 146
Bone 126
Metallic 109
Purple 108
Yellow 104
Top Brands Qty
Naot Footwear 294
Born 216
Birkenstock 190
Onex 179
Clarks 156
Chaco 105
Teva 149
14
Price
Most of the shoes are ranged between 50 and 100, where there seems to be a psychological
barrier.
Material
Leather and synthetic are the most common materials.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
$50.00 and Under
$50.00 -$100.00
$100.00 - $200.00
$200.00 and Over
FitFlop 148
Havaianas 147
VIONIC with Orthaheel Technology
140
DV by Dolce Vita 126
Reef 126
Sam Edelman 115
Keen 113
Mephisto 113
Cordani 102
Price Quantity
$50.00 and Under 2728
$50.00 -$100.00 4770
$100.00 - $200.00 2164
$200.00 and Over 530
Material Quantity
Leather 5682
Synthetic 2117
Rubber 923
Full-grain leather 682
EVA 529
Suede 526
Cork 460
Nubuck 412
Faux Leather 404
Patent Leather 317
Nappa 271
Nylon 250
15
Others: Themes , Accents & Patterns
Sandals are naturally thought to be a fair-weather item. These two other lists of patterns &
accents will surely help the designers.
Theme Qty
Summer 9348
Spring 9229
Action Sports 1076
Surf 1053
Resort 559
Fall 533
Western 334
Winter 223
Athleisure 206
Skate 192
Street 57
Retro 52
Back to School 22
Pattern Qty
Metallic 1051
Animal Print 468
Woven 416
Basket Weave 351
Snake Print 305
Logo 262
Reptile 193
Stripes 111
Exotics 102
Floral Print 74
Distressed 61
Graphic Print 57
Leopard Print 57
Accents Qty
Buckle 1567
Contrast Stitching 916
CutOuts 893
Studded 861
Bit 757
Embossed 449
Rhinestones 376
Braid 305
Beaded 209
Crystals 190
Medallion 187
Flowers 184
Bows 179
16
3. Price Statistics There is insightful information to be gathered from the different espadrilles lists on the 4 most
important platforms.
Zappos
Zappos’ detailed lists allow us to browse further into the sandals market.
Sandals vs. Espadrilles: Prices
When comparing the 100 best seller sandals to the 100 best seller espadrilles, some
conclusions can be drawn:
Taking the more robust median, Espadrilles tend to be 10 dollars cheaper ($70) than the
sandals ($80).
Sandals and Ratings: Prices
In the list of best seller sandals, it is
interesting to notice that those with a 5 star
rating are vast majority (73) and have a
higher price (median $90) than those rated
with 4 stars, the remaining 27 at a median of
$61. There are no ratings lower than 4 stars,
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
35.99 54.99 69.99 74.18 84.99 299.90
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
18.00 47.99 80.00 74.15 89.95 130.00
SANDALS PRICES (USD) ESPADRILLES PRICES (USD)
Sandals prices (USD) by Rating
17
which proves an association between high rating and sales.
We can see those sandals reviews with 5 stars tend to have a higher price.
Espadrilles: Reviews and Prices
But let’s go to our product, the espadrilles. The best sellers will cost you around $70. Ratings are not so good:
When the ratings are top, the median in
prices is $70, where as it is $62 when it is less good.
The correlation between price and rating can be established again.
ESPADRILLES BRANDS
There are 33 brands among the best 100 sellers espadrilles: Bella Vita and Fitzwell take the cake.
Brand Qty
Bella-Vita 10
Fitzwell 9
LAUREN by Ralph Lauren 8
5 stars: 34 4 stars: 63 3 stars: 3
4 Star Rating 5 Star Rating
Espadrilles prices (USD) by Rating
18
Sofft 6
Eric Michael 5
MICHAEL Michael Kors 5
Sperry Top-Sider 5
Being relevant or best seller?
Zappos firstly offers their most relevant shoes, which are not the same as the best seller. Our aim is to sell, not to be relevant. It is noticeable that the “relevance” list shows fewer brands: 19. Eric Michael shows 22 but it only place 5 on the best sellers! This may show that it is not enough with having a bigger exposure, at the end, it’s the customers who have the biggest influence power over other possible purchaser through their ratings and reviews. The shoes must deliver!
Espadrilles: Relevance vs. Best Sellers (Zappos)
The following shows the gap between the most relevant brands and their results on the best
sellers’ list.
Brand Relevance Best Sellers
Bella-Vita 6 10
Clarks 3 3
Eric Michael 22 5
Fitzwell 9 9
Gabriella Rocha 1 0
Jack Rogers 1 2
LAUREN by Ralph Lauren 11 8
LifeStride 2 3
Lucky Brand 5 3
MICHAEL Michael Kors 6 5
Minnetonka 5 0
Naot Footwear 1 0
Onex 5 0
Sbicca 6 2
SeaVees 5 0
Sesto Meucci 3 0
SoftWalk 3 0
Vaneli 2 0
Vidorreta 4 2
19
5 stars: 17 4 stars: 12 3 stars: 6 2 stars: 2 1 star: 4
Worst Sellers Espadrilles Zappos:Prices
Let’s go to the other extreme, the worst seller espadrilles, at the bottom of the list of best
sellers. Prices here are much higher: $95.
0
5
10
15
20
25
Relevance
Best Sellers
Worst Seller Espadrilles (Prices)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
39.99 59.24 95.49 94.70 110.90 387.90
Although the ratings are not
statistically significant
considering the low number of
reviews, they are much lower.
2 stars: 2 1 star: 4
20
Catalogue:
28 brands out of 64, among them Vidorreta and Eric Michael feature prominently.
Vidorreta 14
Eric Michael 7
Sbicca 6
Matisse 3
Michael Kors 3
Pikolinos 3
Counting the Reviews:
If we can’t draw conclusions from lower ratings at the
bottom of every list, it shall be noted that the 1st page
of best seller espadrilles averages 18 reviews while the
last of best sellers struggles to have more than one
review.
Amazon
ON
Amazon has their own list of relevant espadrilles (no best sellers). Their prices are much lower
than on Zappos (median of $45).
Most reviews on Zappos are
positive feedback, we should
encourage the posting of
reviews of our products. There
is a correlation between the
number of reviews - higher
ratings -best sellers.
Most Relevant Espadrilles on Amazon (Prices)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. 7.99 22.65 45.00 47.73 66.22 130.00
21
Catalogue
On the espadrilles page of Amazon there is a wide variety of brands, 33 brands for 48 items.
Among them: Sperry Top-Sider with 5, Clarks, Lifestride and Twisted with 3.
DSW
Designer Shoe Warehouse is another popular shoe platform in the US.
Their prices for Espadrilles are still low ($50)
Catalogue
There is not a wide variety of brand. For the first 40 shoes, we only have 19 brands. Ralph
Lauren, Sperry Top-Sider and Joy & Mario are the most repeated brands.
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max.
29.95 39.95 49.95 51.92 59.95 79.95
Most Relevant Espadrilles on DSW(Prices)
22
ONLINE SHOES
Online Shoes is another popular platform in the US. Their prices for the most popular
Espadrilles are high ($100).
Catalogue
The variety is low (11 brands for 46 items) but there is a strong presence of European brands,
which explains the higher prices: Toni Pons is the biggest partner of this platform with 20
items, followed by Europeans like André Assous and Franco Sarto with 5.
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. 39.97 69.97 99.95 93.21 118.90 151.90
Most Relevant Espadrilles on Online Shoes(Prices)
23
Lori’s
Lori’s a popular local shoe in Chicago with their own website. There is no specific section of
Espadrilles in their catalogues but from those shoes than can be tagged as espadrilles, we find
a very high median price ($115)
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. 44.95 58.95 115.00 106.20 150.00 159.00
Catalogue
WE have found 28 shoes, from 10 different brands. André Assous with 9 and Anna Fidanza
with 4 are the most popular.
Min. 1st Qu. Median Mean 3rd Qu. Max. 44.95 58.95 115.00 106.20 150.00 159.00
Most Relevant Espadrilles on Lori’s (Prices)
24
Website Comparisons
Now that we’ve seen details of all the 5 selected platforms, let’s compare them:
Prices:
Lori’s, the local shoe store presents the highest median prices, while Amazon and DSW are
priced at around 50 dollars.
25
Platform Median Price (in USD)
Lori’s 106
Online Shoes 93
Zappos 70
DSW 52
Amazon 48
Among the more than 320 espadrilles gathered, there were 91 brands: Eric Michael, Toni Pons and André Assous are the most prominent. Here’s a list of most featured brands and the sites where they are listed:
Brand Items WEBS
Toni Pons 20 Online Shoes André Assous 15 Online Shoes, Lori’s Bella Vita 15 Zappos, Amazon, DSW, Lori’s Clarks 9 Amazon, Zappos Eric Michael 8 Zappos, Amazon Fitzwell 9 Zappos Lauren by Ralph Lauren 10 Zappos, Amazon, Loris, Online Shoes Sperry Top-Sider 17 Amazon, Zappos, DSW Steven Madden 13 Zappos, Amazon, DSW Franco Sarto 7 Online Shoes, Lori’s
26
5. Reviewing reviews
We have already mentioned the importance of being reviewed to gain a better exposure and
higher sales. Now let’s go deeper into the semantic dimension of customer reviews.
We will work with a spread selection of positive reviews among the best seller espadrilles
among Zappos and Amazon.
Since we can consider every customer opinion as valuable as any other (there is no authority
argument here as it happens on the media or blogs), it is useful to quantify the information.
Best seller Reviews
Let’s start with the most mentioned words:
Noun Adj Verb
shoe 226 comfortable 119 wear 99
foot 87 wide 53 look 62
heel 64 cute 49 order 56
day 42 great 43 love 45
color 41 narrow 37 fit 39
27
toe 35 black 25 buy 31
pair 33 perfect 23 walk 29
strap 31 good 22 feel 27
fit 27 high 19 think 25
summer 26 casual 15 try 20
As we can see comfortable is the most prominent word, way above the cuteness of the shoe.
Color and the summer are also noticeable. Black is the winning color.
A collage view may help us get into the customer’s hive mind:
We can see it more graphically with word associations:
28
Worst seller Reviews
Gathering some of the reviews for the worst seller espadrilles, the mosaic looks slightly
changed.
If we compare the ratio and of words among the worst sellers and the best sellers, there are
huge difference: whereas comfort is king among the best seller reviews, there are problems
with the strap among the worst sellers.
WORST SELLERS REVIEWS Frequency BEST SELLERS REVIEWS Frequency
strap 0,093 comfortable 0,101
shoe 0,091 heel 0,051
foot 0,084 order 0,047
time 0,062 size 0,046
love 0,061 wide 0,039
wear 0,06 great 0,037
really 0,056 color 0,034
just 0,055 day 0,034
cute 0,053 Love 0,028
ankle 0,052 pair 0,027
Some of the examples referring to straps:
” But after wearing them a few times the straps began to stretch and loosen . “
“Very disappointing . Ouch ! The straps hurt my feet across the top”
“I had to return them because the strap was pulling so much “.
29
Reviews Chicago
Let’s go the reviews from the Chicago Area:
They can be assimilated to the US results, comfort comes first again.
Noun Adj Verb
shoe 29 comfortable 18 wear 14 heel 9 cute 11 look 8 bit 6 great 8 love 6 color 6 perfect 5 buy 5 day 5 brown 4 order 5 sandal 5 different 4 think 5 size 5 super 4 fit 4 toe 5 black 3 walk 4 dress 4 good 3 come 3 foot 4 light 3 make 3 comfort 3 narrow 3 start 3 pair 3 solid 3 offer 2 strap 3 true 3 shower 2 summer 3 adorable 2 size 2 support 3 coral 2 smell 2 wedding 3 fantastic 2 wish 2 wedge 3 fit 2 adjust 1
30
Blogs’ buzz
But what do the professional bloggers & journalist say about the espadrilles. Let’s check out:
Style is key among them.
Noun Adj Verb
shoe 45 white 23 look 31 espadrille 39 new 13 wear 26 pair 24 black 11 make 21 summer 22 great 10 think 21 look 20 perfect 10 know 17 style 20 casual 9 want 17 sandal 17 favorite 9 love 15 woman 17 good 9 come 13 year 16 best 6 say 13 color 15 high 6 spend 9 dress 14 sexy 6 try 9 flat 14 better 5 work 9 heel 14 comfortable 5 don 8 sand 14 comfy 5 feel 8 day 13 cute 5 walk 8 thing 10 easy 5 buy 6
Taking into account various semantic fields, we can divide them among 4: negative reaction,
style-related words, comfort and buying impulse. On this table we can see it clearer:
31
Conclusions
The conclusions of our semantic studies indicate that customers are mostly worried about the
comfort and fit of their shoes. Which makes sense, since that is the only attribute they can’t try
before purchasing and that is nowadays the main competitive advantage of brick and mortar
footwear stores.
32
6. Blogs
These are the most popular and influential fashion blogs in Chicago according to CBS Chicago.
It may be a good opportunity to get in contact with their editors directly, since only
Possessionista is associated with Google Adwords.
www.possessionista.com
Fashion tips and celebrities’ looks.
www.chicityfashion.com
A personal view of fashion in Chicago in a sartorialist style.
33
www.chitownfashionista.com
Fashion trends in Chicago.
www.chicagostreetstyle.com
What’s trending in Chicago streets by Amy Creyer.
34
Notable Lists:
These are the latest list of must-espadrilles published on important fashion media. High-end
brands form the majority of these brands with a few exceptions. This is a good opportunity to
see the trendiest styles on Espadrilles.
Elle
Model Price Website
Aldo Dova Flat $35 aldoshoes.com
Castaner Espadrilles $145 thecorner.com
Dolce & Gabbana Printed Brocade Espadrilles $445 net-a-porter.com Escadrille Grosgrain and Leather Thong Sandals $165 modaoperandi.com
Fendi Junia Cap-Toe Espadrilles $350 barneys.com
Gucci Printed Satin-Twill Espadrille Sandals $695 net-a-porter.com
Lanvin Leather Espadrille Sandals $695 mytheresa.com
Loeffler Randall Mara Cap Toe Espadrille $195 loefflerrandall.com
Missoni Espadrilles $960 thecorner.com
Opening Ceremony Espadrilles $350 thecorner.com
Soludos Color Block Lace Up Flats $55 soludos.com
Sperry Top-Sider Katama Canvas Espadrilles $60 lordandtaylor.com
Tabitha Simmons Dolly Striped Silk Espadrilles $395 net-a-porter.com
Tibi Melia Sandal $165 tibi.com
Tory Burch Macy Wedge Espadrille Sandal $195 toryburch.com
Valentino Lace Espadrilles $575 mytheresa.com Valentino Studded Textured-Leather Espadrilles $795 mytheresa.com
Zara Raffia Espadrille $49.90 zara.com
Luckymag
Brand Model Price Website
Zara Leather Sandals With Studs And Espadrille Sole $79.90 zara.com
Valentino Espadrille Flat $575 nordstrom.com
Sucette
$124.46 espadrille-tropezienne.com
Catalina Catalina Metallic Espadrille $150 toryburch.com
Zara Swiss Dot Jute Slip-On Shoes $59.90 zara.com
The sak Ella Flat $49 zappos.com
The perpignon The Perpignon Espadrille $235 stuartweitzman.com
Gwyn Gwyn Espadrilles $150 rebeccaminkoff.com
Miista Erri Espadrille Flat $150 nastygal.com
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Rachel zoe Zella Chain Trim Espadrille Flats $235 shopbop.com
Alfie Alfie Espadrille Sneaker $195 loefflerrandall.com Marc by marc jacobs Owl Pink Satin Espadrille Flats $346 forzieri.com
J.crew Woven Canvas Espadrilles $60 net-a-porter.com
Corso como Stride Flat $109 zappos.com
Jackson Jackson Espadrilles $18.81 asos.com Circus by sam edelman Lena Espadrille Flat $40 urbanoutfitters.com
Aerin Nealson Snakeskin Sneaker $250 calypsostbarth.com
Marny Marny Espadrille $70 aldoshoes.com
The zoe report
Brand Model Price
Eileen Fisher Leopard Slipper Espadrille
$135
Valentino Rockstar Stud Espadrille $1045
Balenciaga Platform Wedge Espadrille
$665
Rachel Zoe Zella Loafer Espadrille $235
Loeffler Randall Cap Toe Espadrille $195
Christian Louboutin
Cataclou Espadrille Wedge
$695
Tabitha Simmons
Dolly Silk Espadrille $395
H&M Printed Flat Espadrille $18
Ralph Lauren Ankle Tie Espadrille $250
Soludos Lace-Up Derby Flat Espadrille
$65
Stella McCartney
Mesh Espadrille $345
Lanvin Metallic Platform Espadrille
$695
Saint Laurent Micro Clous Espadrille $495
Stuart Weitzman
Mojave Espadrille $375
Sophia Webster Marcela Espadrille $195
Castaner Canvas Platform Espadrille
$150
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7. SEO / SEM
Google Adwords Display
These are the most interesting placements among those that Google Adwords propose in the
Chicago area for espadrilles / sandals and women:
beautifulshoes.org
Arts & Entertainment / Beauty & Fitness / Skin & Nail Care / Hair Care / Make-Up & Cosmetics
CPM: 2,00 € – 3,50 €
Impressions (weekly): 20 K – 25 K
Cookies(weekly): 100 K – 150 K
Target
0 20 40 60 80
Women
Men
Unknown
0 10 20 30 40
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overstock.com
Mass Merchants & Department Stores
CPM: 2,00 € – 3,50 €
Impressions (weekly): 30 K – 35 K
Cookies(weekly): 350 K – 400 K
0 50 100
Women
Men
Unknown
0
5
10
15
20
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Luckymag.com
CPM: 0,00 € – 3,50 €
Impressions (weekly): 3,5 K – 4 K
Cookies(weekly): 150 K – 200 K
0 50 100
Women
Men
Unknown
0 10 20 30 40
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peoplestylewatch.com
CPM: 0,00 € – 3,50 €
Impressions (weekly): 15 K – 20 K
Cookies(weekly): 100 K – 150 K
0 50 100
Women
Men
Unknown
0
10
20
30
40
40
shoespost.com
CPM: 0,00 € – 1 €
Impressions (weekly): 150 K – 200 K
Cookies(weekly): 25 K – 30 K
0 50 100
Women
Men
Unknown
0
10
20
30
40
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outblush.com
CPM: 3,50 € – 5,00 €
Impressions (weekly): 0 K – 1 K
Cookies(weekly): 1 K – 1,5 K
chictopia.com
CPM: 0,00 € – 0,50 €
Impressions (weekly): 0 K – 1 K
Cookies(weekly): 1 K – 1,5 K
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caphillstyle.com
CPM: 0,00 € – 0,50 €
Impressions (weekly): 0 K – 1 K
Cookies(weekly): 0 K – 1 K
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Keywords
These are the most effective keywords for a search campaign and their traffic and estimated
valuation:
Keyword Monthly searches Competition Suggested Bid
espadrilles 480 High 1,65 €
espadrille wedges 70 High 1,47 €
espadrille shoes 30 High 0,72 €
espadrilles wedge 20 High 0,85 €
espadrilles shoes 10 High 0,85 €
wedge espadrilles 30 High 1,60 €
canvas espadrilles 10 High 2,30 €
flat espadrilles 10 High 1,06 €
espadrille flats 20 High 1,85 €
white espadrilles 10 High 1,85 €
espadrille wedge 20 High 1,08 €
black espadrilles 10 High 1,14 €
spanish espadrilles 10 High 0,60 €
leather espadrilles 10 High 1,16 €
women espadrilles 10 High 3,27 €
red espadrilles 10 High 0,64 €
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Conclusions & Strategy
Relevance:
Taken into account we are virtually unknown in the US, we’d have to fight to get some
relevance in our market. We can manage this through the right pricing, follow-up and feedback
and, first of all, much efficient on-line advertising.
Own website & Social Media
Toni Pons’ website is a good example of what our website should look like. Clearly leading to
the online shop and reinforcing the core concepts of the brand.
Notice how their Facebook success is greater compared to their twitter followers. We should
focus our attention on Facebook, because it is easier to gain a greater exposure and will be
needed to set up a well-refined targeting campaign on Facebook.
Platforms:
We will sell through our own website and Zappos, which allows a wide catalogue and a strong
presence in Chicago. Lori’s and Online shoes will also be good options for later steps.
45
Our brand on Google:
Our first mission is to improve the design and access of our website. It is necessary to raise our
Google rank in order to have a competitive online strategy. We must work to be better on SEO,
not on SEM. Customers rate higher organic results and the impact of Google Adblock is not
negligible.
In order to improve our SEO, the tagging of our English landing page should be based on the
most relevant keywords.
We can use the URL of our own website or that of Zappos, and monitor the results.
Adwords: search
When working on our Adwords campaign, we must use
the potential of the extension ads, which include:
Product Listing Ads
Text ads that contain product features and pricing information. Goes to a product purchase
page on your website.
This is a good idea to show the design of some our best footwear at once, we need to arise the
potential customer’s interest visually.
The next two extensions should be implemented when we receive positive feedbacks.
Review extensions
Showcase positive, third-party reviews from reputable sources.
We can quote positive reviews from our customers or a website.
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Seller rating annotations
Show your online business ratings with your ad
It can show the average rating of your products.
Adwords: Display
Our ad should include images of our most outstanding models and focus on the comfort and
quality features.
As listed before, these are the main display sites where we can target women readers:
Through managed placements, we will also target Possessionista.com
beautifulshoes.org
luckymag.com
peoplestylewatch.com
shoespost.com
outblush.com
chictopia.com
caphillstyle.com
possessionista.com
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Facebook is a good way to reach a specific public. We need to have a facebook page updated
regularly.
These are the features of our campaign:
Costs & estimated reach online:
SEO
The search results for the most common variations of espadrilles - a highly specific category- in
Chicago give us 760 monthly searches. Expanding it to the US, it gives us around 5000
searches. One of the positive aspects about being a niche product is the easier access to the
first page of results compared to other huge footwear categories.
Our metatags could look like this:
<meta name="keywords" content=" espadrilles, espadrille wedges, espadrille shoes, wedges
espadrilles, canvas espadrilles, flat espadrilles, Spanish espadrilles” />
As our page rank improves, we’ll be able to climb to the first page results for wider searches.
Location:
o Chicago (+25 mi), Illinois, United States
Age:
o 20 - 39
Gender:
o female
Interests:
o Shoes
Behaviors:
o Online spenders
Language:
o English (US)
Placements:o on News Feed and right column on desktop
computers, Mobile Feed and Third-party Apps
Potential Reach: 18,000 people
Suggested bid: € 0.28–€ 0.58 EUR
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Adwords: Search
It can be a good idea to extend our search campaign to the rest of the US. Our weekly
estimates in Chicago are as follows:
Ad Group Clicks Impr. Cost CTR Avg. CPC Avg. Pos.
Espadrilles (16)
3.75 120.00 €1.22 3.1% €0.33 1.69
For the US, this is our budget:
Ad Group Clicks Impr. Cost CTR Avg. CPC Avg. Pos.
espadrilles (16)
30.84 713.86 €20.00 4.3% €0.65 1.69
Adwords: Display
Through managed placements we can reach a well targeted audience of 220K - 250K
impressions with a calculated CPM of €2,5.
Weekly investment
Clicks Avg. CPC Avg. CPM Impressions
Display (Chicago)
330 - - 1,5 220000
SEM(USA) 140 216 0,33 - 5000
Facebook (Chicago)
180 360 0,40 - 18000
Communication
It involves a special kind of charm and talent to get a brand placed naturally on an article. A
perfect example where this was achieved successfully can be found in this article by
www.chicagonow.com where Castañer was cleverly suggested. We should create content
casually featuring our brand that relevant websites can publish as interesting material for their
readers.
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Looking for wonderful summer shoes? Think espadrilles!
This classic, like blue jeans, comes in so many versions, one of them could be just what you're
looking for.Like sneakers, they are usually made of fabric, casual and unpretentious.But
espadrilles have a certain style, perhaps it's the rope that gives them a more cosmopolitan
edge.Picture them with a breezy circle skirt. You know, the kind that swirls around your knees or
just below, accentuating the most flattering lines of your legs--revealing and concealing as you
walk. Marilyn's famous white dress had a skirt like that, and it would have been lovely with
espadrilles.
Yes, they're made for walking (think of all those street festivals), and picnics and barbeques, if
that's on your social agenda. You could be the hit of the block party in these shoes,
too.Espadrilles also look good with blue jeans, as you can see. Just toss on a big white shirt--or
pick your favorite color. For a more bohemian look, try one of those peasant blouses with
colorful embroidery and little cap sleeves. What could be easier?
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You don't have to buy into the high-end offerings, either. These really are uncomplicated outfits-
-democratic, egalitarian. You could find them at thrift stores.It is the espadrilles that may be
harder to find, but they are readily available online. For example, this website,
www.espadrillestore.com, has authentic ones made in Spain in styles and sizes for men, women
and kids.You can find out more about espadrilles there, too. According to the website, "the
name is derived from 'esparto' which is a kind of plant that was originally burned then braided
to make the soles."Espadrilles have quite a history.
Did you know that this type of footwear is over 4000 years old?They were worn in Spain in the
13th century, by the infantrymen of the King of Aragon.It was Yves St. Laurent who popularized
the style for women in the 1960's, adding a wedge heel and ribbon ties, like the picture
above.Espadrilles are still popular in France and Spain, today, especially in the summer. Priests
and miners wore them. Picasso wore them, too.
Now, so can you!
Pricing
Behind the right price there are a number reasons from the shoemaker and the customer. As
quality handmade shoes, our products have to aim to a high price range, considering the
prestige of Spanish espadrilles. However, we cannot discourage our potential customers asking
them to pay too high a price for an unknown nor we can devaluate a brand with too low a
price.
If the product are sold directly on our website, the prices can go in the range between 80 & 99
dollars, being $94,99 the price of our star product.
On Zappos we must place our price in the range of our 3rd quartile. That is, 84,99 dollars,
indicating the 10% discount of its real price.
Reviews & Rating
We must encourage the feedback from our customers. From the description of our products,
to social media, to the delivered box. Make them talk.
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Core values
As a general rule, the shoes must be as comfortable as possible. There is no point in creating a
flashy shoe with awful support. This will generate feedback and our shoes will be buried. In
addition, our brand must be associated with Spain, the home country of the Espadrilles.
Our espadrilles must be defined by two semantic groups of adjectives: quality & fashion.
At the junction of these two groups, the two features at the heart of the success of any shoe:
its comfort and “cuteness”. The comfort will be confirmed by customer reviews while the
looks of our shoes will be perceived through our pictures. Hence, there is no need to insist
verbally on these two features, but rather on the sides of this diagram:
Spanish
Handmade
Tradition
Quality
Comfort
Classy
European
Design
Fashion
Casual Chic
https://intextreports.odoo.com/
Jorge Reyes
2014
