Finding their feet online

MILESTONE Finn’s Footwear celebrated 50 years in the business during the pandemic.

Website sales prove a winner for Finn’s Footwear

Ballyhaunis
Ger Flanagan

The lockdowns of 2020 made it the year for online shopping. Equally so, when the economic gates were temporarily opened between lockdowns, never was there a greater emphasis placed on shopping local and supporting small businesses.
Well-known shoe shop Finn’s Footwear, which operates in both Ballyhaunis and Kiltimagh, was in the fortunate position where it ticked both those boxes in the last 12 months.
Now run by brothers Austin and Paul, the business has been trading for 50 years and has established a strong reputation locally. Being forced to close the doors last March was an apprehensive time, but the brothers saw a chance to dedicate time to their online business – and it has now proven a massive success.
“We were coming out of a really bad January and February in retail last year when we were told we had to close in March, so we were worried for the future,” Paul told The Mayo News last week. “But I have to say that business over the last nine or ten months has been very good, because the lockdown has forced us to focus on our online – our website and our social media – and we’ve been able to reach customers we never thought we would. We’re now in the position where we’re actually running out of stock.
“So lockdown was good for us, but I don’t want to gloat, because we had to work damn hard at it. There wasn’t a day we weren’t in the shop – doing videos, answering the phone, emails, social media messages – it was Monday to Sunday, but it really drove our business to another level.”

Learning curve
Finn’s Footwear had an online presence going back three years, but time constraints and a lack of direction always prevented it from reaching the potential it now has.
Paul’s wife, Lisa, designed the website herself, which saved the business a lot of money. Lockdown then gave them hours and days that they could dedicate to maximising product shots, optimising their SEO with product descriptions and investing in Google and Facebook ads.  
It was very much a continuous learning curve for the family-run business, but one that has yielded lots of traffic and trade. They’ve even found a market in Northern Ireland and, Paul says, their online business is now as great as their physical one.
“We were definitely afraid to invest in online at first,” he admitted. “But after lockdown we got a fantastic return out of it, and I also think a lot of that was helped by the Government putting money into the economy, people weren’t going anywhere, and they had a little bit of money to invest in things like shoes.”

Quiet optimism
When they opened their doors again in December, Paul admitted he was struck by the ‘goodwill’ out there from shoppers who wanted to support their local economy and was happy to report an ‘excellent’ Christmas.
They consider themselves fortunate to be in a strong position ahead of the spring and summer season, despite so much uncertainty ahead due to Covid-19.
Their new online platform has allowed them to be ‘bolder’ in their orders and has also seen them expand into more brands, a reality that was simply not worth the risk 12 months ago.
Looking ahead to 2021, Paul still expects a turbulent year, but he’s confident that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that Finn’s Footwear’s new online platform can help it thrive.
“There is definitely a lot of uncertainty out there in the sector right now,” he admitted. “But speaking to a few reps and other shop owners, they do seem confident enough of the season ahead.
“I don’t think we’re going to re-open until March, but I do think that people will come out again, wanting to support local and to keep their small communities going.
“So I would say there is a quiet optimism that we will get back on our feet. It will take a lot of work, no doubt, but personally I’m confident we will get through the season.
“Now, you could come back to me in April and May and when it’s lashing rain out there and I’ve about 500 pairs of ladies sandals and I can’t sell them because nobody is going on holidays and the weather is terrible here! But at the moment I’m quite optimistic we’ll be able to work together and get through it.”