Call for global footwear industry to find new business models
08/11/2011
World Footwear magazine contributor Steve Lee, a footwear industry consultant, moderated several of the panel sessions at the congress. At the close, he said he thought free and fair trade had been the principal subject speakers had touched on. “One of the biggest problems I’m picking up is misunderstandings on how footwear companies define quality and their reasons for setting their price-points.” He asked footwear associations in different parts of the world to work together to come up with common standards.
Heitor Klein, executive director of host association Abicalçados, said he thought the congress had been “a spectacular, extraordinary experience”. He added: “We have seen so much dedication from such a specialist group of industry leaders. Perhaps we’ve not had a chance yet to realise how much wealth there is in the information we’ve received here.”
Another of the main moderators, US-based industry consultant Peter Mangione, said he thought the footwear sector should start planning for the next congress right away. He then said: “Consumers have no mercy, no loyalty. They can shop anywhere. Our job as part of the footwear supply chain is to re-evaluate our businesses with critical thinking. We have to look the devil in the face and be dynamic. We have to ask fundamental questions and find the business models that are responsive to consumers and allow footwear companies to make money.”
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