Programming the perfect pair of shoes

Even for the most committed shopper, finding the right pair of shoes can be a difficult hunt. A search online or at a retail center can take hours, and once a shopper may feel that he or she has located the perfect pair, there still could problems with fit, style or color.

Jodie Fox has been in those shoes.

The Australian native, who has a background in advertising and law, was looking for a pair of heels but found each option problematic. Fox discovered heel heights, decorations and materials that she wouldn’t consider wearing.

She commiserated with girlfriends and found that she wasn’t alone in her feelings.

So she commissioned her own designs. Then, her friends started asking for the same shoes.

It was the start of what would prove to be a successful business model — letting shoppers choose their own materials and from among a range of sizes, while at the same time being guided by a shoe stylist throughout the design process.

And so Shoes of Prey was born. Initially, it was online only. Now it can be found in select stores. In Orange County, it is offered exclusively at Nordstrom at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, where it has been for three weeks.

“We wanted people to design their own shoes and have the chance to design every element,” Fox said. “There are trillions of options.”

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Australians Mike Knapp and Michael Fox, who both worked for Google at the time, liked the innovative idea and joined with Jodie Fox, Michael’s ex-wife, in founding the customized women’s shoe in Sydney.

Six years later, more than 4 million shoes have been designed for the company.

The business broke even at two months and hit multimillion-dollar revenue in under two years.

And 5 million viewers have visited the website in the past year.

As the company began to grow, the team decided to take its online brand into design studios in Australia, where customers could try on samples for size and touch textile swatches.

At the Nordstrom shoe department, Shoes of Prey’s design studio features a towering installation of colorful shoes. A round table holds six workstations with iPads equipped with 3-D online software that enables customers to design their own shoes in the exact style, color and fit they desire.

Shoppers can mix and match from over 170 materials, including snakeskin, fish skin, silk, suede and a variety of leathers that also include vegan materials. Sizing ranges from 2 1/2 to 15 and includes half-size adjustments.

A customer starts by selecting from among 12 basic styles, from flats and heels to sandals and boots. From there, a client can choose from more than 100 materials, 10 heel heights, four heel shapes and embellishments. One can even customize the insole with her own inscription.

Prices were set to be affordable, with the base set at $130 and the average total of about $220.

Each pair of shoes is made to order and shipped within four weeks to the shopper’s home or to Nordstrom to be picked up there.

And if the novice designer is not happy with her creation, the shoes may be returned in an unworn condition within 365 days for a 100% refund.

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Fox says Shoes of Prey will have a total of 10 stores — six in the United States — by early May. She said she paired exclusively with Nordstrom because she respected the department store’s history and customer service.

“Their heritage is in shoes,” Fox said, referring to the chain’s origins as a downtown shoe store in Seattle in 1901. “They hold themselves to a higher standard that we also hold. It’s a powerful combination.”

Sellers of apparel and accessories, from shirts to purses, are exploring the value of having customers create their designed products.

Customization, which was more common with athletic shoes like Vans and Nike, has since been adopted in fashionable footwear.

Such personalization, according to studies, boosts sales on retailers’ sites and elevates customer loyalty and engagement.

Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, conducted a survey of more than 1,000 online shoppers and found that while less than 10% have tried customization options, 25% to 30% were interested in doing so. Though the data couldn’t gauge the overall potential of customization, if 25% of online sales of footwear were customized, that would equate to a market of $2 billion per year.

The survey also showed that buyers who had customized a product online engaged more with the company. They visited its website more frequently, browsed the page longer and gave companies a 50% higher Net Promoter Score, a management tool to measure customer loyalty.

According to firm partners Elizabeth Spaulding and Christopher Perry, after consumers invest time in designing their own products, they want to share their creations with friends and relatives. Such social interaction helps retailers continue business with existing customers and draws new customers to their site.

It’s an approach that Fox said defines Shoes of Prey from upscale labels and competitors.

“Rather than telling you what you wear, you instead create a design that’s a custom fit for you,” Fox said. “It’s getting exactly what you want.”

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If You Go

What: Shoes of Prey

When: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays

Where: Nordstrom Fashion Island, 901 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

Information: (949) 610-0700 or shoesofprey.com