How a Footwear Company Helped Healthcare Workers While Letting Customers Save Money
How a Footwear Company Helped Healthcare Workers While Letting Customers Save Money
Facebook BusinessVancouver-based Vessi Footwear launched in 2017 with stylish sneakers that were also waterproof — a feature that co-founders Mikaella Go, Tony Yu and Andy Wang realized people wanted but didn't have. Earlier this year, when the co-founders saw how their community reacted and responded to COVID-19, they learned from them once more: Though the global pandemic may have diminished customer spending, it fueled a desire to do good for others and support small businesses.
This feedback inspired Vessi’s first “Choose What You Pay” campaign, where customers pick their price for certain products, determining whether they’d save money or have the amount saved translate into face masks donated to healthcare workers. If a customer chose a discount of 30% on a pair of shoes, the company would donate 50 face masks. If a customer chose to pay full price, the company would donate 110 masks. Vessi spread the word through posts and video ads on Facebook, and in just two weeks, the initiative raised enough for Vessi to donate more than 400,000 surgical masks.
We know that many business owners are looking for new ways to serve their customers through the coronavirus outbreak, so we asked Mikaella to tell us more about where Vessi gets inspiration and how they’ve adapted to meet changing market needs.
When the coronavirus outbreak started, how did Vessi respond?
We’ve always had a community-first approach, so we started with an initiative to donate 2,000 pairs of shoes to support frontline medical workers. When we received more requests than we could deliver on as a small business, we asked our Facebook community how else we could help, and the resounding answers were: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and relief discounts. We combined both requests into the Choose What You Pay campaign, which we promoted on Facebook and Instagram, and were incredibly moved by the number of people who contributed.
How are you continuing to innovate during this time?
The stories and suggestions our community shared helped us realize that there are more ways we can give back. We launched our Vessi Community Fund, which provides support to individuals with projects that make a difference and spread happiness in their local communities. Anyone across North America with a project in mind is invited to apply for funding.
What types of projects have the Vessi Community Fund supported?
Projects have ranged from handing out lunches to the homeless, 3D printing PPE, delivering groceries and painting uplifting murals. We’re backing the fund with $100,000, in addition to donations from our community through an updated Choose What You Pay initiative. In just 10 days, our fund grew to over $250,000.
How have the Choose What You Pay results impacted your vision for the company’s future?
The Choose What You Pay initiative allowed us to support the community more than ever before, thanks to the help of our customers. We’re hopeful that this business model will continue for the longer term, as it enables us to continuously give back to the community that got us to where we are today. We hope that more companies can employ a model like this one.
What have been the biggest learnings from your efforts during the coronavirus pandemic?
We’ve learned how to be more agile through listening to our community and not being afraid to pivot the business if drastic changes happen. Together we are stronger.
We’re continuing to explore how we can help support businesses through this challenging time, and have created resources for how retailers can adapt and respond. You can also visit our Business Resource Hub to see additional opportunities and resources.
Has your business adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic? We’d like to hear from you.
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Sign up for our monthly newsletter for the latest updates, insights, marketing trends and articles from Facebook.
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May 21, 2020
How a Footwear Company Helped Healthcare Workers While Letting Customers Save Money
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This feedback inspired Vessi’s first “Choose What You Pay” campaign, where customers pick their price for certain products, determining whether they’d save money or have the amount saved translate into face masks donated to healthcare workers. If a customer chose a discount of 30% on a pair of shoes, the company would donate 50 face masks. If a customer chose to pay full price, the company would donate 110 masks. Vessi spread the word through posts and video ads on Facebook, and in just two weeks, the initiative raised enough for Vessi to donate more than 400,000 surgical masks.
We know that many business owners are looking for new ways to serve their customers through the coronavirus outbreak, so we asked Mikaella to tell us more about where Vessi gets inspiration and how they’ve adapted to meet changing market needs.
When the coronavirus outbreak started, how did Vessi respond?
We’ve always had a community-first approach, so we started with an initiative to donate 2,000 pairs of shoes to support frontline medical workers. When we received more requests than we could deliver on as a small business, we asked our Facebook community how else we could help, and the resounding answers were: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and relief discounts. We combined both requests into the Choose What You Pay campaign, which we promoted on Facebook and Instagram, and were incredibly moved by the number of people who contributed.
How are you continuing to innovate during this time?
The stories and suggestions our community shared helped us realize that there are more ways we can give back. We launched our Vessi Community Fund, which provides support to individuals with projects that make a difference and spread happiness in their local communities. Anyone across North America with a project in mind is invited to apply for funding.
What types of projects have the Vessi Community Fund supported?
Projects have ranged from handing out lunches to the homeless, 3D printing PPE, delivering groceries and painting uplifting murals. We’re backing the fund with $100,000, in addition to donations from our community through an updated Choose What You Pay initiative. In just 10 days, our fund grew to over $250,000.
How have the Choose What You Pay results impacted your vision for the company’s future?
The Choose What You Pay initiative allowed us to support the community more than ever before, thanks to the help of our customers. We’re hopeful that this business model will continue for the longer term, as it enables us to continuously give back to the community that got us to where we are today. We hope that more companies can employ a model like this one.
What have been the biggest learnings from your efforts during the coronavirus pandemic?
We’ve learned how to be more agile through listening to our community and not being afraid to pivot the business if drastic changes happen. Together we are stronger.
We’re continuing to explore how we can help support businesses through this challenging time, and have created resources for how retailers can adapt and respond. You can also visit our Business Resource Hub to see additional opportunities and resources.
Has your business adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic? We’d like to hear from you.
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