Payless expands its global reach with VTEX ecommerce

Payless, a footwear retailer that barely needs introduction, has been delivering great styles and value for over 60 years. But as retail suffers irreversible changes due to the onslaught of the internet exacerbated by the pandemic, even veterans need to adapt to meet the current times. Payless ushers in this new retail era with a modern vision – an omnichannel approach, touting an ecommerce website experience to boot. 

Brand history in brief

Since its founding in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas, Payless has grown from a family-owned footwear distribution business to a giant footwear manufacturer and retailer, with more than 4,000 physical stores on American territory. Additionally, extensive brick-and-mortar operations in Central and Latin America handle 450 brick-and-mortar stores scattered across 21 countries, and franchises in Southeast Asia and the Middle East round up the retailer’s arsenal. With its value-driven and on-trend shoes, Payless is the go-to footwear solution for families everywhere.

Today, Payless’s commitment to put the customer first prevails. This goal translates to addressing consumer wants and needs by reaching them where they are – online. Thus, Payless is now dedicating its attention to ecommerce to ensure a smart, bold comeback in the US market and a show of force in Latin America – both initiatives powered by VTEX. 

The need for a powerful ecommerce website

Aiming to become the digital leader of the footwear sector, Payless officially relaunched its ecommerce website in the US in August 2020, announcing its presence to a database of over 60 million users. In October 2020, Payless LATAM launched two ecommerce stores in Ecuador and Guatemala, with El Salvador, Honduras and Peru in the Q1 2021 pipeline. The rest of their markets are gradually following suit in the near future. 

Each brand-new ecommerce website found a home on the VTEX Commerce Platform, which is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Payless chose to partner with VTEX thanks to its highly agile technology, which will also allow the retailer to reach future growth in the years ahead. 

“The decision to migrate to VTEX was based on its adaptability. VTEX would allow Payless to continue its growth based on omnichannel. The possibility of adapting –  and adapting fast – was an incredibly important factor.”

Diana Cardona, Ecommerce Manager of Payless LATAM

However, Payless is not embracing ecommerce to the detriment of brick-and-mortar retail. After all, the footwear industry will always present a propensity to in-store shopping: the size, color and level of comfort can all be easily verified on-premises, without the hassle of returns and exchanges. As such, Payless’s digital commerce aims to bolster its traditional retail through the means of omnichannel. 

“We are betting on the omnichannel approach, because we want to take advantage of our 450 stores with good locations. Many people select the shoes in ecommerce, but prefer to go to the store to try them on, where they tend to buy additional items.”

Justo Fuentes, CEO of Payless LATAM