The time has finally come. The newest sneaker launch has been hyped for nearly a year. Next week customers will be crashing websites and standing at the doors of retail stores to buy the latest sneakers.
What can a customer do to improve their chances of getting these new shoes? Take a look below. There are many things that customers can do to increase their chances of being able to buy those particular new shoes. A lot of it depends on luck.
Choose how to buy.
New sneakers are distributed to the public in two different ways: through the internet and through retail stores. In both cases, the stores and the websites and apps can be on a raffle-type system or a reservation system, depending on that particular shoe. Before the customer can go to battle to buy the shoes, they have to decide which way they will go: physical or virtual.
Buy through an internet app.
Most shoe manufacturers and retail stores have an app for the customer’s phone. This is the most common way for people to be notified that a new sneaker launch is upcoming.
Either way, the customer needs to make sure that they choose to be notified by the app. This is typically the earliest notification that a customer can receive.
The customer then goes to the release calendar on the app. Clicking on the shoe will tell the customer if the shoe is being released by taking reservations on the app or if the customer needs to enter a raffle.
If reservations are being taken, then the customer can put in a reservation. Next, the app will notify the customer the night before the launch. If the customer has won in the reservation raffle, the store will notify the customer. If the customer has been using a retail store app, then they can pick up the shoes at the retail store.
Buy new releases virtually online.
This is the most popular way that thousands of people go after getting their new shoes. There are several steps involved in this process.
- The first step in the online process is for the customer to make sure they are properly signed up as a company member. For example, the customer must be a Nike member, an Adidas member, a Foot Locker member, etc.
- The second step is sort of a hybrid action – it is partly retail and partly online. The customer needs to download the app that corresponds to the shoe they want.
- The next step is to make sure they have all their personal information saved into the app or the website to save precious seconds at checkout.
- When the app or a tweet sends out a notification, the customer must make sure they are available to be online, on the website, at the exact correct time. Many Adidas launches happen at 3 am. Most other launches happen at 10 am.
- Once the release opens, it becomes a battle to the finish. Whichever customer is fastest to press the buttons on the website gets to buy the shoes.
- Experienced online buyers know that the site will probably crash a few times from the sheer volume of people trying to buy the exact same shoe at the exact same time. A customer must be persistent to reach the goal.
- Wealthy people can buy a bot. This is a computer program that will make hundreds of attempts in the space of a few seconds, depending on the customer’s internet speed. Nike and other companies spend a lot of time trying to thwart bots.
Buy new releases at a retail store.
Most people believe that the only way to get new releases is to be the first person to press the purchase button on the website. But customers can also purchase recent releases of sneakers at actual brick-and-mortar retail stores.
How does this work? The customer must physically visit the retailer before the launch day. At that time, they will pick up a sweepstakes ticket.
The store will typically notify the customer shortly before the release time to tell the customer whether or not they have won in the sweepstakes.
If the customer has won, they can go to the store to pick up their shoes within one hour of the release. If the customer doesn’t show up and collect their shoes, they are released to the public on a first-come-first-served basis.
Here’s where the membership part can help. Some retailers will have special membership rewards that customers can use to increase their chances of winning the purchase sweepstakes.
In many retail stores, some shoes are sold by first come, first serve. In this case, the customer must be sure to be at the store’s door when they open on the release date. That customer might also get lucky if another customer doesn’t pick up their shoes by the 11 am cutoff for pickups.
When purchasing a new release at the physical store, the customer must be sure to find out ahead of time how that particular store handles new releases. Their policies can be very different.
Customers who like to buy the latest shoes study all different kinds of tricks to improve their chances. Here’s another idea to try.
They can go to a physical store and enter the raffle. The store would typically notify the customer that they won the raffle ahead of the 10 am opening of the store. Then they have until 11 am to claim their shoes.
If no one ever calls them to tell them they won the store raffle, then the customer knows they can try the online purchase. If they do win the store raffle, they don’t have to bother with the internet.
To a large extent, getting the pair of shoes that a person wants involves being laser-focused on the goal. The customer cannot afford to get distracted by anything else.
Successful customers have to be ready to try every possible avenue.