Generally, the sites are very similar. They offer variety, color choice, monograming. A customer can develop the shoe they want to meet their needs. Neither web site was particularly easy to navigate. In terms of use, I didn’t find much difference. The Nike page was barely more navigable. Timberland’s links didn’t always take you to where you expected to go.
Pricing seems to be very different between the shoes. The boat shoes I built on Timberland’s site were $110, regardless of what I customized. Nike’s shoes started at a much higher price point. The pair I customized was $210. The Timberland shoes would ship within 7to 8 weeks, while Nike promised a 5 week turn around.
I was unimpressed with either company’s customization experience. The Nike site was flashier and faster. The Timberland site, however, allowed customization from the sole up, where Nike’s shoes started as a platform with customizable components, but you had to pick a specific design. Overall experience goes to Timberland. I felt like I was actually designing a shoe instead of Nike’s paint by number feel.
Timberland’s strengths include variety – color, trim, styles. There was relative ease in designing the shoe and Timberland’s site provided a good step by step process. There were 2 weaknesses that I noted. The first is the processing time. 7-8 weeks is a long time to wait for the shoe when you can buy it tonight in a shoe store. The second is the pointlessness of the customization. I do not understand the reason why one would need to create custom Timberland boots, which makes the exercise superfluous.
Nike’s strengths are similar to Timberland’s. There is significant variety, and ease of design. Additionally, there seems to be a purpose to custom designing athletic footwear and sportswear. This might be useful for team sports, schools, and clubs. The first major