Data driven buying helped Shawville Shoes double its business

A massive growth curve on a tight timeline

When Stephane and Michelle took over Shawville Shoes, they inherited a beloved community staple with a long history—but very little inventory. Determined to save the small town business and protect their new investment, the husband and wife duo knew they couldn’t survive on the previous business model alone.

To keep the doors swinging open, they made the bold decision to drastically transform the shop from a traditional women’s only boutique into a general footwear destination for the entire family, introducing entirely new lines like kids’ shoes, hiking boots, running shoes and CSA approved work boots.

Pivoting a retail business so drastically came with distinct, high stakes hurdles

In the footwear industry, stock is typically purchased a full year in advance. Having only operated the store for two months, the new owners had to buy their entire inventory for the upcoming year without the luxury of historical data, a safety net or leftover stock from the previous owner. Because they were building these product categories from scratch, the expansion became incredibly fast and expensive, requiring every dollar coming in to be immediately reinvested into the next product line.

Compounding this financial pressure was the constant threat of losing customers to larger neighboring cities like Ottawa or Gatineau. In a small community, if a customer walks in and can’t find what they need, they will drive out of town to get it immediately.

To make their investment worth it, the new owners needed a way to manage this rapid, expensive influx of seasonal inventory, keep their cash flow under control and transition from simply buying stock to actively managing profitability, all while protecting the personalized, one on one customer service that their reputation relied upon.

Stephane and Michelle turned to Lightspeed to transform Shawville Shoes from a traditional cash register operation into a modern, data driven business

Faced with the daunting task of building an entirely new footwear inventory from scratch, they used Lightspeed’s centralized reporting to take the guesswork out of their buying cycles. By analyzing sales data, they discovered they were selling eight pairs of running shoes for every pair of high heels, allowing them to confidently shift their budget away from formal footwear and heavily invest in everyday, outdoor and utilitarian categories like trail running shoes.

Lightspeed’s deep product movement insights also served as a financial safeguard for their expanded catalog of SKUs. The owners rely on a 90 day aging formula built into Lightspeed to instantly identify stagnant inventory, allowing them to implement strategic discounts before slow moving items become profit killers. Before heading to seasonal shoe shows, they perform quick system searches to retroactively analyze heavily discounted items, determining whether a style failed due to color, fit or seasonal timing, rather than relying on empty promises from brand representatives.

This granular data, coupled with year over year and quarter over quarter comparative statistics, provides the owners with the concrete reassurance they need to know they are making the right business decisions.

“It’s all a simple click away for us to find out how we are doing as a business. Because as a small business owner, you doubt yourself. And the system is there to confirm what’s going on. And luckily for me, it’s reassured me more than anything that we were doing the right things.”
Stephane Landry, Owner, Boutique Chaussures Shawville Shoes

Beyond inventory strategy, Lightspeed drastically simplified daily operations and eliminated administrative friction for the busy couple. By leveraging Lightspeed sales data, the owners can easily see what is selling, accurately foresee stock needs for the season and replenish top selling inventory with confidence. Integration with NuORDER allows the owners and their staff to replenish top selling stock with just a few clicks. Meanwhile, the seamless connection with QuickBooks automates data transfers, saving critical administrative time that would otherwise be spent manually preparing files for their accountant.

The cloud based system also unlocked the flexibility needed to manage the business from a distance. Stephane and Michelle can log in from home to troubleshoot issues in real time, such as deleting an accidentally parked sale to ease a sales floor employee’s stress. With customizable employee profiles and passwords, they can easily restrict administrative data while keeping the sales floor running smoothly. Ultimately, Lightspeed has provided the structural framework and peace of mind that allowed Shawville Shoes to double its sales, control its rapid expansion and keep the focus on delivering an exceptional, face to face customer experience.