Reinventing the footwear industry: the role of digital technologies in the market development strategy of an Italian Born Global firm

Design Italian Shoes is an agile fashion-luxury company combining the excellence of Italian craftsmanship with the most advanced digital technologies by providing a personalised shopping experience and operating the digitalisation of shoe production. The company’s success is attributable to the entrepreneurial atmosphere typical of the territorial concentration in which it is localised, inside the Fermano-Maceratese industrial district in the Marche region in Italy. The case is an example of a small company that developed a disruptive business model by relying on digital technologies to reinvent the dynamics of the footwear sector. The company is identifiable as a Born Global as it started its internationalisation from its establishment. It developed an omnichannel marketing strategy and has demonstrated resilience during recent crises (e.g., the COVID-19 emergency). Based on the successful results, the company should evaluate which direction to take for further expansion in international markets.