Inside the booming and controversial world of sneaker bots
Summary
On the other hand, brands and retailers hate them because they perceive the bot-user to not be valuable long-term customers but instead vultures who seek to buy up large quantities of limited product to resell at a markup. “If one person buys up 40% of the product just to resell it, it’s not a good customer experience for anyone,” said Chris Bossola, founder and CEO of Need Supply Co., which has dealt with bots when hosting sneaker drops. At the same time, he stressed the bot’s role in helping a certain type of consumer: the customer who uses the constant buying and selling of sneakers as a revenue source. Using one to buy shoes would technically be a breach of contract and would probably stand up in court, if it were pressed by the brands, according to an analysis from Wired . Fighting back Instead of legal action, many brands and retailers have resorted to other tactics to curb bots, like augmented reality , as exemplified by Nike when it required buyers of a collaboration with Momofuku to scan a menu from the restaurant to complete the purchase.