DSW: Their Profitable Business Model

DSW, Inc, the Designer Shoe Warehouse, continues to fulfill the needs of shoeaholics everywhere! Their combination of designer shoes and low prices, makes them the ultimate winner. Their goal is to provide consumers with access to everything they could possibly want and that involves closeouts, special makeups and in-line products (Bell, 2016). It does not stop there, in an effort to reach the young parent demographic, DSW introduced their DSW Kids concept, making their stores a one-stop shop for dad, mom and kids. They are no stranger to the Merchant Model, providing goods and services from business to consumer. Their continued effort to bring good quality, low-priced shoes, to as many consumers possible has allowed them to cover about 70% of the U.S. population, by placing a DSW store within 20 miles of their home (Bell, 2016). If you can't see the value in that, I'm not sure what you are looking at. They also provide customers with a buy-online and pickup-in-store service, which has you dodging the shipping and handling fee most of us hate to pay, since that is practically the price of another item. This added option has made the company even more profitable.

DSW could also benefit from the Advertising Model. If you subscribe or create an account on their site, you will become a victim of their daily e-mail communication and promotions. They currently take advantage of the advertising model, but there is always room for improvement. As Roberts and Zahay (2013) mentioned, the more people you reach, the better chances of maintaining a website, or in this case, their business. Placing banner ads on major platforms such as Google or Facebook will definitely broaden their audience and target specific consumers based on customer demographics. In turn, the company will continue to profit from their marketing efforts. I would like to see a more personalized approach to their site. They could make use of a blog and provide daily inspirations or a "how to" section on how to pair different shoes with different styles. With the DSW rewards program, they obtain knowledge on past purchases made by the consumer. DSW can use that information to make e-mail suggestions on specific new items, rather than sending an e-mail with all their new styles. Take note DSW.

References:
Bell, J. (2016, October 3). How DSW is innovating to secure its future. Footwearnews. Retrieved from http://footwearnews.com/2016/business/retail/dsw-executives-plan-future-retail-innovation-ebuys-263835/

Roberts, M. L. & Zahay, D. (2013). Internet marketing: Integrating online and offline strategies. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.