‘Toms shoes‘, a shoe brand introduces the concept of “one for one” which suggests that for each pair of shoe that a customers purchases a pair of shoe would be given to someone in need.
In Stefan Tan’s blog he argues that this concept is superficial and does not solve real problems. He claims that local producers will not be able to compete with this as toms would just be handing out free shoes. He also added that this would lead to job losses and might worsen the social economic conditions in certain places.
For most of Stefan’s argument I agree with him. One thing I strongly disagree on is that the local producers will get affected by this type of business strategy. I believe that toms will give out shoes to people who can not afford buying shoes in the first place. These people would rather walk barefoot and spend their money on food to survive. Hence, I feel that this will not affect local producers as these people were never a part of the market in the first place.
One more thing i would like to add is that, although giving out free shoes might not solve real problems but it would definitely bring a smile to someones face who has never seen a shoe before. As a fundamental humanitarian gesture toms and all its customers are bringing happiness to people who simply can’t “afford” it and i commend this action.
references:
Media source:-
http://www.huntlogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Toms-shoes-Logo.jpg
