We open a shoe store. How to open a shoe store

Store location
Price policy
Suppliers
Conclusion
What equipment to choose for the store
Which OKVED code to indicate when registering a business?
What documents are needed to open a business?
Which tax system to choose for a shoe store
Do I need permissions to open shoe shop
Shoe sales technology
- - - Similar business ideas:

The shoe business will always exist - there is no doubt about it. A person cannot do without shoes and clothes, unless of course he is an “African resident”. Every person is forced to update their shoes at least 1-2 times a year. Those who pursue fashion traditions do this much more often. The demand for shoes, like food products, remains unchanged from season to season. Even in conditions of fierce competition, a shoe store can bring significant income to its owner.

How much money do you need to open a shoe store?

If you want to create a competitive shoe store, you need to be prepared to invest a considerable amount of money into the business. We are talking about 1.0 - 1.5 million rubles only for the creation of assortment and design point of sale. The “golden years” of the 90s, when the business grew from selling 20 pairs of shoes, are long gone.

As in any business, there are certain risks: poor location, lack of buyers, error in selecting the store’s assortment, high competition, opening outside the sales season, and so on. All this hits a novice entrepreneur very hard and discourages any desire to do business.

You can reduce the risk of losing funds at the start of a project by purchasing a franchise. Fortunately, today there are plenty of companies offering to work under their brand. The advantages of working under a franchise are obvious. The entrepreneur does not need to think about the design of the outlet, assortment, equipment, or train staff - the franchise company does everything for him. A businessman buys a business that is already ready and established in practice, generating income for its owner.

The downside of such cooperation is the lack of complete business freedom, which many entrepreneurs pursue. Any deviation from the franchisor's rules may result in deprivation of rights to the franchise.

However, if you decide to overcome the difficult path with your own hands, “ shoe business", you need to start by drawing up a clear plan of action - from searching for investments to choosing suppliers of goods.

Store location

Having decided on the sources of financing for the project, you need to select the premises of the shoe store. And here many newcomers may have difficulty assessing the potential of a particular place. A successful retail outlet must have sufficient customer traffic. Assessing customer flow is an important stage in business planning.

In this regard, large shopping centers or street retail with high traffic are considered the most profitable places. The external environment of the store is also important, which includes ease of approach and access for vehicles, and the availability of parking spaces.

It’s difficult for budding businessmen to get into the city’s popular shopping centers - the rental price in such places is usually “prohibitively” high. Only chain stores and famous brands. And even if you manage to get a “golden” place, the policy of the property owners is such that at any moment the rental rate can be increased significantly. New shopping centers are also a risky option - there is a chance of getting a low customer flow.

For small shoe stores, a good option is to rent the first floors of multi-story buildings. There are plenty of such places in the residential areas of the city. And although the attendance here is not the same as in the city center, the rent is much lower. Ideally, the premises for a store should be purchased as a property so as not to depend on the owner’s appetite. In this case, the residential premises must be converted into non-residential premises, in accordance with the type of permitted use.

It would be good if next to your store there is a grocery store, pharmacy, clothing store or bus stop. There is a great chance to lure visitors to these establishments to your outlet. Best advertisement in this case, it is an attractive showcase. It contains the most popular items of the product, for example Women's boots at discounted prices.

Retail space and assortment

The assortment of a shoe store directly depends on the area of the premises. Each quadrature has its own assortment matrix. When displayed, products are grouped into product groups: men's, women's shoes, children's shoes, bags and related products. Then within each group there is a division according to season, age and style.

The display cases located at the entrance to the store should be filled with the most popular products. These include women's shoe models for the current season. The main goal in this case is to make the client stay in your store and purchase the product he needs.

Experts do not recommend filling most of the shelf space with assorted goods. Since the main buyers of the shoe store are women, best places it is necessary to give to popular women's goods - boots, shoes, and so on. All other products, including men's shoes, must be placed away from the entrance.

It is also important to create a pleasant shopping atmosphere. The visitor should enjoy the process of choosing a product. Availability large number fitting rooms are a big plus for a shoe store. A comfortable environment is created by installing soft sofas, rugs in the fitting area and musical accompaniment.

Price policy

When opening a shoe store, you should decide on the price segment. Who will be your main buyer, what is their income? The most popular stores in peripheral cities are economy format stores, which are aimed at “average” and “lower average” income levels. The choice of shoe suppliers depends on what price group you work in.

It would not be superfluous to hold all kinds of promotions, competitions with gift certificates and other loyalty programs. You can create club discount cards using a cumulative system - 5%, 7% and 10% depending on the number of purchases. This is to increase the influx regular customers and your profit accordingly.

Suppliers

It is not unimportant when opening a shoe store to choose suppliers of products.

As you know, most of the shoes on our market - about 50% - come from China. Chinese suppliers They don’t always offer high-quality products, but they captivate with their low prices. Among the well-known domestic factories, one can highlight the Chelyabinsk company Unichel and the Moscow factory Paris Commune. Footwear production is well developed in the Rostov region.

If you order shoes Russian manufacturers, then there should be no problems with delivery times. The same cannot be said about working with foreign companies, when delays can last for weeks or even months. This can create some problems when preparing for the shoe store sales season. In this part, it is necessary to optimize work with transport companies and calculate the entire logistics chain in advance.

Conclusion

The shoe business can generate stable income and develop only through constant optimization of costs and purchasing prices. It is also necessary to learn to increase sales volume - without it, no savings will help. Your store should focus on increasing sales volumes combined with increasing business efficiency. In this case, success will be in your hands.

Step-by-step plan for organizing a shoe store

If you decide to open a shoe store, the first step is to study consumer demand and the competitive environment in this business and, based on this, determine the format of the future store. And then proceed to the next steps:

Choose a favorable location for the store and the appropriate premises.
Equip retail space.
Purchase goods according to the assortment.
Hire staff.
Organize advertising of the store and product.

How much can you earn selling shoes?

The revenue of a small shoe store operating in the middle price segment will be about one and a half million rubles (if the markup on goods is on average 90%). Minus current expenses and net profit will approximately be about 250 thousand rubles. Business profitability is within 15-16%.

In previous articles, we talked about various topics related to opening a children's shoe store. It remains to answer the question - a Is it profitable to sell children's shoes??

Almost any type of activity can be called profitable if you correctly draw up a business plan and strictly follow it. But it’s better for small businesses to answer the question “is it profitable to sell children’s shoes?” before mastering business planning.

If you look from ordinary people's point of view– prices for children’s shoes are gradually catching up with prices for adult shoes, and in some places even exceed them, so the answer to the question about benefits lies on the surface – “of course, it’s profitable to do this!”

WITH expert points of view– trading in children's goods is a highly profitable business, and if done correctly, the payback period is 9-12 months. Children's shoes, like other products for children, are constantly in demand - after all, feet are constantly growing, and it happens that in one season you have to purchase several pairs of shoes. Also, the clear benefit is supported by the fact that children’s shoes cannot be bought for future use - after all, you can never accurately predict how the size of your feet will change.

Children grow quickly, so they need to be constantly wearing shoes.

However, very often we see stores open and close before they even have been open for a year. This happens by various reasons: the place of sale is incorrectly chosen, the assortment does not meet customer expectations, etc. Therefore, you should first think through everything and then start a business. To do this, I recommend reading the following articles: , .

What difficulties may arise?

sharp fluctuations in the dollar/euro exchange rate -> this will inevitably affect purchase prices;
filling the warehouse with slow-moving sizes -> significant reduction in working capital;
unpredictable weather conditions - snow in September, etc. -> refusal to purchase models of the current season;
the emergence of large chain stores in the neighborhood;
delay in shipments by suppliers;
detection of defects after the return period regulated by the supplier.

The difficulties described above may lead to the closure of the store

What actions can you take?

during periods of currency instability, more carefully control the process of replenishing the warehouse - this way you can reduce the risks of purchasing goods at too high a cost;
carry out promotions and incentives for the sale of leftovers;
promptly respond to weather changes, track season changes;
improve the professionalism of sellers and create comfortable conditions for buyers;
choose a reliable supplier;
check the entire batch of shoes after arrival for visible manufacturing defects.

Based on the above, I work with a website company - this supplier has no delays in shipments, convenient conditions for working with defects, fast delivery, everything is always done on time. There are a large number of models, the choice is huge.

The site company is a reliable supplier

Is it profitable to sell children's shoes when opening a franchise store - pros/cons

When conducting market analysis, studying competitors and potential buyers, You will probably be faced with the question of which store to open - multi-brand or mono-brand, under the franchise of one of the manufacturers?

Pros and cons of a store opened under the franchise of one shoe brand

At the business planning stage, it is necessary to consider all options and take into account the pros/cons of the chosen one. In the case of franchising, you already have experience and history, all that remains is to adapt them to your business and draw conclusions. If the only disadvantage is a brand restriction, there are franchises of retail outlets representing several shoe manufacturers at once.

A point in a shopping center or a convenience store?

Many people are well aware of the differences in these two options, let’s look at the details:

— high rental costs in a shopping center

Yes, this is one of the most powerful stop factors for beginning entrepreneurs, because in a shopping center it is quite difficult to estimate the sales volume and calculate the return on high rent. The location of the shopping center itself and your point of sale in it, as well as the presence of competitors, are very important here. However, Lately, the cost of renting a room on the first line with good traffic in a residential area is almost comparable to the cost of renting in a shopping center. The only question that remains is the market capacity – how many potential clients of a residential area are included in that same traffic.

The shopping center has high rental costs

— incoming flow of the shopping center and customers of the convenience store

The term “traffic” is becoming increasingly popular; they are trying to use it to estimate the volume of traffic within retail outlets. If we consider this term within the framework of a shopping center, it will be radically different on weekdays and weekends, while the rental rate is the same throughout the entire time. Whether it will pay off with an influx of customers only on weekends or not remains to be calculated. At the same time, we understand that the increase in clients on weekends in shopping centers is directly proportional to their decrease in residential areas of the city. Convenience stores have to be open until 8-9 pm on weekdays in order to be available to customers who come home from the center after work.

Attendance in shopping centers on weekends is higher than on weekdays

— influence of weather conditions

In one of the articles we already talked about the spontaneous nature of purchasing children's shoes - for example, rubber boots in rainy times, or felt boots during a sharp cold snap (in this article:). However, these same factors also influence reverse side– in bad weather, customers tend to take refuge in a shopping center and spend time productively, and the number of customers at a retail point of sale “near home” is sharply reduced.

Because of large quantity tenants in the shopping center, opportunities for marketing and advertising campaigns are regulated by the administration of the shopping center and do not always work to their full potential. On the contrary, a store in a residential area has many options that you can experiment with almost every day. And also use non-standard spaces for advertising (banners on residential buildings, banners on roads, drawings on asphalt, etc.)

My name is Rodionova Daria. I am one of the authors of the blog site

After graduating from college, I came to work in the most in-demand field of recent decades - sales. I gradually increased my professional level and grew by career ladder. Gradually, I created a department of professional salespeople, which I managed for several years.

Today I own a retail store of children's goods - clothes, shoes, toys, transport - and two online stores. Ten years of experience in sales gave me strength when starting my business, but there were also many difficulties that I did not even suspect.

It's no secret that shoes in our country are a product that is in high demand. Due to the climatic conditions of our country, every season we are forced to purchase new shoes, boots, sneakers, and sandals. In this regard, many do not miss the opportunity to make money by opening their own shoe boutiques. It should be recognized that with the proper organization of a business selling sneakers or ankle boots, you can really make a good income.

Where to begin

What is needed for this? Firstly, a business plan for a shoe store, thought out in detail and drawn up on paper. And, of course, start-up capital, without which entrepreneurship is impossible in principle. However, before we consider the business plan of a shoe store in more detail, it is necessary to mention some important features of this type of business activity.

Business nuances

You must take into account the fact that it is seasonal. Regardless of whether the winter collection has been sold or not, when summer comes, you need to purchase shoes appropriate for this time of year.

The buyer should be able not only to purchase new models of shoes, but also to choose them based on his foot size. And if you only have one or two shoe sizes in stock, the customer may simply turn to the exit and make a purchase from your competitors.

When developing a business plan for a shoe store, you must clearly define what consumer “audience” it will be aimed at. If these are people with a low level of income, then it hardly makes sense for you to scrupulously follow the latest collections of “shoe” fashion. They may become simply illiquid.

Wealthy clients, on the contrary, should not be offered models that fall into the budget category. Also think about what age group of consumers your shoes will be intended for. Perhaps you will focus on shoes for adults, and perhaps also on children's shoes. In general, the choice is yours!

The above financial document must contain a detailed cost estimate, namely how much money you will need to start. You must rent premises, purchase goods, equipment for a shoe store (computers, cash registers, furniture), pay taxes and wages And so on.

You will have to spend quite a bit of money for these purposes. In the above document, you must also reflect the amount of your potential income; calculate over what period of time you will be able to return your investment.

Many people are primarily interested in the question of how much the initial costs of a shoe store will cost. This depends on a number of factors: the area of your retail outlet, its design and location, as well as the specifics of retail equipment and product range. Your shoe store business plan should provide a comprehensive answer to the question of the size of your initial investment.

Documentation

In order for your business activity to be legal, you need to obtain the appropriate documents from government agencies.

In other words, you must register your shoe business with the tax office. In addition, your activities must be coordinated with supervisory structures, such as the sanitary and epidemiological station and the fire inspectorate.

In addition, you must have all the necessary certificates on hand that would confirm that the shoes you are selling are of high quality. Don’t forget to also get an outdoor advertising passport and sign a waste disposal agreement.

Equipment

It should be noted that the equipment for a shoe store can be very diverse: it all depends on the thickness of the wallet and the width of the flight creative imagination. The main thing you should remember is that the buyer must have free access to the shelves on which the entire range is presented model range shoes IN mandatory provide shelving for a shoe store.

It’s much more pleasant to look at sneakers or boots on special shelves than when they just lie on boxes of several tiers. Carefully consider the design of the room: decorate the store windows as brightly as possible, take care of the correct lighting and the desired air temperature in your boutique.

The client should feel as comfortable as possible when entering your store. The design of your premises should “shout” that your business in the field of entrepreneurship, as they say, is “going uphill”.

When visiting your retail outlet, the client should be charged with exclusively positive emotions. If you manage to achieve this, then know: the volume of your trade turnover will increase significantly. Don’t know how to properly arrange the interior space of a store? Use the services of professionals.

Location

It is advisable that your shoe boutique is located in a residential area of the city with a high population density. The store should be located near the market and large supermarkets. Choose an area where parking for vehicles is located near your outlet. Take into account the fact that it would be convenient to get to your boutique by trolleybus or tram.

Also think about what to name your shoe store. It should be a euphonious, exclusive and easy-to-remember word or even a phrase. However, keep in mind that in an attempt to be original, you may choose a name that is already being used by your competitors. This, of course, cannot be allowed. Find out the names of the shoe stores located in the same area as your boutique.

How to choose suppliers

On the question of how to open a shoe store, one of key points is choosing a shoe supplier. As a rule, there are no problems with wholesale purchases. As an option, you can try cooperation with several Russian enterprises and companies that manufacture footwear products in neighboring countries, for example, in Belarus. In RuNet you can find all the necessary contact information about both small and large manufacturers of boots and sneakers.

A shoe store is a very profitable business, because people buy shoes all year round, be it fur-lined boots for the winter or light sandals for the summer. However, a beginner in this business may face obstacles that he is not even aware of. So how to open a shoe store and succeed in this business?

Studying the market

When you firmly decide to yourself that you want to open a shoe store, the second step for you will be to determine the format of your store: its size, the target audience, trade format, type (sports, winter, men's, women's), class (elite, middle class or low) and so on. Regardless of which format you choose, you must evaluate the conditions for running a shoe business in your city, and this is exactly what market research is done for.

First, study in detail all the shoe stores in your city, namely their location, product range, price category and number of customers.
Highlight your strongest competitors.
From the information obtained, determine the most profitable areas in your city and note where your competitors are located nearby.
It is especially recommended to conduct a short survey of residents of profitable areas: where they prefer to buy shoes, how often and approximately at what price.
Select the market segment in which you are going to operate: whether your store will be for low-income (constant sales), medium or high-income (premium store) customers. Evaluate the information you have collected for the selected segment.

Now that you have an idea of the demand and competition in the footwear market, you can roughly estimate whether your business will generate income in such conditions. If your answer is “yes,” then you should determine the strategy and direction of business development. And to do this, you need to ask yourself how your shoe store will differ from other stores, that is, how you can attract customers.

Choosing a place

When choosing a location for your store, base it on the results of your market research. The best option is to rent premises in a shopping center. The advantages of such a rental: a constant flow of visitors and reduced costs for repairs and security. Disadvantages: high fees and difficulty in obtaining the lease itself, since usually shopping centers choose well-known brands as tenants, and negotiate a lease in the shopping center as early as possible, even at the stage of construction of the center.

If it is not possible to rent premises in a shopping center, then it is important to ensure that the premises you choose comply with all necessary sanitary standards and fire safety rules.

Also, you should not make the sales area small (less than 50 sq. m.), otherwise this will create inconvenience for customers when trying on shoes. The room should also have a small space for storage, where boxes of shoes will be hidden.

We resolve legal issues

To open any business, you first need to register with tax service as a subject of taxation, there will be your or. If you don't plan to work with legal entities and in the future to open a chain of stores, then registering an individual entrepreneur will be quite enough.

If you want to open a small enterprise (up to 100 employees), then you fall under (STS) - 6% of income, or 15% of income minus expenses. Some experts, however, recommend (UTII). For retail UTII is calculated depending on the area trading floor and the number of days of carrying out business activities in a month as a taxpayer. Both tax systems are accepted on a voluntary basis, and you have the right to choose the most convenient one for your company or combine both.

From the documents, you will also need expert opinions from the SES and fire supervision to be able to conduct trade in a certain premises.

In addition, to trade some types of shoes, additional documents are required. Thus, certification is required for rubber and leather shoes (children's and special ones). For some other types, such as rubber (not counting children's), sports rubber, shoes with artificial leather uppers, and so on, declarations of conformity are required.

We purchase equipment

The most important equipment in your store will be cash machine, which must be sealed and registered with the tax service. In addition to the cash register, you will need the following:

racks and podiums for shoes;
mirrors;
poufs, rugs, spoons for trying on;
display cases for other products (creams, brushes, accessories, etc.);
counter for cash register;
signboard.

We purchase products

Your product range will mainly depend on the results of your market research. As a rule, children's shoes are in greatest demand, followed by women's shoes. Men's shoes are the least likely to be purchased. In addition, your store may sell products such as bags, suitcases, shoe polishes and brushes, hosiery, and so on.

You can purchase products directly from shoe manufacturers. To do this, you should establish business relationships with them. You can also buy shoes on the wholesale market and sell them in your store at retail prices, but this scheme will be less profitable.

We are recruiting employees

A medium-sized self-service store with a sales area of about 50 square meters. m. the following personnel will be required:

Accounting can be maintained by both the administrator and the business owner; or you can use the services of a third party.

We calculate costs and payback

Before opening a shoe store, you should calculate the initial costs and return on investment. Below are approximate calculations for a small store.

So, let's assume that you rent a separate premises with a sales area of 50 square meters. m., located not in a shopping center, but in a place with a constant flow of clients. The price segment is medium, the tax system is UTII.

The average revenue of a small shoe store can be about 1.5 million rubles. To calculate the cost, let's take the average market markup for shoes of 90%. Hence the cost will be 1,052,000 rubles.

Based on the calculation that capital costs will be 4,200,000 rubles, and net profit will be 235,000 rubles, the store will fully pay for itself in about 18 months.

As you may have noticed, the numbers have been averaged and rounded to give you a rough idea of the costs and profitability of a shoe store. Thus, using this information, you can create a shoe store business plan that will help you in the step-by-step implementation of your idea.

How to open your own business? How to compose? Where to begin? What should you pay attention to first of all, so as not to make common mistakes? These and many other questions are asked by many aspiring businessmen. We know that opening any business, especially if it is done by an inexperienced person, is associated with many problems, difficulties, and incomprehensible situations. In this article we want to tell you how to open your own shoe store, and also give some tips on how to create shoe store business plan.

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But before you read the article further, you must clearly understand that any business in the trade sector faces very serious competition. Don't expect any profit for the first few months. It’s very good if you can work without losses, but this doesn’t happen often. Alas, but this is reality modern business, and there is no escape from them. Of course, maybe you are lucky and lucky with the location of the store (in a large shopping center in a very accessible place), or you put in a super new product that is in great demand. Or perhaps you will have a good seller who can even sell sand on the beach. Yes, there are lucky people who start working at a good profit already in the first month. But this is most likely an exception to the rule, and a very big luck. Don't count on luck when you start own business. Most likely, the realities will not be so bright, and the calculations presented in the business plan of a shoe store will not always coincide with what will actually happen. You will have to work very hard to build credibility, a client base, and trust from buyers.

Documents required to open a shoe store

The first thing you should start with is collecting the necessary documents that will allow you to do business and run your own business. Such documents include:

Document on state registration of a business entity. Most often, to open a shoe store, I register an individual entrepreneur. In rare cases, if a chain of stores is planned, you can register a legal entity.
Registration with the tax service and receipt of relevant taxpayer documents. You also need to decide on the taxation system. Most often it is a single tax. If you have a large turnover, or you are going to open several stores, then you can consider other taxation options that will best suit your business plan.
Lease agreement, or documents certifying ownership of the premises.
List of products that will be approved by Rospotrebnadzor.
Conclusion fire service that the premises are safe for both workers and visitors. In order to obtain such a conclusion, you need to comply with all fire service standards, install sensors and fire extinguishing systems.
Conclusion from the SES that the premises meets all norms and standards and does not pose a threat.
An agreement with a company that removes solid household waste.

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If you are planning to rent a store in a shopping complex, then the list of documents required to conduct business may be wider. This is due to the fact that shopping center owners often require additional evidence and confirmation of the legality of your business. But, as a rule, collecting such papers is not difficult, and it will take no more than an hour.

I would also like to note that some shoes require mandatory certification. That is, you should always have a quality certificate that confirms better properties, safety, environmental friendliness of the offered product. These shoe categories include:

Children's shoes that are made of leather or rubber
Rubber and textile sports shoes
Children's felted shoes
Yuft shoes
Chrome shoes
shoes, the upper of which is made of textile materials, felt or felt
shoes whose uppers are made of synthetic leather (except army leather);
shoes, the upper of which is made of artificial species skin

It is advisable to have documents for any product that will be presented in your store. Although buyers are not often interested in such documents, regulatory and inspection authorities will definitely ask for their availability. If you do not have certificates, you risk receiving a serious fine.

If you plan to purchase goods from foreign partners, then here you should also follow a number of rules and submit Required documents. We also advise you to familiarize yourself with the law on consumer protection, and pay special attention to the light industry.

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When opening a shoe store, conduct market research

Opening any business involves conducting detailed marketing research. If you only rely on your feelings, on the advice of friends, or on a fashionable trend in the development of one or another line of business, then the business may end before it even begins. What works for someone in a neighboring city or even region may be completely unclaimed in your case. We recommend conducting the following research:

First you need to study the demand for the product you sell. Fortunately, there is always a demand for shoes, and it is unlikely to decrease.
Analyze competitors. Explore the most popular and large shoe stores in your area. Their assortment, pricing policy, ways to attract and retain customers. You can study the flow of customers, conduct some kind of survey among them, determining what they liked and what they didn’t like about this store.
Explore the area. Choose the best location for your future store. The store should be located in a crowded place, with a good flow of customers, should be visible from different angles, and attract the attention of passers-by.
If possible, conduct a large-scale study, surveying several thousand area residents about where and how they shop for new shoes. You should be more interested in what format of stores people prefer - discount stores, with big discounts, but not high quality, stores in the mid-price category, or stores with goods whose price is above average.

Next, based on a comprehensive study, you need to make a decision regarding the rationality of starting a business. Will you fit into the existing market model? Will your product be in demand? Can you compete with existing stores? Are there any prospects for the development of your shoe store? If the answers are positive and you see real opportunities, then you can start looking for premises and really start developing your business.

I would like to note that such marketing research is not cheap. But it’s better to spend $2,000 on data collection than to open a shoe store blindly and lose ten times more.

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Choosing premises for a shoe store

So you're done marketing research, realized that the business has good prospects and the product is in demand. Now you can move on to choosing a premises for your store. Let's look at several options for the location of your store, and highlight the main pros and cons of this choice.

The first thing that comes to mind when you think about a shoe store is shopping mall. Undoubtedly, getting retail space in the center is a great success. The advantages are obvious:

A large flow of potential customers who come to shop and hope to find something interesting, inexpensive, and fashionable. Many people just come to go shopping, but often such “walks” end in successful purchases.
The shopping center provides you with ready-made premises that require a minimum of investment. All communications have been carried out, the entrance group has been decorated. You just need to take care of the interior, making it in your signature style.
Many expenses are reduced to zero. For example, there is no need to hire security guards, install alarm systems, install surveillance cameras and fire protection systems. The shopping center has already taken care of everything.

But renting in a shopping center also has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, it is not so easy to get a place in a large and famous shopping center. Of course, if you are not a representative of a global brand or a famous trademark. Even if you somehow manage to agree on renting a store, will it be profitable? The price is what may put you off. Renting a square meter can cost like a pair of very expensive shoes. And the store is at least 30-40 square meters. Another disadvantage is that you will have to adapt to the rules and regulations shopping center, and this may not always be convenient in terms of doing business.

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The second option is to rent a retail space somewhere in the city center, or on “living” and “passable” streets. You can decorate the store in your own style, you will not depend on the shopping center’s opening hours, you will be able to manage your time and all the rented space at your own discretion.

And the third option is rapidly developing and built-up residential areas. It would seem that opening a shoe store in a residential area is a little illogical. But if you see that a dozen multi-storey buildings have already appeared in the area in a year, and the same number are in the process, this means that there will soon be many potential buyers here. You can place a store on the first floors of new buildings.

Necessary equipment and personnel of a shoe store

In terms of equipment selection, the shoe store is not very picky. You won’t need a lot of different interior items, and if everything is arranged correctly, in a minimalist style, then the costs will be minimal. The store must have:

Racks and shelves on which shoes will be displayed. If you want to earn additional income, then you should place shelves with socks, shoe care products, and other necessary little things near the racks.
Try-on areas should be equipped with rugs and poufs. There should definitely be spoons there so that the buyer can carefully try on new shoes. It is considered good practice to have disposable socks that need to be put on before trying on. This is especially true in the summer, when many people do not wear socks, or wear shoes that do not need them.
Mirrors should also be in your store. It is advisable to put several of them different types. The first ones are small, where only part of the leg will be visible. The second ones are large, where the buyer will see himself in full growth.
Also, do not forget about cash registers that need to be registered with the tax office.

That's the entire minimum set of equipment. Further arrangement of the store depends solely on your vision and design imagination. You can use some unusual lamps, backlights, glare, reflectors to give the store and products a more interesting and unusual look.

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If we talk about personnel, then their choice should be approached with special attention. The success of trade depends on the professionalism of the seller, on how he knows how to present the goods, how he understands the psychology of the buyer, how he can understand what a person wants and offer him exactly that. If you are opening a serious store, targeting middle- and high-income customers, then take the time to choose a good employee and motivate him with a decent salary. For a small store, up to 30 square meters in size, one sales assistant, who can also be a cashier, is enough. If the store is medium or large sizes, has several departments, and is located in a busy place with a large flow of people, then you need to hire three or more salespeople, and a separate cashier. No client should have to wait for a consultant, and everyone should be given due attention. The staff must have a commodity specialist who also performs the functions of a specialist in purchasing goods; an accountant is desirable, but his work can be performed by the entrepreneur himself, as well as communication with the tax office. The positions of security guard and cleaner may be optional.

Advertising and work with customers

Advertising is the engine of trade, and you can’t argue with that. Without thoughtful and competent advertising, you will not be able to win the race against your competitors and attract new customers. Therefore, do not spare money on various techniques advertising your shoe store. But here the question arises: what advertising methods are the most effective?

Internet advertising. If you have your own website, and you should have one, and you sell not only in the real world, but also through the Internet, then it would be logical to advertise on the Internet. Now it is not a problem to deliver goods throughout the country in the shortest possible time, while significantly expanding your sales geography. But if this seems very troublesome for you, then you can simply promote your store using regional queries like “Buy shoes in Ryazan”, or “shoe store Ryazan”. Select the most popular and most in-demand queries, and bring your site to the TOP of search engine results based on them. This way, you can attract many new, potential buyers via the Internet.
Advertise in local newspapers and magazines. If you have any fashion magazines in your city, you can try advertising there. But here you need to look at the reach of the audience, its age, and ability to pay.
Advertising on regional Internet portals. Very often, cities have local news resources or websites that talk about city life. They offer banner advertising on the pages of their portal.

It is important to create an information bomb in the first weeks of opening a store. A similar effect can be achieved by posting leaflets, through ordered banners near the store, billboards, through promotions and other methods of street advertising. Declare yourself loudly, declare yourself effectively.

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Now a few words about working with the buyer. It consists in meeting the person correctly, paying due attention, presenting the product competently, and helping with the choice of a pair of shoes. You also need to use some secrets from sales techniques that will help to attract the buyer more and “help” him make a purchase:

According to statistics, 95% of shoppers walk through the store from left to right. Therefore, the most interesting, beautiful, and attractive models should be located to the right of the entrance. This is done so that the person walks in a circle, looks at the entire assortment, and does not stop immediately as soon as he enters the store.
All products should be located no higher than the eye level of a person of average height. The buyer should not lift his head to look at something, much less stretch and stand on his toes to get the pair of shoes he likes.
Products must be clearly grouped based on season, gender, age, size, etc. There must be a clear pattern, and no chaos.
It is necessary to organize convenient places for fitting, and calculate them in such a way that even with the maximum flow of clients, there is enough space for everyone.

Where to buy shoes

And the last thing I would like to talk about is suppliers. The best option is to purchase directly from manufacturers' factories. In this case, you will have to sign a supply agreement and take a certain volume each season. On the one hand, this is convenient, because you get shoes at a very good price, and without extra markups from intermediaries. But on the other hand, you oblige yourself with a contract, which is not good.

You can also consider the option of supplying shoes from abroad. If you need something cheaper and of lower quality, then this is China, Türkiye, Thailand, India. If you want to sell more expensive ones, then it’s the same China, only a different price category, or shoes from Italy. By the way, don't be surprised about China. The guys there do absolutely everything and of completely different quality. If you pay $10, you will get boots worth that amount of quality. If you pay $100, the quality will be much better.