Shoes are among the most popular types of goods, because the need to buy shoes, especially in our country, is a vital necessity.
In addition, shoes apply to the elements of style. So a business built on the sale of shoes has every chance of being successful.
However, opening a shoe store also carries risks for the entrepreneur. A mistake in choosing the assortment or location of the store can lead to losses, and even the ruin of the enterprise.
Therefore, two cornerstones should lie at the heart of the shoe trading business:
- marketing research;
- business plan.
Marketing research is extremely important to starting a business.
Shoe stores are always under tremendous pressure from competitors. It is enough to walk through two or three shoe stores to make sure that the assortment and even prices are similar. And how could it be otherwise, if almost all stores have the same wholesale suppliers.
Therefore, in order to win the competition, you need to know exactly what kind of shoes you need to buy, in what quantities and in what period. To do this, you need to know your target customer.
And the only way to find out is through market research. By conducting surveys and surveys in the proposed area for opening a store, you can quite accurately identify the preferences of customers and determine for yourself the price range of the future store. It can be an elite salon with expensive high-quality shoes, or it can be a democratic store with inexpensive popular products.
Depending on the price range and you will need to order shoes from wholesale suppliers.
For example, on average, the share of men’s and children’s shoes in sales is approximately 20%. All other sales are for women’s shoes. However, this ratio can be different in different areas, and future profit depends on the correct structure of the order.
The shoe trade has certain features:
- pronounced seasonality of sales;
- collection supplies.
Receiving collections from suppliers has its advantage: the retailer receives the entire range of new shoes, including the latest models.
However, such a scheme also has certain risks: the rapid sale of running samples and overstocking with models that are not in demand.
Therefore, when concluding contracts with suppliers, it is extremely important to stipulate in advance the conditions for the return of unsold goods at the end of the season, in whole or in part. This will help reduce losses and free up working capital.
Another option to get rid of leftovers can be seasonal sales. True, in order to provide discounts, it is necessary to make calculations in advance and plan for non-receipt of income.
That is why it is so important to act according to a pre-prepared business plan, which will help to avoid losses and bring the company to profit.
On our website you can order a high-quality and detailed business plan for a shoe store with all the necessary calculations.
