For some context on why it might have seemed like a good idea at the time (April 2009): * Zappos hadn't been acquired yet by Amazon (July 2009) * Amazon faile

For some context on why it might have seemed like a good idea at the time (April 2009): * Zappos hadn't been acquired yet by Amazon (July 2009) * Amazon failed to compete with Endless (launched in 2007) * Shoes seemed like a great vertical at the time : Zappos did 1B in revenue in 2008 (vs 19B for Amazon) and competitors were popping up all over the world (Zalando launched in 2008)