Shopping For Shoes Online
Where to Find The Footwear Sizes and Styles You Want on the Internet
Shopping from your sofa is becoming an ever popular pastime when it comes to buying women's fashion and shoes. 40% more British women now buy fashion online than in 2006.
One of the biggest advantages of buying shoes on the internet is that, for women whose feet do not conform to commercially available sizes and widths, there is plenty of choice available at specialist online shoe stores. Designershoes.com, for example deals with large shoes sizes and wide fitting footwear, whereas Zappos.com offers both larger and small sizes.
Ordering footwear online can be a little more daunting than a book from Amazon or a vintage purse from eBay, but once you have established your proper shoe size (and converted it into the relevant international sizing), with today’s competitive shipping rates and returns policies it is no more difficult than buying a sweater or a bra.
Whether it be wide fitting ballet flats or a pair of rare Manolo Blahniks, the choice is vast when it comes to shopping for footwear online. Dedicated sites offer a huge range of styles and fits, with some specializing in particular areas:
Dedicated Online Shoes Sites
- Zappos specializes in shoes and accessories of all shapes and width fittings, and have a US site and a Canadian one. They also have a sister site which features high-end designer footwear, called Couture.Zappos. Zappos has a free shipping and returns policy for domestic customers.
- Designer Shoes is a good source for women with non-average-sized feet. This site specializes in hard-to-find-sizes and shoe widths, for “women who leave a larger footprint.”
- At Heels.com you can select your shoes by theme, brand or type. Heels offers free overnight shipping and free returns within the USA. The website carries celebrity designer brands such as Paris Hilton Shoes, Jessica Simpson and Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B.
- Shoes.com offers a price guarantee whereby, once you have ordered a shoe from their site, if you find it cheaper elsewhere they will refund you 115 percent of the price difference. They also offer free shipping and free returns within the USA.
- Shuhstore.co.uk has been awarded the Footwear Etailer of the year award for 2008, in the Drapers Footwear Awards 2008. It has a 365-day returns policy and a free store pickup from one of its many stores all over the UK.
- Shoe-shop.com claims to be Europe’s largest retailer for fashion shoes and boots. Products can be delivered internationally and they offer a special 99p returns service paid option (when placing an order), for customers in the UK.
- Simpleshoes.com sell shoes for a happy planet. Their environmentally-friendly products include hemp eco-sneaks, and sandals and flip-flops made out of recycled car tires. Simple Shoes is a “nice little shoe company,” selling fashionable and funky footwear. They will ship worldwide.
- Fittedboots.com is exactly that! The Calf Width Boot Company makes made to measure boots at great prices. There is approximately a three-week turnaround and boots can be made to suit all foot shapes from wide fitting to narrow, small or large. The perfect solution for women who have trouble finding boots to fit, especially if they have thick calves. On its website, the company refers to itself as “the web’s specialist boot company that concentrates purely on making beautiful boots for beautiful legs, and that means all shapes & sizes.” Fittedboots ships internationally. If you can’t find your country of residence listed on the site then email them for postage costs.
In addition to specialized internet shoe stores there are a number of popular savvy-style sites in terms of women's fashion. These include Net-A-Porter, My-wardrobe and Asos – all dedicated online stores.
