Footcandy Shoes is a leading luxury shoe retailer offering the world's best in women’s footwear. Since its conception in 2002, Footcandy has grown into a household name. Their exclusive label stock includes brand powerhouses such as Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Chanel, Tory Burch, Rebecca Minkoff, Oscar De La Renta, among others.
Footcandy has four locations in Delray Beach, FL and Northern California's Sonoma, Saint Helena, and Walnut Creek. Fashionistas and shoe connoisseurs alike have dubbed Footcandy Shoes a destination shop for luxury shoes, voted the #1 Independent Retailer in the U.S. by Women’s Wear Daily and Footwear News; attracting notable fashion icons like Victoria Beckham and Eva Longoria.
After 10 years and successful chain of brick and mortar stores, Footcandy decided it was time to widen their revenue stream by capitalizing on the $8 billion online shoe business. Footcandy shifted their focus from retail expansion to their e-commerce site, positioning www.footcandyshoes.com as the core of their business model, and hiring ESSE PR to help them do so.
After 10 years of positive growth, Footcandy decided it was time to leverage their chain of successful bricks and mortar stores into a wider revenue stream by partaking in the $8 billion pool of online sales in the U.S. market. Footcandy shifted their focus from retail expansion to e-commerce with aim to make www.footcandyshoes.com the core of their business model, Footcandy hired ESSE PR to help them do so.
Website Relaunch
Footcandy's former site, as previewed below, lacked flow, aesthetic appeal, and yielded a low site visitor to buyer conversion. ESSE found that, although Footcandy enjoyed a steady stream of website traffic, a unique site visitor averaged just 15 seconds of browsing time. Overall, the site was diffciult to navigate, some products were difficult to find, and the design theme was largely inconsistent. The real challenge however was working around the company's online shopping cart which did not allow for a complete redesign; alternatively ESSE advised Footcandy to maintain its current website structure but to optimize its various elements including the navigation bar, color schemes, logo, images, and other branding elements.
BEFORE:
The result? As seen below, ESSE married Footcandy's essence with a modern yet equally feminine approach; a sleeker, more attractive, and better functioning website -- succesfully built without disrupting the website's DNA.
The most distinct aesthetic changes included a redesign of the logo to a simpler, sexier version of its former self, richer colors and fonts, and most signicant: images that speak to Footcandy's target markets. Studies have shown that women respond to product images that showcase real women and higlight ambiance.
The navigation bar is easily the most valuable website real estate that should be strategically utilized. Footcandy's origional navigation bar included tabs, "New Arrivals, "Sale", and generic categories that failed to highlight Footcandy's most distinct attraction: exclusive designer brands.
ESSE advised Footcandy to feature Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, and Manolo Blahnik (the top three shoe designers in the world) on the homepage which, in turn, captured ready to buy consumers. Upon completion Footcandy's new website visitors averaged nearly two and half minutes on the site, and more repeat customers.
AFTER:
Social Media
Today, a brand's online presence is heavily dependent on social media and for many companies is the core of their marketing efforts. Although having a bucket full of "Likes" can boost a company's confidence, social media is not about the number of fans but the quality of conversations with them.
ESSE worked with Footcandy to optimize their Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube pages.
Previously Footcandy owned multiple Facebook pages for each store, overall the social media upkeep was sparse and varied drastically across each social media channel.
ESSE began by creating and combining all Facebook pages into a single account which synced aesthetically with the style of their new e-commerce website; Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube followed. ESSE helped Footcandy earn more than 10,000 Facebook Likes in a short period of time, and worked with Footcandy to develop posting content that produced more than a 200% increase in engagement.
Last but not least, ESSE worked with Footcandy to capitalize on social media's largest trend: video. Footcandy was able to create corresponding YouTube videos for all their products, introducing an online virtual dressing room, a phenomenal way to showcase shoes and intrigue online customers. Social media has since become Footcandy's largest curator of new online customers.
Although hardly cutting edge, blogs are more popular han ever, having become the modern day newspaper and cultural resource. Blogs allow indivuals as well as companies to position themselves as experts in their specific industry and this most certainly was the case with Footcandy. ESSE helped Footcandy design a simple yet informative Wordpress blog with a strategic editorial plan. Footcandy used the blog to expose buying trips, celebrity style secrets, and interviews with industry insiders, but ultimately the Footcandy Shoes blog became another great way to stay in constant communication with their customers.
Press
With the relaunch of Footcandy's website and social media efforts, Footcandy was ready to put their "best foot" forward, ESSE invited various media outlets to check out the brand's new face, the results were in...
Celebrity & Influencer Gifting
In 2010, Footcandy Shoes introduced their own signature line, a tribute to the timeless styles and revered designers available at Footcandy. Created in response to the consumer demand for accessibly priced luxury, the shoes are crafted from Italian leather and textiles ranging from $150-$300.
Well aware of the power of "Celebrity", ESSE helped Footcandy garner attention for their signature line putting Footcandy signature shoes in hands of celebrities and influencers such as Kelly Ripa, Eva Longora, Jessica Simpson, Victoria Beckham, and more.
Marketing & Affiliations
Footcandy wanted to do something "out of the box" so why not out of a RV? Introducing the Footcandy Mobile Shop, among the first clothing truck concepts and one of the only shoe stores on wheels in existence. We were proud to play a creative role in the concept, designing campaigns that made the mobile store a moving sensation in every city.
We even furthered Footcandy's consumer reach with a national Gilt partnership. Gilt works with world renowned brands, offering merchandise at reduced price points to millions of potential new customers. Footcandy offered $100 of merchandise credit at just $50, a smart tactic since much of their inventory is priced between $700-1000. The offering sold out and brought in thousands of new customers.
Testimonial
"We received extraordinary results with ESSE, I am truly impressed by their know how and creative vigor - truly exceptional work that made all the difference. Bravo. " -Perry Butler, Footcandy Shoes CEO
ESSE PR
89 De Boom Street
San Francisco, California
94107
415.606.2405
esse@essepr.com
