Shoemaker, reinvent your last!
I was sitting at the table with friends when the topic of conversation turned to the profession of "shoemaker". Someone told me that he regularly takes his worn-out shoes to the shoemaker to have them resoled. A few thoughts immediately ran through my head.
We were a group of 8 people between the ages of 40 and 50, and apart from him, no one has ever taken their shoes to the shoemaker, certainly not on a regular basis. And we're not talking about Generation Y or Z here, who have never seen the inside of a shoemaker's store in their lives.
However, the arguments of our "shoemaker fan" were very good, which embarrassed the group a bit.
Why throw away when you can repair the shoes?
Shoes are comfortable from day 1 because they are already registered (hurray, no painful blisters!).
Ecological aspects
Appreciation for the product
etc.
Nevertheless, we all agreed that this profession will unfortunately soon be extinct. "Cobbler stick to your last", the irony of this saying never occurred to me until now! In fact, I've used it on more than one occasion. But let's face it, it's obvious, or rather, the last: whoever sits on an existing product, offer or service for too long these days, without being innovative and daring to change, evolve and MOVE ON, will be punished by digitalization. And this does not only affect the cobbler.
I asked myself: What would mindnow advise a shoemaker if he asked us for help? Everyone has heard the statement umpteen times. Digitization destroys jobs! Is that necessarily so? Can it also give new life to professions that are dying out? My business partner and I are going to try out two different variants...
Variant 1 – simple but efficient
We develop a very simple mobile optimized webpage. Let's call it "feetsyou". Besides exciting information about shoes, there are three options to choose from:
1 – Order box to home
The customer puts the shoes in the box and sends them to feetsyou, which organizes the disposition to the nearest shoemaker. The shoes come back to the customer perfectly soled and cleaned by mail. The customer is kept up to date via transactional emails, SMS or app push notifications. "Shoemaker Giovanni received your shoes today."; "Giovanni fixed your shoes. Just like new!"; "Your shoes are on their way to you..."
2 – Make an appointment
We display the nearest shoemaker and give the customer the option to book an appointment via the app. After 30 minutes of waiting, the customer can pick up their shoes.
3 – Out of the box thinking
We offer all pedicure studios the possibility to sell another service. Since the customer has to/may take off their shoes anyway, we could also offer a shoe shine/mend service at the same time. While the customer is sitting comfortably in their chair, their shoes go to the nearest possible cobbler, who makes the shoes like new.
Now only the perfect digital marketing and it’s gonna work really well!
Variant 2 – Shoemaker 4.0
1 – Together we are stronger
We saw that there is a foot & shoe association in Switzerland. So we went to the association and got support.
2 – Determine common vision and specific USPs
Even, or perhaps especially, craft topics can be digitized in a great way. Together, the USPs of shoemakers are determined (since we have not talked to any professionals in the industry, we have to make assumptions without guarantee of their correctness).
The current trend (anti-disposal society) plays into our hands.
Repairing is cheaper than buying new. Of course, only if you don't buy shoes for CHF 9.90. But just, "Hello eco-trend".
What can used shoes tell us that new ones can't? Of course, how we load the foot and thus our entire musculoskeletal system.
There are many more topics, but that would go into too much detail. So let's leave it at these 3 points.
3 – Generate pool of ideas
We develop a digitized shoe insole and a matching app and connect them together.
We measure and store all data via the sensors. Number of steps, respective loads. When running, jumping, strolling, etc.
We create a perfect dashboard and show the customer the most important information. How is the foot loaded? Which insoles would make sense (of course, can be ordered right away via the app with one click).
As soon as the sole changes (for example, runs off to the side), the customer receives a notification directly on his smartphone. "Do something good for your body and let me resole your shoes".
Tips & tricks for better walking.
etc. etc.
4 – Get a budget and get started
Now you need the appropriate budget (you should also talk to potential investors here) and then you can get started. If we were to start the project today, we would have a new business model at the end of the year. The shoemaker with the new, digital lasts.
Of course, it was also nice in the past... and maybe even better in some cases. But good digitization can be so much fun!
