Case Study: GREATS Footwear achieves rapid direct-to-consumer growth and scalable global fulfillment with Shipwire

Direct-to-consumer sneaker sales enable GREATS to maintain a quality product while offering customers great prices

GREATS is a Brooklyn-based sneaker brand founded by industry veterans Ryan Babenzien and Jon Buscemi that launched in 2013 with a direct-to-consumer model to deliver high-quality shoes at lower prices by avoiding wholesale markups. The core challenge was building trust, brand reputation, and scalable sales primarily online—while managing fulfillment and preparing for international growth—without relying on third-party retailers or many physical stores.

GREATS solved this by crafting targeted branding and a streamlined e-commerce experience for millennial men, then partnering with Shipwire for personalized fulfillment, shipping options, and demand forecasting. The approach delivered rapid domestic growth in the first 18 months, maintained product quality and value pricing, and enabled expansion into markets including Canada, the UK, Scandinavia, and Australia while positioning the company for further global scale.

GREATS Footwear

Ryan Babenzien

Founder