Footwear industry professional launches her own online sourcing tool
02/12/2016
Total Shoe Concept, the name of the new facility, will launch before the end of 2016 and will offer leathergoods and footwear producers access to suppliers of leather and all the components they need. The website will contain a database of companies spanning the entire supply chain who will pay an annual fee of $99 to advertise their materials, machinery, chemicals and services on the site.
Now based in the UK, Ms ter Steege says buyers will be attracted by the idea that they can find a whole network of possible suppliers under one URL and that this will be enough to attract traffic to the site. “It’s purely a question of allowing them to get in touch with people,” she says. “It will give all the necessary information about product quality and will have high-quality photographs. I realise there are other tools online, but it seems to me that you can see the names of thousands of companies on those and never be sure who any of the companies are.”
Because Total Shoe Concept will allow buyers to source based on location, Hilde ter Steege believes sourcing professionals will be able to use it like Airbnb and find suppliers of the different components and materials they need all in the same part of the world. “It will be good for logistics reasons,” she explains. “You can set up your buying trip and find everything you need in the location you are visiting.”
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