Bareroots Footwear launched in November 2024 and initially seemed prefer it may not survive a full yr of operation. The model struggled immensely for eight consecutive months, unable to catch on, till founder Maarten Klijnsma pivoted from commonplace e-commerce techniques to constructing belief via operational excellence. 

By overhauling the shopper expertise, specializing in sooner supply, customized communication, and trust-building, the corporate expanded quickly into 4 international locations with over 600 types. Klijnsma’s deal with buyer retention over paid acquisition challenges the business norm and positions belief, not advertising spend, as the important thing differentiator in on-line footwear retail.

Market Perception

Bareroots Footwear’s journey started when Klijnsma recognized a belief hole in on-line footwear. Usually, when searching for footwear on-line, he realized that prospects hesitate, cautious of issues about match and luxury. You possibly can attempt the sneakers in individual to make sure they’re the right match, however issues grow to be much more difficult on-line. 

Analysis on client belief in e-commerce exhibits that 81% of consumers should belief a model earlier than buying. That’s a basic determine, however the proportion in footwear proved to be even increased. As such, whereas most manufacturers within the sector deal with style or consolation, Bareroots took another method. The model aimed to supply style, consolation, and costs to set them aside.

“There’s this buyer e mail I acquired early on,” Klijnsma recollects. “They wrote that for the primary time in years, they didn’t have to convey backup sneakers to work. That’s once I realized we weren’t simply promoting footwear; we had been fixing a day by day drawback individuals have been coping with without end.”

Strategic Pivot

Nevertheless, regardless of Klijnsma’s expertise in e-commerce and the model’s distinctive method to footwear, issues weren’t catching on. After eight months of struggling, he made a daring selection that might in the end redefine the model’s legacy. In July 2025, as a substitute of boosting paid promoting, Bareroots restructured operations to construct belief, guaranteeing sooner supply, customized packaging, and humanized customer support.

As an alternative of specializing in the extra business-oriented particulars on quarterly studies, Bareroots started to prioritize the human expertise of ordering from the model. By Klijnsm’a logic, if the corporate was happening, he at the very least wished to ship an unforgettable expertise for the shoppers they did have earlier than they did so. Nevertheless, these sorts of particulars resonated instantly with prospects and led to surprisingly sudden success. 

“We wanted advocates, not simply prospects,” Klijnsma explains. “So we optimized for creating individuals who’d inform others, not simply finishing transactions.”

By August 2025, issues had modified fully, as Bareroots entered a complete new period of its model life cycle. Inside six months of the pivot, Bareroots expanded to the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, supported by excessive retention somewhat than excessive spending.

Advocacy Over Acquisition

The technique prioritized buyer advocacy (word-of-mouth) over transactions, aligning with analysis that exhibits household/pal suggestions outweigh advertising affect. The outcomes inform a narrative that helps contextualize Straits Analysis’s e-commerce footwear projections. The worldwide market is anticipated to develop to $224.58 billion by 2033, however not all manufacturers will share equally. Klijnsma argues that the winners shall be those that remedy the belief challenge that causes footwear return charges to stay 19.9% for e-commerce in comparison with simply 5% in bodily shops.

“Most individuals assume you compete on product or value,” he says. “However in on-line footwear, you’re actually competing on confidence. Are you able to make somebody comfy sufficient to order sneakers they’ll’t attempt on first?”

Bareroots presents over 600 types, together with loafers, sneakers, sandals, and boots. Nevertheless, what stays most putting about Klijnsma will not be the success however as a substitute how he frames success. He has repeatedly emphasised that repeat prospects and optimistic evaluations are success indicators over income or product rely. 

“Each repeat buyer appears like validation,” he shares. Each optimistic evaluate jogs my memory why we began this. These are the metrics that really matter.”

Business Perspective

Klijnsma notes, “I see footwear as a part of somebody’s life-style. “It’s not nearly what you set in your ft. It’s about whether or not you’ll be able to belief that you just’ll be comfy all day, whether or not you’re on the workplace or operating errands on the weekend.”

As well as, Klijnsma predicts a future break up in e-commerce footwear between trust-based manufacturers and ad-spend-dependent ones amid rising acquisition prices. 

As buyer acquisition prices maintain rising, solely a kind of fashions is sustainable long-term.

Analysis helps that trust-based manufacturers see 67% increased buyer spending, validating Bareroots’ long-term method. Because of this Klijnsma’s deal with trust-building via buyer expertise has the potential to be seen much less because the idealistic method that lots of his critics have claimed it’s and extra as a strategic enterprise technique. At the moment, success is about endearing your model to customers, and Bareroots has carried out exactly that by placing individuals first. 

Klijnsma’s journey, from eight months of struggling to worldwide enlargement in six, signifies he has found one thing essential about constructing an internet footwear model that others are nonetheless lacking.

About Bareroots Footwear

Bareroots Footwear is an e-commerce model providing over 600 types of on a regular basis footwear, together with loafers, sneakers, sandals, and boots. Based in 2024 and primarily based in the US, the corporate operates within the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. It goals to make fashionable, comfy sneakers accessible for day by day put on.

For extra info, go to www.bareroots-footwear.com or observe @barerootsfootwear on Instagram.

Media Contact: information@bareroots-footwear.com