Shoe Cabinets
In Hong Kong, where space is limited almost every household has a shoe cabinet just inside the front door. I can・t comment on other western markets, but in the UK a shoe cabinet is rarely if ever seen. I remember seeing nylon hanging shoe holders that hang up in a wardrobe space and occasionally on design shows a big walk in wardrobe with shelving for shoes, but rarely if ever a specific cabinet for shoes just inside the front door except for when visiting Asian friends or colleagues.
Nobody likes to have shoes hanging around inside the front door, or in the general entrance area and yet it is something we often see in the west. Introducing a nice piece of furniture to deal with the problem, and encourage you to change into house slippers ought to work.
The main problem with this idea is that it is not something that sits within our culture at present. In order to sell in volume you would need to educate people about the benefits of the product as well as showing them the different options available. Undoubtedly this is a neater, more attractive solution than hanging shoe racks which have been selling for years.
We would suggest the following approaches: -
Networking
Shoe shops
Property developers
Carpet Stores
Direct Response Advertising
Starting out with family and friend is relatively easy, especially if you tend to entertain a lot. Have a cabinet by your front door and if you live in a property with two entrances put another one by the back door. When your guests arrive you can hand them a pair of slippers and put their shoes in the cabinet. Most guests will comment on what a good idea, how nice it looks etc which gives you an easy ：in； to mention that you are selling them now. If you have a brochure or other sales material lying around in the living room it is more than likely that they will look and ask questions. At the end of the evening let them take the brochure home. Education part 1 is complete. If you are not naturally a regular entertainer then you will need to make an effort and there is of course a cost involved but you should get this back later.
Apart from selling to your natural market you will need to find ways to attract and educate customers. An obvious answer might seem to be furniture stores, but typically customers do not go looking for something that they don・t think they need. A better answer might be to work with a shoe store and ask the owner/manager whether you can approach customers who buy a pair of shoes and show them your product. Naturally you would share any profits with the shop owner/manager. The advantage here is that people are thinking about shoes when you approach them and feeling good because they just bought something that they like. The product becomes a good fit and even if you don・t make a sale you increase the education element of your business.
Another place that you could put shoe cabinets is in show homes. Offer them to developers for free and ask only that they have your business cards and brochures in the cabinet, so that anyone opening it (a normal thing to do in a show home) will be able to contact you later if they like the idea.
Carpet stores are another place that you might try a display of shoe cabinets, or brochures. Many people who buy an expensive new carpet want to keep it nice and enforce the ：no shoes in the house； rule more strongly than they have previously. Again by only approaching customers who have made a purchase you stand a chance of making a number of ：connected； sales.
Going back to the hanging shoe racks that I mentioned earlier, these are predominantly sold through catalogues, newspaper adverts, magazine inserts etc. Direct response is a medium that allows you to fully explain the benefit of your product, along with some photos of smiling people using the cabinets. So much nicer than the alternative solutions and only $X plus P&P. Seriously if you want to move more units then this is the way to go, hire an experienced copy writer and get your product into a publication or two, you will get orders and your problems are likely to b more around filling them than finding customers.
www.globalsources.com, www.alibaba.com , or just a plain old search on Google will find you suppliers. Try to find units that are stylish but affordable, solid wood is heavier than a laminate finish over chip board, and will also be more expensive. Try to find companies that will accept small orders at first and build with you as you grow.
Read our section on Finding Suppliers at www.ideas2earn.com/findingSuppliers.html for more information.
This is a product that is probably near saturation in markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan but in other markets almost doesn・t exist. If you keep your eyes open when you travel you will find other opportunities like this.