Zappos starts selling single shoes

More people than commonly thought have feet in two different sizes. To cater for them, Zappos has started selling single shoes – or uneven pairs.

Consumers’ demands

The new service has entered its testing phase this Tuesday, ABC News reports, and will feature a selection of major brands such as Converse, New Balance and Nike. The – originally rather limited – product range will be expanded soon, the webshop hopes.

Zappos wants to cater for people with a handicap or with two differently-sized feet: the webshop thinks many people feel ignored by the ‘traditional’ shoe industry, which typically only sells pairs of shoes in the same size. The company says the requests for this service have multiplied after it launched Zappos Adaptive in 2017: that site offers a number of pieces of clothing and shoes that are easy to put on and take off again, aimed specially at people with a physical handicap.

In the earlier stages, Zappos will buy the shoes in pairs and only sells them on separately, but the company hopes to persuade producers to start selling them per piece as well.