:: Retracing one's steps ::

Sunday, August 17, 2008

15 years ago to buy shoes I most likely would have physically walked into a store, browsed a couple dozen in-season items, selected a pair, paid, and walked out. The shelves would have had their items retired after a short while to be refreshed with newer, evolutionarily-tweaked models (that still wouldn't help me dunk), and while my credit card company might have known where I made a purchase they certainly would have been ignorant to the model bought. Even retailers with loyalty programs wouldn't have a complete picture of my habits, as I would simply choose the store nearest me, regardless of ownership (I'm mercenary like that).

It's no secret shopping online helps sellers open their entire warehouses for business (this is not the space to rehash yet again the ever-hallowed panacea of the "long tail"), nor that it makes the rigorous and complete tracking of purchases not just trivial but necessary for customer service and order fulfillment.

Now, though, I'm personally starting to see some unexpected ramifications. As I've only bought shoes from Zappos.com since June of 2004, I'm able to instantly review every single pair I've purchased and worn for the past four years (pictured above, from left to right in reverse-chronological order - it seems, shockingly, I'm partial to dark brown and black low-top sneakers). Furthermore, because of Zappos' comically-large inventory most of them are still in stock and available for purchase. Given how lazy I am when it comes to shopping the weight of my own personal shoe-buying history has become positively crushing: whatever interest I might have had in experimenting is dwarfed by the temptation to simply re-order a trusted old favorite.

People complain all the time about a preferred item being discontinued by its manufacturer or retailer. Sometimes passionate consumer letter-writing campaigns (which seem vaguely quaint now) reverse the decision, but more often not. Now, however, we could be facing a situation where the sales lifespan of certain goods (excluding, e.g., perishable items, rapidly-improving technology, and fashion trends) is increasing by an order of magnitude while the act of re-stocking is simply becoming a couple of mouse clicks.

All of which is to say an era is now dawning wherein I can logically justify why I hate and blame the internet for making my life one big Groundhog Day rut. Let's keep it up, people.

Posted by morland @ 05:20 PM

:: Comments ::

i'm pretty sure i was with you once when you went into a Campers store in Soho and bought shoes there. you were replacing a pair that had a hole in them...thought this was after 2004. anyway, i like your post. makes sense---while the internet does allow for more real-time inventory mgmt, i wonder if you may see it lead to a reduction in SKUs, as only the most popular shoes (or any product) would be continued by the mfg so to keep costs per item the lowest.

Posted by: rob on August 18, 2008 09:02 AM

how has zappos affected your penchant for shoe theft?

Posted by: alexis on August 19, 2008 09:36 PM

Yeah, I remember those shoes, I believe they were before the Zappos era, but I could very well be wrong.

And Alexis, Zappos' prices are so low they're a virtual steal already!

Posted by: morland on September 8, 2008 07:15 AM

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