Dr. Sylvie Shapiro and Nicole Brooks size up the Sharks with their kids foot measurement app for iPads in the Shark Tank Season 5 Finale. Their company, Foot Fairy, was started by the two friends and “momtrepreneurs” to make life easier on busy mothers when shopping for kids shoes. the foot measurement app measures feet from children’s sizes 1-13 (any bigger and the foot wouldn’t fit on the iPad).
The app takes the guesswork out of sizing shoes, particularly when ordering online. You can even order shoes online directly from the app. It’s a simple solution to a problem every parent faces and fits the two women’s “philosophy of eliminating unnecessary stressors in a mom’s life.”
Shapiro is no stranger to shoe-biz: she’s a Podiatrist and founder of Dr Shoe Mom, a website that reviews kids shoes, and Planet Flip Flop, a website that sells eco-friendly flip-flops. Brooks is no stranger to “unnecessary stressors,” she’s a licensed family therapist and a mom of four! They started their business in 2011 and make money from app sales and shoe sales.
My Take on the Foot Measurement App
I wish I had one of these apps when my kids were smaller! Shoe shopping with five kids at once is a real circus, even when mom AND dad hit the shoe store. I can’t tell you how much time my wife and I spent in shoe stores over the years; anything that makes that chore easier would be a blessing! I am always a bit sketchy about ordering shoes online because sizes vary so much, but Foot Fairy takes the guess-work out of it. The fact the app is free is even better.
Foot Fairy makes its money by referring sales to Zappos. When you use the foot measurement app, you can click straight through to shoes that match your child’s size and buy them. Foot Fairy gets a referral commission for every sale. They want to build their subscriber base so they have more potential referrals. I like the business model and I like the app, I am IN.
How Will Sharks Size up Foot Fairy?
The whole concept of the foot measurement app is “gee-whiz” technology. I can’t imagine the Sharks not liking the app. The real challenge for Dr. Sylvie and Nicole will be educating the Sharks on their business model. Foot Fairy makes money with what is called affiliate marketing.
Many website owners use this method to make money: when you click a link to a business and buy something, the website that referred you gets a commission. Amazon is probably most well-known as an affiliate site, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of sites offering this kind of relationship. What Foot Fairy needs to do, besides gaining more subscribers, is create more affiliate relationships with other shoe sales websites. There likely needs to be some integration that marries the foot measurement app with sizing structures on websites, so that’s the real challenge.
Affiliate marketing is a very lucrative business if it’s approached in the right way, getting the Sharks to see that is the challenge. Barbara almost always starts with the furrowed brow whenever their’s an app in the Tank, so I don’t think she bites. Likewise for Lori, there’s nothing to sell on QVC here. That leaves Mark, Kevin, and Robert.
They’ll all probably “get it,” but I think there will be varying degrees of interest. There’s nothing Mr. Wonderful can slap a royalty on directly, so I don’t think he’ll bite. Robert isn’t likely to go with this either. Mark seems the logical choice, but I’m not sure if he’ll bite.
Foot Fairy is in a great position in the Shark Tank: they don’t NEED a deal to gain users for the app. If a Shark invests, that’s great, if not – they’ll gain a TON of users anyway. Foot Fairy wins either way!
My big concern that doesn’t seem to be addressed is: To get an accurate measurement of your feet, you need to be standing. Your foot expands/changes upon weight bearing. How could this truly be accurate, especially with wide feet? Obviously, you cannot press an IPad on the foot matching the force if the weight of the child nor could the child stand on an IPad without breaking it. Very surprised this question was not asked or addressed.