Got the product, now how to get sales

[junglebrodda]

@rkuchinsky

A few thoughts.

First off, cool, concept and congrats for getting out there and actually making something!

1. …That being said, it seems to me, it’s obviously more an experiment or personal project since you seemed to launch something without the foundation of business case/plan, marketing plan, etc. Which kind of confuses me the now questioning for sales. Is this a business or something for fun or exploration?

2. Product wise, I think you have something interesting, but visually I’m not sure if feels as contemporary or “designed” as it could be. Look at the Adidas Futrecraft stuff or any of the recent sport lifestyle trends and compare level of detail, shape, materials, colors ,etc.

3. Branding wise, as mentioned I don’t think there is good alignment between what you are offering (product/service/experience), your personal brand and the story. The name and logo is very tech/big brand, but the product is mid level refinement and reads more like a student project, and your story and craft are more experimental and if anything art-based.

If you are more interested in the bespoke hipster look, this is an all together different direction.

Checkout for example the Shoe Surgeon- https://www.theshoesurgeon.com

4. To also consider in all this if you are looking for a better business opportunity and brand position, is the target market. WHO is buying it? WHY are they buying it? This will affect everything from price point to design style, to brand, colors, look and feel etc. Right now I would wonder who would want this? It doesn’t look premium or aspirational, it’s not really on trend fashion hype beast/lifestyle, it’s maybe art or something in the hackerspace?
   
   
   Hope this all helps. I’ve been working in footwear for 18 years and have been working on creating a modular footwear brand for the last 3 years so know the space very well. It’s a difficult thing to balance something new for the sake of something new with fashion/lifestyle and also technology. Mostly I believe the tech needs to be a means to an end (a way to get the look/fit/uniqueness you want ie. NikeID), or something so different it’s aspirational in and of itself (ie. Adidas Futurecraft). Anything in between is kinda a deadzone or a gimmick.

R

the back & forth in this discussion has been really good, learning a bit more with each response about how folk both analyze & articulate perspectives

@holtag

Yay for more insightful responses. This conversation is making me explore different directions, and unfortunately I’m the kind of guy who needs to feel out what works best for me. Great!

Pity we’re not focusing on sales hacks for the up and coming though. Who thinks I should try a kickstarter campaign?

And just a heads-up, I think I might have gone a bit rambly further along. Sorry!

With regards to what has been discussed so far, the common ground seems to be my struggle to decide on making FUSED either a ‘company’ or a personal ‘brand’. For example, up til now, when the company speaks on the website or instagram, I use the ‘we’ form and tone down the language used. I feel all this might make it easier for potential customer to trust that they will get a good product. But I’m also someone who hates faking anything. Thus I try to be upfront on the website about FUSED being a one man business. Mixed messages much?!

The faking also ties into the personas mentioned (mad scientist, artisan), I don’t think I’m comfortable with theatrics. The current website design and language tone is a good representation of who I am, and I am up for fleshing that out more with quirky and eclectic styling of future lifestyle photos.

Put in other words, on the one hand:

It will never be perfect, nor should it be, but I think the presentation can be more aligned to your vision. Look for ways to minimize cognitive dissonance.

On the other:

mad scientist, bespoke craftsman either could definitely give a little more flavor to the site, does it really need to be consistent?

I’m leaning towards the latter but it is all a balancing act. Then again, as designers we like everything polished, but that shouldn’t stop us from working with unfinished prototypes to get things going.

And Richard, you are another designer whom I have great respect for. I love the designs you’ve done for Skora. And as can be expected, you are asking great questions!

1. You are right, this all started as quest. I needed to find out if I could print shoes, and in the process, if a product designer with a 3d printer can attain financial independence. Feetz is doing it in silicon valley start-up style, but I felt their shoes were not really attractive (I still don’t). I found a brand called Prevolve, with my same development approach and a two year head start, but they hadn’t made much headway yet. So I saw an opportunity, to develop a product and a production technique on a modest sum, and possibly be just ahead of the curve and in a position to surf it. Something that I’m sure many a product designer has wanted to do at some point.

It really is that simple. Business cases and marketing plans are great, but if you don’t have a working product, what’s the point? That probably sounds naive but all I’ve done is product design, not business development. And I had a healthy dose of confidence that if I could get it to work, the shoes and production method would be intriguing enough to merit further development with outside help. That’s where I’m at now. I do think it is a business, but maybe not a BUSINESS. lemme ask you, is it not possible to make a profit while experimenting and having fun?

For example, If I stay a one man brand, I break-even at about 30 pairs/month, which sounds achievable. I’d then like to cap production at 50 pairs/month and keep it there.

Or I might want to grow a bit more, up to 200 pairs/month, with a small office and two employees.

Is there any good reason to grow bigger in the first couple of years? Please do call me out and educate me, a life of contract jobs does not prepare one well for running a business.

On that note, the Shoe Surgeon is a great example of a route that feels more natural to me than a bigger business, and one I hadn’t thought of until now. Thanks!

2. As for the product quality, and knowing the materials I’m working with, I’m ok with doing ‘low res’ designs that clearly show 3D printing artifacts. For now. With my entry-level printer, there is a sort of machine signature, making each shoe slightly different. I also take pleasure in making the shoe as one piece, with minimal post-processing and the ability to easily recycle the shoe after it’s worn through. If we are talking future production methods that show promise for a more sustainable model, this is definitely one of them. But currently, it’s still a crude tool, which too me has it’s own charm. Also, chasing the refinement that a production big brand shoe has, would probably kill my enthusiasm. And regarding the big brands, I’m sure all the best concepts are being kept a secret because doing just a 3D printed midsole seems a bit of a cop out to me, considering the toys they get to play with.

3. That said, you make an excellent point here. I do aspire to give potential customers the same security and service as a big brand. My product is a Model T compared to contemporary shoes (same comfort though, promise). And I would like to keep the experimental nature of the current quest. You’re going to tell me I can’t have it all and be successful, right?

4. Hah, so true! I originally thought my target market would be sneakerheads. They regularly buy new shoes, seem swayed by innovation and want to stand out. I was wrong though, most of them are incredible brand loyal and don’t really want to stand out. I’m now leaning towards techwear personally, but I’m taking January to figure out what FUSED will be, so if you have any target market suggestions, I’m all ears.

Regarding those modular shoes, Miix much? I am looking forward to the launch!

i know a few people that were able to get their kickstarter projects fully funded, a couple were even able to form brands by way of it…i can’t say if any really turned it into a business, though that may eventually be their plan, most had/have full-time day jobs & were creating/hustling on the side and then decided to give it a go. one thing that i can remember from one of their experiences was that under (or over) estimating demand can be really costly, so being up front about what & when you can deliver is super important…and ultimately you could still be in the same place, even if the kickstarter is successful…there a quote i read recently:

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

i think it is a kind of generally applicable axiom, there are usually a few ways that all kind of “successful” things have parallels and conversely an almost infinite bunch of ways that things can fall apart…i think what has been pointed out, in order to limit that variance, is that you kind of have to decide what you want this to be, for whom it should be, and maybe that helps you define how it should be?

@Kershaw

…To be honest, none of the designs really “inspire” me to pursue a purchase at $170. I would take the opportunity to really design some unique looking shoes that take advantage of 3D printing - Design details that you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. If the shoes were more surface/texture rich and there was a better transition between the “outsole” and upper I would be all in for a pair…

Why not print a shoe that looks like something completely different?

The customization is the ticket here - Building a nice custom builder is going to bring it home for the user experience.

The shoe is a blank canvas - Play that up!

looking at the other mentioned 3d printed shoes companies, what stands out is they all seem somewhat experimental but surprisingly don’t really offer all that much customization or difference to current shoes, at least in terms of using the process to make what wouldn’t be possible otherwise (besides ease of manufacturing i guess)…it would probably be a huge effort, but creating a deep(er) shoe customization experience would definitely be a key point of differentiation, but then it probably makes the product even more niche but possibly more valuable…i think even for those that are really into shoes/sneakers, it is still kinda rare to use things like nikeid or miaddidas to “design” their shoes

[holtag]

Thanks Kershaw and junglebrodda for the replies! Yeah, when you’re stuck, putting up a thread in core77 is definitely a good option. The conversation will help you explore lots of different approaches and hopefully help some others wit the same struggles too.

I’ve built out the product customizer further, there are now way more textures to choose from, as well as 4 different outsole. I’ve still got a few small things to improve (like the thumbnails), but I can focus on some other stuff too. I hope the options allow for different enough shoes, and I would like some feedback if anyone is willing to try: https://fusedfootwear.com/collections/custom-sparks.

Regarding shoes that look like something completely different, they have their value and I hope to get to more extravagant designs at some point. Truth be told, I already have some ideas in the pipeline. But with limited time and money, one has to make choices. It seemed more reasonable to me to first focus on a wearable mainstream shoe before loosing myself in experimentation.

And from a technical point of view, there are quite a few limitations when 3d printing with a single nozzle fdm machine. Overhangs are a big no-no for example. You wouldn’t have those limits with an SLS or DLP machine, but they are out of my league. And as mentioned, I kinda prefer the KISS principle. I do hope to stretch the limits of my fdm machine in the future, by combining filaments in the same print and speeding up the process.

To take all those possibilities and pour them in an understandable software platform that anyone can use to design a shoe, well that is WAAAAAAAY beyond what I can currently do. Nor what I’d be interested in to do myself, it would need peeps way more skilled at coding. But let’s focus on the coming months first.

Which really means business development, and the reason I started the thread. It’s been slowly helping me to crystallize my preferences. But for what it’s worth, it hasn’t provided any direct answers, nor was I expecting them (sure would have been nice though). I’m leaning towards making FUSED more synonymous with my personality, meaning I would be more outspoken about being a one-man show, a single product designer with a 3d printer trying to create something new. Hopefully that will serve as an aspirational model, though I guess that should depend on FUSED’ success.

As for the design direction, I think techwear is a very interesting niche, and the most likely direction for me to take. It’s is slowly going mainstream in brands like Y-3 and Nike ACG, and the innovation and waterproofing fits well with 3D printing. And having made the modular shoe that I’m offering now, I do think that concept is hard to present and a more outspoken design will be better for brand recognition.

I’m curious where you all see opportunity for 3d printed footwear. Extravagant as in Haute Couture, or maybe more like a promotional product?

That still leaves me with surviving the next few months, either through sales, finding a business partner, getting accepted into an incubator or doing a kickstarter. I have noticed that my being aware of dwindling funds is negatively affecting my decisions. As in, I’m hesitating to spend on growing sales and the brand. Like doing a good photoshoot to get some lifestyle pics for example. Knowing it is half the battle though!

[_YO]

Did you see this on the c77 front page? MakerBot Design Series: The Running Shoe - Core77

[holtag]

I just did Yo, thank you for sharing! And the author did some amazing work, really impressive! Hope to teach myself Grasshopper at some point

[louis_leblanc]

I don’t think my opinion is very different from the consensus of this thread. I think you need to find the customer and brand in a way to appeal to that crowd. It seems like you have a proof of concept, you have the manufacturing part, you may not actually have the product. You may need to change a lot of things to bring this to a marketable product.

What you’re offering currently feels more like a tech demo/science fair project than a consumer product. I don’t think the product has a lot of appeal past 3D printing nerds. And I doubt 3D printing nerds would be likely to buy shoes or represent a large sustainable market.

For one, the shoe doesn’t really take advantage of 3D printing in a meaningful way. The product was designed around the limitations of 3D printing but don’t really offer anything a regular shoe doesn’t. I think the current customization options aren’t great either. It’s kind of a hard UX problem to give customers the possibility of doing meaningful customization vs giving options that will actually be used and not creating yourself a bunch of work to test out the combinations.

I would personally suggest looking into a very niche market rather than the broad pitch you’re currently doing. While marketing to the general footwearing population, it’s very difficult to justify a high price. So profit will come from volume and from what I can see scaling up will be extremely difficult with the setup you currently have. IE if your product somehow ends up on Hypebeast, I don’t see how you’ll be able to fulfill orders in a reasonable time span. I’m sure there are specific needs that could greatly benefit from your experience in manufacturing 3D printed shoes.

Maybe look into orthopedics and helping people with disabilities. In those market the customization would make you shine and you might be able to have a higher charge due to the specific nature, the fact there is little competition and there might be some subsidies/insurance money in there.

Maybe water sports could benefit from your capabilities as I’m guessing your shoes don’t have an issue with water (though some plastics don’t deal that well with water…). Maybe high performance rowing shoes. Or kayaking shoes that are also ok for hiking and don’t look silly when you’re just chilling around with them. Maybe you could come up with really comfy swimming fins.

Anyhow marketing wise, TOMS and Crocs come to mind as being in a similar space as you are. General everyday shoes that don’t fit existing categories.

I would agree on learning Grasshopper/parametric. I think it’s about the only way you’ll be able to get meaningful customization on the shoe and truly harness the possibilities that are opened to you by 3D printing. Also have a look at https://shapediver.com/ for your customization. It’s able to take your Grasshopper definition and turn it into a web customization app.

Here’s a mid sole I made fairly easily with Grasshopper. Hit me up if you want to talk shop.

[JamieConway88]

@AVClub

A few notes:

1. Understand how you will scale, if you setup a system that allows unlimited orders, can you fulfill those orders?
2. Personally, your price point deters me alot. I can get a pair of really nice shoes for the same price that can be re-soled and last for a very long time.
3. Better photos on your website will probably help alot.
4. Understand your true value proposition, if its customization can you do it well with a reasonable turnaround time? Does this customization result in a higher price? Should the quality and visual elements be brought to a higher level to adjust to this price increase?

These things are also what I want to say.

[ralphzoontjens]

Mostly I believe the tech needs to be a means to an end (a way to get the look/fit/uniqueness you want ie. NikeID), or something so different it’s aspirational in and of itself (ie. Adidas Futurecraft). Anything in between is kinda a deadzone or a gimmick.

Exactly.
The question is even if you need to mention 3D printing at all, since the value for the customer is in aesthetics and customization.
The time that 3D Printing was a buzzword has been over for a few years, it is simply one of the enablers.

I like your idea and approach to having them recyclable as well.
Some of the shoes you are showing are quite nice.
What I do not see yet is a targeting of a specific user profile.
I can see this appealing to the fashionista type consumer but I can also see these as alternatives to brogues or derby shoes where you have an entirely different audience. If I were you I would focus a bit more and appeal to a specific audience, also with your customization options and have the whole more curated.

Reprinting the same shoe into a new one as a discount item is a winning strategy, could you do it for less cost if you simply print the same 3D model? A 20% price increase is typical for what people want to offer more for a customized vs non-customized product, so it makes sense to offer more discount than 20%.

[ralphzoontjens]

By the way I did some research into 3D printed footwear for a business last year, with this article summing up some basic findings:
https://designsoulblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/3d-printing-footwear/

Did you know you can improve interlayer adhesion by creating layer patterns that do not move only on the XY plane but also shift in Z direction while printing? That makes 3D printing more towards truly 3D homogeneity and will improve the bond. You will need some scripting ability but Rooie Joris made a good start.

Printing in 3 dimensions, part two... by joris

This would be one of the end possibilities:

How Reebok's 3D Technology Is Breaking the Mold