Porteegoods Marks An Increase of Custom-Made Shoe Businesses

Business owners are increasingly taking advantage of digital media to grow their businesses , including those who offer quick and easy pre-order services. Portegoods, which was established in 2012, is one of those which offers  online custom-made high quality shoes, directly from its own website.

Porteegoods itself has actually been planning to expand its business to bags and accessories, but it seems that for the time being the company is still focusing on selling shoes, and there's been no word as to when the other products will start to be available from the website. All the information on the website also still point to the shoe business.

Nonetheless, to pre-order shoes at Porteegoods is quite easy. At the beginning, Porteegoods will ask customers to pick one out of three model selections, Derby, Chukka, and Boots. After choosing the model of the shoe, Porteegoods will guide customers to finish their customization by providing a selection of shoe materials, colors, soles, and sizes based on gender. Customers can then mix and match between the choices of the materials provided by the site. The live preview to illustrate their selection is presented in animated form. Porteegoods claims that the shoes will be ready between two to three weeks and will deliver them free of charge within Indonesia.

The price of the shoes depends on the how much customization is involved, unfortunately, the price will only be informed later on in an email instead of being provided on the site. There's a concern that this may become a hindrance to customers from proceeding with the process to finish to order but according to the FAQ, the prices start from Rp 550,000 and production will begin once a downpayment of Rp 200,000 has been received by the company.

This pre-order service offered by Porteegoods indeed is attractive and uncommon. Unlike similar businesses which commonly still use fixed images of products to attract their customers, Porteegoods lets customers customize their own shoes. By applying this concept, Porteegoods offers exclusivity to its customers through its customized products.

While the animated live preview does not provide an entirely accurate depiction of the shoes, there are product photos on the company's Facebook page and on its website's photo gallery. In case the product does not match their order, customers may of course pass on their complaints to Portegoods but the company says that because it builds shoes based on customized orders, they do not provide refunds. An exchange may be possible however.

This trend of custom-made products itself seems to keep increasing along with products which gain more and more popularity. Every player of this market will undoubtedly provide each own unique and distinctive selections, models, style, and services to increase their competitiveness as well as attractiveness. Therefore, what companies should do is to improve their product and brand awareness among the public to help expand their market and grow their businesses.

[translated by Rifki Aria Nugraha]

[Header image: Shutterstock]