How to find a shoe manufacturer?
Nowadays in the fashion world shoes have to be more versatile than ever. Unless you stay home all the time, it is most likely that you have to wear shoes of some sort every day. Shoes are the defining piece that creates a style. They make a statement and add function to fashion. They can make your feet feel like they're floating in the clouds or they can put a punchline on a flashy number. Style is defined by every piece of the outfit including the shoes.
So you should have your designed concept before finding a manufacturer. And you have to find a shoe manufacturer who can make your designs. Finding a shoe manufacturer seems easy but it is as though you’re coming up against a series of brick walls. In this article we’ve we are going to tell you some truths which might be difficult to hear. But if you want to find the right shoe manufacturer it is better to be acknowledged with this knowledge. Here are our shoe manufacturer finding tips:
Are you ready to speak to a shoe factory?
First of all, you should be ready to speak with the shoe factory about your designs and about the market you’re targeting. Make sure you’ve explored the targeting areas in depth before even beginning the design process, and definitely before approaching the shoe manufacturer. We suggest you visit sweetlight shoe manufacturer's website to get a better result. They take the customers seriously and they have every design available in their catalog. You can get your designs customized by them too. Also about your competitors of course you’re planning to create something unique, so you may not think you have direct competitors but customers are already buying from somewhere. Check who are they buying from?
What does a shoe manufacturer need to know?
The shoe manufacturer needs to believe in you, your ability to develop a commercial shoe business. Trying to get a shoe manufacturer who works with you is like pitching to an investor. A shoe factory manufacturer should be more compelled by the size of your market, than by the little details of your customer's choice and lifestyle. You should know what your products look like, and it’s quality and design. How many colors and styles do you require. Our ideal suggested place is sweetlight shoes. They mainly care about customer satisfaction which is ideal to find yourself a manufacturer. Also, target to get the cost price low as possible without mentioning your retail price. But you do need a properly calculated price to work to.
Should You use a sourcing agent or go directly to the factory?
Our suggestion is to go directly to the shoe factory to get a better idea of your product's looks, cost, quality, and materials. And dealing on your own makes your understanding clear about the products. Also, you can bargain the price as you need proper cost price of your products to get margin in retail price. Firstly, you need to get knowledge about shoes. Plan interviews with shoe brand founders who share their tips on how to find a good shoe factory. Sweet light shoes offer you to discuss your plans and get details from their agents about the product cost. And how it will rule the market which gives them an upper hand over other brands.
How do I find a shoe manufacturer?
First of all, you know about the cost and retail price of the market you’re targeting. And you want your products to be luxury, premium, mid-market, or value. Then you can get a better idea of where you will find a manufacturer of your type or from which country you want to export. You can get luxury or premium shoe manufacturers from Europe and USA.premium and mid-market manufacturers from China, India, Brazil, and Mexico. Value from Pakistan and Indonesia.
Submit your project to a manufacturer for review and request a quote.
Before choosing the manufacturer try to submit your project to multiple manufacturers for review and request a quote. From this information, you’ll get an idea of which one is being given a reasonable price and which one is being expensive. Also this information your manufacturer can provide you with a development quote and should also be able to give you a fairly accurate production estimate, along with tentative timelines for open production slots. Our suggested website sweetlight also has the options for their customers to get their product reviews and get a quote.
Update your budget based on factory pricing and MOQs.
Once you have received quotes from different shoe manufacturers and when you get an idea of a quote that you would like to go with then it’s time to update your budget according to it. Perhaps you decided to use public molds for your outsoles instead of custom toolings or decided to up your quantity for a per pair price break. A lot of things can vary once you get into the details. This is a wise time to take stock again and make sure your budget still lines up with your plans.
Approve confirmation samples.
After the quote, request samples from the factory that you would like to go with. When you will receive the sample you will get a clear idea of from which manufacturer you should get your shoes manufactured. And samples will narrow the details of which one is giving better price and high quality. Getting to a confirmation sample you approve for design, quality, and construction is the last step in development before you start production.
Conclusion
We’ve discussed the tips you should look for before finding a shoe manufacturer. Also, we’ve suggested going with a sweetlight shoe factory which deals in all available designs and also can make customized designs according to your plan. They have the upper hand over other brands because of their customer satisfaction priority and they deal according to tips we’ve shared above. So if you want to start without wasting your time visit the sweetlight shoe factory.