When foam footwear brand Floafers started in 2019, it found a direct audience among outdoor enthusiasts wearing them from your dock to the boardwalk. Then again, the company saw sales spiked in the pandemic as the easily portable mocs resonated among consumers therefore to their versatility and comfort functions.

“The EVA mocs have numerous applications that [consumers"> don’t understand until they get these people, ” said Larry Paparo, chief executive. “It had been a backyard shoe for vacation, but now they’re going with the front yard to a back corner yard, or simply being left at the cab end door. They’re very lounge-like, anything people have gravitated to. ”
According to Paparo, for that first six months with the year, the brand tripled its business within the whole of 2019, considering the bulk of sales produced through its e-commerce site. The company, he observed, quickly shifted the focus to online sales immediately after finding itself with excess inventory due to warehouse closures and final cancellations of wholesale assignments.

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”We must pivot, ” said Paparo, about the unexpected shift in income to direct-to-consumer, which allows the brand to see its full story online that includes selling points including the antimicrobial properties belonging to the closed-cell foam material, a feature which includes resonated with consumers throughout the pandemic.

As consumers increasingly started online shopping during the pandemic, management decided to seize the second and pump up its advertising and marketing presence through ads at Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, in addition to connecting to consumers through email.

So far this season, the company has increased its advertising spend 10-fold above 2019, according to Daniel Rubertone, COO, containing yielded a similar gain in sales. Added Paparo, “We’re growing our spending. It’s like going to the black jack table and you also keep rolling. ”
Social media has granted the brand to forged a wide net on the subject of connecting with its primary customer base of grownups aged 24 to 44 years old, rounded out with any growing kids’ business. “What we’ve seen is the broader audience, ” explained Rubertone. “Our demographic could be the boat owner, yoga coach, or mommy and us [audience">. ”

While this company continues to generate strong online sales, it’s committed to developing its network of wholesale accounts that features DSW and Off Broadway along with outdoor specialty stores, sea shops and independent black-jack shoe stores, noting current sell-throughs involving 20% to 25% a week. Some independents, noted Paparo, having been reordering 200 pairs 7 days.
“Our direct-to-consumer business has taken over many sales this year, but we expect it to balance over the next yr as retail opens up, ” said Paparo. “[Wholesale business"> has shown great traction right now, so our goal is always to continue to grow using retailers. ”

Although Floafers has a focused assortment of models built around a basic moc, it continues to generate multiple pair purchases thanks the wide offering associated with colors and patterns. Its hero shoes add the men’s Country Club New driver, the women’s Posh Driver plus the kids’ Prodigy Driver.

Going in spring ’21, the offering might be expanded to include a loafer silhouette which has a bolder sneaker bottom, coupled with its core moc types in additional patterns and colors. The children’s size range is going to be also expanded to included toddler additionally youth sizes.

“We’ve modernized this foam space, ” explained Paparo, about the popularity in the brand, which found once more entering an already packed category. “Floafers are shaped and feel being a real shoe with swing and toe spring. We likewise have rubber pods on the underside making the shoes more more durable, compared to [others"> inside the space with uppers and bottoms crafted from the same foam fabric. The pods also halt stress and shock [underfoot"> from [being distributed">, allowing that foam to bounce again when it hits your rubber. And, pods present traction and support. ”

Wanting ahead, Paparo said, “We have another shipment arriving that week, and we’re nevertheless chasing [business">. We’re not sure the location where the plateau is at this point. There are warm climates all over the country and people are [continuing"> to work from home. ” All of those people variables, he said, assistance fuel the Floafers’ hearth.
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