Shopping Discussion

Shipping question

  • Last Updated:
  • Dec 3rd, 2017 1:22 am
Member
Jun 23, 2006
386 posts
148 upvotes

Shipping question

I shopped online at Designer Shoe Warehouse on Black Friday and bought eight pairs, free shipping, Ebates, shoe lovers reward, etc all the good things I learned from RFD. Mostly for the kids, only $12 for rain boots so I got a bunch of different sizes for growing feet. I must say I’m surprised to see them ship the shoes individually from different stores that had stock. I wasn’t home to receive them but Canada post gave 8 delivery notice cards. How could DSW possibly make any money on a $12 pair of boots when they must spend loads on shipping? My husband says that I’ll bankrupt them by buying their stuff at these low prices, like the deals I scored at Shoeme.ca ;-)
10 replies
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2004
38393 posts
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East Gwillimbury
stoppy wrote: My husband says that I’ll bankrupt them by buying their stuff at these low prices, like the deals I scored at Shoeme.ca ;-)
Your husband is right.

The shipping cost is probably the same as the shoes themselves.
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
27765 posts
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Eastern Ontario
DSW is fairly new to Canada (although they are HUGE in the USA with over 500 Stores). They are primarily a Sell Off Outlet... a great place to find shoe bargains. They have only been in Canada a short while... since CDN Retailer Town Shoes bought 44% of the Co. To date they still only have a handful of Stores coast to coast.

As such I cannot say I am surprised they are using the shipping model you spoke of both because of the fact they are still an infant in the Cdn marketplace, and also because of the nature of the merchandise they carry.

Actually there are other Retailers who utilize a similar model for on-line purchases quite successfully... Marks being the most familiar one here in Canada.

Here’s how it works

Marks orders a large shipment of Rainboots, in assorted colours & sizes from the Manufacturer. They divvy all the boots up between all of their stores in Canada... perhaps keeping back only a small amount at their Central Warehouse to fulfill the first of the on-line orders for this NEW item this season.

As the season wears on... the stock at the warehouse is gone... they’ve now freed up the space for an assortment of incoming Winter Boots.

But there are still stores who have Inventory on the Rainboots. So Marks announces a BIG SALE... aka Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and deep discount the pricing on the Rain Boots.

Folks flock to the website...

They cannot believe the great deals, and with each click of the mouse the Inventory diminishes in sizes in colours available for purchase.

Behind the scenes, each computer click has located a pair of Rainboots in the size & color desired that is still sitting on the Stores shelves. The system is smart enough to do a match between the Customers Location and the nearest store with the Rainboots in the size & colour desired. The order goes thru to the store... the store packages up the item, and a Courier comes by to pick it up and send it out to the Customer who wanted those specific Size 6 Red Rainboots.

The Customer is Happy... the Store is Happy... and Head Office is most definitely happy... no bothersome unsold Inventory to House.

It may look like a lot of expense when Couriers are criss crossing the country to locate & deliver exactly what you wanted / ordered... but ultimately for many Retailers it is still cheaper than maintaing a huge warehouse that is waiting for someone to click in an order. Cause this way those Size 6 Red Rainboots are both available online to all those shoppers, but also to everyone who comes into that one particular Marks Store in Little Town, Ontario

With the vastness of our country, spread out sparse population successful Retailers here have had to become very savvy on how to get the most out of every dollar they spend on Inventory. This whole concept is part of a Just In Time Delivery concept that many Retailers use to control costs of incoming & outgoing expenditures.
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Jan 7, 2007
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Poormond Hill
stoppy wrote: I shopped online at Designer Shoe Warehouse on Black Friday and bought eight pairs, free shipping, Ebates, shoe lovers reward, etc all the good things I learned from RFD. Mostly for the kids, only $12 for rain boots so I got a bunch of different sizes for growing feet. I must say I’m surprised to see them ship the shoes individually from different stores that had stock. I wasn’t home to receive them but Canada post gave 8 delivery notice cards. How could DSW possibly make any money on a $12 pair of boots when they must spend loads on shipping? My husband says that I’ll bankrupt them by buying their stuff at these low prices, like the deals I scored at Shoeme.ca ;-)
Whatever money they lost on those sales is made up throughout the year when people buy it at regular price. Also you have no idea of the markup of those shoes and what Canada Post charges them for shipping.
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Oct 5, 2008
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Toronto
Sportchek does the same thing.

I ordered 6 outlet items in 1 order totalling $100 from their website. They shipped my 5 separate packages from across the country.

All free shipping.

Makes no sense as the shipping is likely the same price as what i paid
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
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Eastern Ontario
Swerny wrote: Sportchek does the same thing.

I ordered 6 outlet items in 1 order totalling $100 from their website. They shipped my 5 separate packages from across the country.

All free shipping.

Makes no sense as the shipping is likely the same price as what i paid
No surprise

SportChek & Marks are both part of the Cdn Tire Group
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
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Eastern Ontario
sandikosh wrote: Whatever money they lost on those sales is made up throughout the year when people buy it at regular price. Also you have no idea of the markup of those shoes and what Canada Post charges them for shipping.
This

Cdn Retailers (actually any Business) has the ability to get BULK RATES from Canada Post et al... so trust me it is not costing them the kind of rates that you & I would be getting to ship one item across the country
Deal Addict
Jan 12, 2017
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B.C.
maybe cheaper to ship from individual shoes from different stores than buying a warehouse.
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Nov 25, 2004
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London
store get huge volume discounts from canada post. packages that would cost a normal person 10-15 to ship only cost stores like $3-4 because of the volume discounts.
Newbie
Oct 29, 2016
98 posts
9 upvotes
I think they don't know what Consolidation means. Consolidation is an important part of shipping. It saves money for both parties (if the customer had to pay for shipping). Check out this mail forwarding services. It will give you a clear idea. I wish I could show it to Designer Shoe Warehouse.
https://planetexpress.com/consolidation/
Deal Expert
Feb 7, 2017
27765 posts
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Eastern Ontario
aaron158 wrote: store get huge volume discounts from canada post. packages that would cost a normal person 10-15 to ship only cost stores like $3-4 because of the volume discounts.
100% this
Garethbetty wrote: I think they don't know what Consolidation means. Consolidation is an important part of shipping. It saves money for both parties (if the customer had to pay for shipping). Check out this mail forwarding services. It will give you a clear idea. I wish I could show it to Designer Shoe Warehouse.
https://planetexpress.com/consolidation/
Sure enough... but time is money too.

If stuff from all over Canada has to ship to a Consolidator in Toronto who then ships the pkg to Hamilton... it’s gonna take more time.

Plus, you are now shipping say 7 parcels to Toronto, and one big one to Hamilton... when you could have just sent the 7 to Hamilton direct for virtually the same price you sent them originally to Toronto for.

Makes even less sense if pkgs are coming in from Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg, and the Customer is in Edmonton.

This is just one more example where Canada and the USA is different because of the size of our country & scant spread out population.

What might work in California, which has a close representation of population to Canada’s... won’t work here because of land mass and the fact that our major city centres are so far apart.

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