For independent shoe and footwear stores
A CRM for shoe stores keeps each customer's size, width, brands and purchase dates on one profile, then gives your team a daily list of whom to contact. Clientele helps you reach the regular whose last pair is wearing out, or the parent whose child has outgrown theirs, before an online retailer does.
Explore the sample shop or try a customer export from your POS.
The sale after the first fitting
Shoes are one of the easiest things to reorder online, and one of the hardest to buy well without help. Your advantage is the fitter who knows that this customer needs a wide forefoot, that her son grows a size every few months and that he refuses anything with laces. That memory is what keeps a client from typing the brand name into a marketplace.
One family's year, from first fitting to the next pair
Illustrative purchases in USD, with a reason to reach the client at each moment.
August
Back to school
Two pairs for the kids, $140. Record sizes, widths and what each child will wear.
November
Boots
Winter boots for mom, $190. Note the sock thickness she fitted with.
January
Check in
Ask how the boots are holding up. Offer an adjustment or stretch.
March
Growth check
Remind her the kids' shoes are about six months old and worth a re-measure.
June
Summer pairs
Invite her in for sandals and a work shoe for dad, with sizes already on file.
A receipt shows a style number and a price. It does not show that the left foot is half a size bigger, that the client returned the last brand because of the heel, or that she buys two pairs every time she comes in. Keep those details beside the purchase history so the next suggestion reflects what you learned at the fitting.
In Clientele, POS purchases sit beside tags, notes, important dates and past conversations. Use shared client profiles for your retail team so every associate, including part time and seasonal staff, sees the same history.
Keep notes practical. "Needs a wide toe box, starting a standing job in March" is a note that earns a message in February.
The Money Feed for a shoe store
The daily Money Feed for personal follow-up ranks opportunities from customer history and your rules. Start the day with the clients most likely to buy and a draft your associate can edit before it goes out.
You can reach the client whose walking shoes are a year old, or the one who asked about a style that was out of her size. The message refers to something real, not another storewide sale notice.
These fictional examples show possible conversations and opportunity values, not completed sales.
Money Feed for owner Dana
Thursday, 4 clients to contact
Erin Walsh
Regular client
Erin, it is Dana at the shop. Your walking shoes have had a full year of use. Want me to set aside the new version in your size?
Tom Becker
Past buyer
Tom, Dana here. The wide boots you asked about arrived. Want me to hold a pair for you this weekend?
Priya Nair
Regular client
Mark Ellis
Past buyer
Purchase dates show who is near the end of a pair. Contact that client with a fitting offer, not a general promotion.
Log a request while you are talking. When the right size arrives, the next associate can continue without asking the client to repeat it.
When a new line lands, find the clients whose size, width and taste match. Contact those few instead of mailing everyone.
A child's age and last measurement in the notes tell you when a parent is probably shopping, before they order elsewhere.
Review clients who skipped a season. A new arrival in their width gives you something specific to discuss beyond price.
Note who buys boots every fall or sandals every spring and reach them as the season turns.
A retail POS, an email platform and a personal client book solve different problems. Capabilities vary by vendor, so keep your POS and add clienteling where personal follow-up is the missing piece.
Typical roles of retail software rather than a feature promise for every vendor
Main job
Client context
Follow-up workflow
Operational limits
Best for
| Retail POS with size and color inventory | Email marketing platform | Clienteling platform such as Clientele | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main job | Checkout, stock by size and returns | Newsletters and automated campaigns | Personal outreach using client context |
| Client context | Receipts and customer fields | Subscribers, segments and opens | Purchases, sizes, fit notes and conversations |
| Follow-up workflow | Depends on POS features | Scheduled sends to a list | Daily ranked suggestions and drafts for associates to review |
| Operational limits | Often thin on notes and reminders | Written for lists, not one to one selling | No checkout, inventory or size run management |
| Best for | Running the register and the stockroom | Announcements to a wide audience | Regular fitted customers and replacement timing |
If most sales are one time walk ins or discount footwear, a newsletter tool may be enough. Consider Clientele when a few hundred local regulars carry your margin and your team needs help remembering them.
Getting started
Start with the records you trust. Merge duplicate contacts and separate one time buyers from clients who return before relying on suggestions.
Export customer and purchase records from your POS as CSV files. Map the customer, product, amount and date columns in Clientele.
Tag brands, sizes and widths. Add children's ages and fitting notes for your top clients first.
Record consent for each channel with its date and source. Set follow-up timing around replacement cycles and seasons.
Invite the team, review the feed and edit drafts before sending. Record replies so the next associate has the context.
Clientele fits an independent shoe store with a fitting process and a few hundred local regulars who carry most of the margin. It suits an owner who knows customers by name and wants every associate to share that knowledge.
It is not a POS and provides no inventory by size, returns or payments. A store that lives on discount volume and tourists is unlikely to get the same value.
Message only clients who opted in for the channel you use, and store consent per channel with the date and source. A saved phone number alone is not permission to send marketing texts. Treat children's details with care and store only what you need for fitting.
Boutique is $99 a month billed yearly or $199 month to month for up to 3 associates, 1 store and 2,500 client profiles. Brand is $299 a month billed yearly for up to 15 associates, 3 stores and 15,000 profiles. See the full Clientele pricing or the clienteling software pricing comparison.
FAQ
The best CRM for a shoe store keeps each customer's foot size, width, brands and purchase dates on one profile, then tells staff whom to contact when a pair is due. Clientele suits independent footwear stores that rely on fitted regulars and want personal follow-up rather than mass email.
Give them a specific reason. Contact a parent when a child is likely to have outgrown the last pair, a comfort shoe client when the pair is a year old, and a boot buyer before the cold season. A message that mentions the last purchase gets answered more often than a storewide sale notice.
Track shoe size and width for each foot, brands and lasts that fit, the date and model of each purchase, kids' ages, orthotic or comfort needs, price range and consent per channel with the date and source. Keep notes factual and limited to what the client shared with you for fitting.
Clientele costs $99 a month billed yearly or $199 month to month on Boutique, including up to 3 associates, 1 store and 2,500 client profiles. Brand costs $299 a month billed yearly for up to 15 associates, 3 stores and 15,000 profiles. Pricing is on the pricing page.
No. Keep checkout, size and color inventory, and returns in your POS. Clientele imports customer and sales records as CSV files and adds the client memory and follow-up on top. It does not process payments or track stock by size.
Clientele is a clienteling tool for independent retail with repeat relationships. Shoe stores that fit customers in person fit that pattern, because a good fitting creates a regular who returns for the next pair and sends the family. It is not built for high volume shoe chains or pure ecommerce.
Try the sample shop or bring a customer and sales export. See a daily list of customers with a reason to contact each one, then decide whether it is useful work for your store before choosing a plan.
Plans from $99 a month billed yearly. Subscriptions only, cancel at the end of any period.