India may take pride in being the second largest footwear manufacturer and third largest consumer of the same globally but can Indians really buy shoes online? We are talking about a market where manufacturing standards are low, the retail experience is missing in smaller cities and a brand with a national footprint is unheard of. FE?s Rohit Nautiyal met Shailen Amin, CEO and co-founder, Bestylish.com and Navin Joshua, co-founder of Fashos.com to get some clarity on the present status and the future of the country?s R1760 crore online footwear market. While Bestylish is a leading online shoe retailer, Fashos is the youngest entrant in this category coming in 2011-end. Edited excerpts.

Are Indians comfortable buying shoes online considering how we follow an elaborate ritual before zeroing on the right pair of shoes?

Shailen Amin: I totally disagree when people tell me how it?s impossible to sell shoes online in India. Google analytics prove how ?shoes? as a search term has become big over the past few years. According to numbers from the department of commerce, an average Indian now consumes 2.5 shoes as opposed to 0.8 in 2008. Having said that, I agree that it?s a tough category to sell online. Most Indians do not know their shoe sizes and are used to measuring their feet every time they shop. This mainly happens because of low manufacturing standards prevalent in India. We, at Bestylish, are constantly working towards fighting this menace by scanning each pair of shoes that comes to our warehouse for quality standards. This helps in bringing down our return rates.

Navin Joshua: Fashion and lifestyle as a category started gaining importance quite late in India?s e-commerce landscape. Customers are spoilt for choices and it is no different for footwear. Options such as cash-on-delivery and product return are some of the advantages we offer. Currently, the average daily sale of shoes online in India stands at 7000 pairs. More than 10 players are present in footwear making descent margins. It is also interesting to see how online and offline retailers are supporting each other. Still, there?s a long way to go.

What are the gaps in men?s and women?s footwear categories and how do you plan to take advantage of these to serve your target groups?

Amin: Today more men shop online than women. Being the second largest footwear manufacturer in the world, there?s no shortage of men?s footwear in India. Cool and casual shoes, though, are missing from this category. On the other hand, the women?s category is full of possibilities as manufacturing hubs are missing in this space. One cannot name even one women?s footwear brand with a pan-India footprint. While our customers are mainly males buying black or brown shoes, it is actually the women?s category that is moving much faster. While men?s footwear is the largest contributor to our revenue, we see women?s category growing fast in the direction of contributing 50% of our sales. When compared to men, women are less brand-conscious and more value-driven.

Joshua: Demand and supply dynamics are balanced to a great extent in terms of men?s footwear.

In women?s category, there?s no craftsmanship for heels. Most of these shoes are imported from China and we do the same currently. We see a big opportunity to create private labels here. There are always more repeat purchases online by women who are more impulsive shoppers as opposed to men who are opportunistic rather. We are mainly targeting women by positioning Fashos as the online footwear shopping destination.

Is e-commerce a metro-centric phenomena for shoe retailers?

Amin: Currently, 20% of our sales come from non-metro cities. Boston Consulting Group?s recent study shows that only 19% of spending power is in metros and 43% in tier 2 and 3 cities. Now the race will change from products to what really differentiates one player from the other. Branding will play a huge role in the future.

Joshua: So far, 55% of our sales has come from the top eight metros and the rest 45% from tier 2 and 3 cities. While customers from smaller cites are more patient and are willing to engage regularly, metro buyers are deal hunters.

Are online retailers able to provide the right user interface?

Amin: This does not happen easily. We need enough data. For instance, a user needs to do 300-plus transactions on our website for us to know exactly what he is looking for and provide a desirable interface. Questionnaires did not work during our launch as many users were just not interested in filling up the forms. We are now moving towards customer relationship management (CRM) by focusing on our top 25,000 customers. Secondly, we are equally interested in knowing people who do not like us. Customisation is not easy and it will take us at least two years for us to get there by making small tweaks in our interface gradually.

Joshua: If you are a deal hunter, you have to be open to making your way through many irrelevant offers. There?s a higher level of analytics involved in bringing the right user interface. We have personalised showcasing of products on our website that helps us in providing a curated experience.

Is discounting the only way to lure shoppers online?

Amin: Price is not the way to attract shoppers. Coupons will not be the decision maker anymore. We work with brands to get the latest and greatest out of them. There are many barriers in this category. Right branding can play a huge role in attracting the shoppers and build awareness. Flipkart?s campaign worked for the entire online industry and not just for the brand in question. We will be investing more on brand building.

Joshua: You cannot build brands and customer trust by discounting. However, discounting is huge and well established players do manage to pull this off. Fashos gives registration points and cash back to its regular shoppers. We see Facebook as the best platform for brand building.