Footwear importing can be a profitable business, as there are many people willing to spend hundreds of dollars for the most population or functional pair of shoes. Some brands of footwear are so popular that people are willing to wait in line at a store for several hours, maybe even days, to get the latest pair. Moreover, some people do business of reselling shoes at a higher rate after buying form some of the available suppliers. This business model is especially popular with sports footwear; sneakers, running shoes, basketball shoes etc. But how is all that footwear imported? It’s obviously that an overwhelmingly majority of footwear is made overseas and there are a large number of regulations about importing shoes. Consider the following tips if you want to import footwear.
Importing footwear can be a profitable business,as there are many willing to spend several hundred dollars for the highest fashion or most
functional pair of shoes.
MATERIAL
The type of material out of which the shoes is made plays a most important role in the importing process. The entire shoe should be made up of several materials. When importing any type of footwear, importers must fill out an International Footwear Association Footwear Retailers of the Interim Footwear Invoice. Footwear requires more details in the shipping information than most items. So, it is very important to fill out this form carefully and completely. Many of the fields on this form ask about the material of the footwear. For example, you need to identify the materials that make up the most portion of the external surface area of the upper. A percentage must be associated with each type of material on the upper and sole of the shoes.
The type of material out of which the footwear is made plays a major role in the importing process.
DESIGN
It’s important to know what the footwear is designed for. Are you importing footwear which is designed for sports activity? If so, you will need to identify whether the footwear has spikes or cleats as this maybe exist a safety issue when importing.
TARGET Customer
Knowing your target customer, who the shoes will be sold to, is important information when importing footwear. This will affect how the shoes can be made, as well as the import process. For example, people who take exercise everyday needs sport shoes that comfort their feet and hard-wearing. This kind of sport shoes need soft outsole and breathable upper cause people sweat when they are doing exercise and training. Therefore, Fly-knitted upper would be suitable for this situation. And the outsole add with a air cushion would be more helpful. Air cushion will decrease the shock when people running, jumping, rope skipping and other exercising activities. For these people, we do focus on the quality of the outsole and the upper with these features: sweat absorbent, shock absorption and anti-puncture.etc. Of course, other types of footwear must be tested and meet quality standards as well.
