Shoes of Prey, customer behavior & market research: Humans are terrible behavior forecasters

I came across these articles about Shoes of Prey, an Australian shoe brand & startup line that Nordstrom carried for a while, a company that let you customize your shoes to a great degree. I bought one pre-designed pair and then customized a second pair with different colors, which remain my favorite dressy pumps.

Then, the company went on hiatus suddenly, and soon after entered liquidation.

““We learnt the hard way that mass-market customers don’t want to create, they want to be inspired and shown what to wear. They want to see the latest trends, what celebrities and Instagram influencers are wearing and they want to wear exactly that — both the style and the brand,” Fox said.

“Recognising this, the startup attempted to pivot to focus on customers with small, large, wide and narrow feet, and doing short manufacturing runs for other brands. However, the high operational costs and ethical and legal benchmarks the company was committed to meant these avenues were also unfeasible, resulting in the business’ collapse, Fox explained.”

https://www.smartcompany.com.a.....quidation/

“...when asked a question like ‘would you spend time conceptualising and customising a shoe?’ they answer ‘sure’.

“The problem is, back in the real world, your customers spend most of their time in ‘system one’ land, where intuition, habits and emotions rule. When given the chance by Shoes of Prey, did they actually bother to customise shoes? No.”

“The problem? Most market research — whether it’s sending a survey to your customers or a full-blown qualitative and quantitative study — is based on what people say, not what they do. That means:

“They say they want a better way to cut GLAD Wrap but freak out when the cutting bar is moved;
They say the new flavour Coke is better, but revolt when the original formula is replaced;
50% of Victorians say they eat healthily but only 7% eat enough vegetables; and
60% of Americans say they’ll vote but only 40% do.”

https://www.smartcompany.com.a.....customers/

______________________

I had a good experience with my single customization, and wish that I’d made a second pair before they went under.

I’m including photos of my two pairs of Shoes of Prey: grey and mossy green from Nordstrom, and emerald and royal blue as a custom pair.

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6 years ago

Bijou

Veteran

I have admired your emerald and royal blue shoes, and am very sad that this company was not supported. I do think people can find it hard to visualise what they want, until they see it.

It is interesting to hear about human behaviour and how we want the option of having a choice but are more likely not to exercise that right.

Brooklyn

That’s really interesting. I wonder if that’s part of the reason why we as a society have such a problem with disposable fashion - because many people aren’t willing to be creative about remixing and repurposing items that they’ve grown tired of. It’s easier just to buy something new that you see in the stores/streets/social media.

Your custom shoes are lovely. Great colour combination, especially for you.

kkards

i had not realized that they folded....i ordered a pair of shoes from them probably about 4 years ago, a customized a pair of navy pumps becuase at the time i could not find a pair in traditional retail...my overall impression was that the shoes were ok, but the customization was very limited....and so for me, they were not really delievering on what they promised...

Meredith

Very I interesting, Kari! I gifted my mom and mother in law Shoes of Prey gift cards and then my husband gifted me a card. ALL of us belabored the entire process. It was fun to design the shoes, but I think we doubted our design skills when it came time to order (What if the final product looks bad. Maybe I should play it safe and just design a black flat...). I did eventually pick an option in a unique color (but a solid color), and even though the quality was good, I never ordered anything else from them. I absolutely fit the profile of loving the idea in theory, but preferring a narrow range of options in reality.

JAileen

Timberland has design your own boots. I’ve enjoyed designing various boots, but never bought the custom boots.

Anonymous

What a thought provoking post. Thank you for taking the time to break this all down for me.

Echo

I used to look at them all the time, but the styles weren't really my thing. They tended to be traditional shoes with options to customize the colors, but I seek out shoes with a different overall look and/or alternative style. And sadly, I agree that too many people need to see something worn in order to wear it themselves - myself included. I sometimes cannot visualize what something will look like without seeing it. That's why I am a fashion consumer and not a fashion creator, I guess.

rachylou

That’s rather sad. I suppose they’re right about habit. To me custom shoes are ones dyed to match your prom dress or custom for your feet, not custom style...Also, was didn’t realise you could do two-tone... love yours!

Jenni NZ

Yes I heard and read about them too, and I know my Canadian SIL who has large flat feet with one foot bigger than the other customised herself at least one pair and was very happy. Since I am so into shoes I did look but I found the styles you could customise a bit plain. So I wasn’t prepared to pay the premium either I suppose, when I can find shoes to fit me easily, sometimes European rather than Chinese made, at around the $100-$120 mark. I kept it in my mind as an interesting idea and a possible future purchase, but if everyone did that that wouldn’t make them any money!
The colours of your custom pair are stunning and I was sorry to hear of their failure, those are really interesting articles you linked to.

Suz

(website)

So interesting, Kari. Thank you for posting. I really love the shoes that you purchased. They seem perfect for you!

Jaime

Very interesting post Kari! (And you shoes and outfits are icing on the cake.) I have read that people are very bad at predicting what will make them happy, or actually their own future actions. This seems to fall in line with that.

dakotacheryl

I have one pair of Shoes of Prey flats that I designed (navy and black) still wear them, and only complaint was the sole is very thin.

Have you heard of Sevilla Smith? She makes shoes to order, and you can choose the leathers you'd like. I have 2 pairs of her mules and LOVE them!! My only warning is that she uses leather for the soles, and it is very slippery. I brought mine to the local shoe repair shop and had non skid material added to the bottom.

https://sevillasmith.com

Roxanna

As a marketer, I 100% agree with this and found this a fascinating read. I have been in untold amounts of focus groups where customers say they want one thing, but actually want another. I think the art in finding out what they really want is in how you do the research.

Also, from reading your synopsis, I wonder if SoP properly gauged the amount of time and complexity people were willing to devote to design custom shoes to figure out how big their market actually was. Such an interesting read - thank you for sharing!

Kari

Nodding to a lot of this. It was an interesting read. I’m very sad that the company didn’t survive, but it makes sense. It also seems like customization would be a big challenge to scale.

I haven’t heard of Sevilla Smith. I’ll take a look! (Same issues with Frye shoes when brand new - leather soles can be slick!)

cindysmith

Those are super cute!

Firecracker (Sharan)

Your shoes are beautiful, Kari. I had seen this brand on the Nordstrom site, but didn't realize the whole story about them. I am stymied by too many decisions sometimes, so I can understand how the theory versus practice could differ substantially. There was one season when AGL offered their belted ballet flat with options to customize each part of the design: body, cap, and belt. I went for it, but I didn't do anything very original. I ordered a shoe with basically matching or tonal parts, each a kind of pewter metallic. I really liked the shoes. My shoe guy said that several of his customers copied me (when he showed them what I ordered).

Barbara Diane

Interesting. I only knew of sneakers that allowed customization and I would have bought them if I had been able to try on a pair first. I have played around with customization on them and on a nylon Longchamp bag, I didn’t do the shoes due to fit questions, and the bag because my current ones are going strong so I couldn’t justify it. And not enough pockets.
I would love the idea of customizing shoes to get the color(s) I want.

About Market Research. So much can go wrong. One time I calculated how many I would use but forgot the item came in a four pack. So my answer was off 400%. Another time the product was delicious but when I came across it in the supermarket I checked the salt and calorie count and decided it wasn’t worth it compared to the “regular’ version. Talking about it makes me want one now.

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