8 Steps to Shoebuy.com's Success

Here are some other highlights/tips from Savitz's presentation:

• 95 percent of Shoebuy.com's products are drop-shipped;
• Shoebuy.com levies chargebacks on suppliers for late or wrong shipments not as a source of revenue but to help prevent them in the future;
• Shoebuy.com has offered free shipping since it launched in 2000;
• even with free shipping, the company averages a 25 percent profit margin per customer;
• a retailer's mobile site experience must be equal to or better than its e-commerce site before the technology should be rolled out to consumers, Savitz advised; and
• after cost of goods, shipping is Shoebuy.com's biggest line-item expense.