There are many different types of shoes you can offer to customers. You can sell shoes not only for babies but also for brides and grooms. In this article, altitudementor.com will discuss how profitable is a shoe store. Opening a shoe store is a versatile business. While you can open a physical store and sell shoes to local customers, you can also open an online store and provide services nationwide. Opening a shoe store is one of the most profitable ways to make money, but you need good planning and preparation. If you follow fashion and want to start a business, a shoe shop may be the ideal business for you.
Top 10 Tips How Profitable Is A Shoe Store?
As in every new business, planning, research, hard work, and establishing the right partnerships are essential for success in the shoe business.
How Does?
Let’s summarize all the details of shoe merchandising in ten separate steps – please note that the mentioned steps are based on e-commerce and print-on-demand business models.
1) Do Market Research.
How about getting an idea about what other brands that have established themselves in the shoe industry are doing? Then start by doing detailed market research.
Conduct competitive analysis, and most importantly, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the industry.
In-depth research on fashion trends, best-selling products, target market, location, and prices.
Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc. Check out shoe stores on online marketplaces. Typing “popular shoes” or “trend shoes” into the search bar during your review will allow you to conduct much more targeted research. You can also do searches that are relevant to your target audience – like “trend sneakers for women”…
Read product reviews. Take note of what attracts or frustrates customers.
Get inspired by different shoe stores, but ultimately focus on creating unique designs that will add your own interpretation, reflect your point of view, aesthetic understanding, and work discipline, and most importantly, add value to your target audience.
Repeat this type of market research often – compare your research to Google Trends, etc. You can do this through free tools and take note of the most frequently preferred product names in the search results. Don’t forget to research queries, demographics, and trends for those products, too. Observe trends in the products you plan to sell – determine whether inquiries are seasonal or trending (increasing or decreasing) over time.
2) Find the Right Niche.
A niche refers to a specific, targetable segment of a much larger audience. For the marketing world, this is group of like-minded people with specific interests and needs. And the narrower a niche is, the higher the profit the investments in that niche will bring.
You see, you need to find the right niche to reach the right customers and offer them the shoes that best suit their needs. You can use Google Trends and start your search by typing in keywords that will represent your unique selling proposition – “flashy shoes for men”, etc.
Don’t forget to review different queries, demographics, or locations that are relevant to your niche. You should understand well who makes people question products similar to your niche and try to deliver your products to this audience.
3) Determine Your Business Model.
The most critical decision to be made on the eve of opening a store is to determine the business structure.
You can choose one of three business models to open a shoe store:
Manufacturing – in this model you design, manufacture the shoes, and control a significant part of the supply chain, ensuring quality control and customization. This business model will require detailed planning, financing, installation, technical capacity, and manpower.
Wholesale – in this type of business model, you buy products in bulk from any manufacturer, keep them in a warehouse, and sell them gradually. This method is used in warehouses, inventory management, business insurance, etc. will require additional costs.
Dropshipping and Print on Demand – this is the best way to start a shoe business without worrying about the startup costs of merchandising. Your shoe store merely acts as a bridge between the end customer and the manufacturer. While the printing provider takes care of bringing designs to life and managing inventory, store owners focus on design, marketing, and communication. The best part is that the shoes will only be produced when orders are received through your online store. This way, you will not incur expenses for unsold products.
4) Create a Business Plan.
A business plan is a formal document that outlines a company’s goals and the method and timeline it will use to achieve them. In other words, it’s a solid roadmap to help you structure and run your own business.
How important are details to you? Do you prefer to follow well-defined guidelines to avoid making mistakes? So, are you considering getting financial support from third parties for shoe production? Then, you should prepare a business plan immediately. Be sure to include almost every detail in your business plan, from your company structure and business model to your product line and even financial projections or financing requests.
If you’re looking to move much faster or open a small store, use a business model canvas. The business model canvas is a tool for preparing a business plan and allows you to quickly and simply see on a single page the values your business idea will offer, to whom or how you will present it, what you will need, and how you will generate income. Thanks to it, you can also prepare your business plan in a graphic format containing key elements such as your unique selling proposition, key activities, revenue streams, resources, assets, or partnerships.
5) Determine Your Business Name and Create Your Brand Identity.
The name you give to your store, your “brand”, should represent the products you sell. Luxury boots, sports shoes or sneakers, etc. No matter which product group you sell, you should reflect your theme in your brand name. This will also enable you to create a strong brand identity.
Your brand name should also be compatible with your brand story. Why is your product line called that and what is the story behind your brand/startup? Having an unforgettable story will make your brand unique.
Apart from this, it is equally important that the store name is short, easy to remember and not difficult to spell or write.
To find the ideal name for your business, you can use online name generators, this will help you find the perfect name to identify with your brand. “Luxury shoes” or “Minimalist designer shoes” etc. It is possible to get business name suggestions by using keywords.
It is also important that your internet domain name is the same as your business name – this will give you an advantage in terms of SEO and marketing. Therefore, once you have decided on your brand name, you should also check if there is a suitable domain name for that name using tools such as who.is or GoDaddy.
Remember that you should also consider copyright and trademark registration issues when determining your business name.
6) Find the Proper Location for Your Shoe Store or Manufacturing Facility.
In the process of determining the most suitable location for your shoe brand, you have three options: using a physical location, operating entirely on an online platform, or taking a hybrid approach.
- A retail shoe store costs rent, bills, operating costs business insurance, etc. It will require a physical location that will include the requirements.
- An online store is much lower cost compared to a physical store. Another advantage it offers is that it has a much wider reach and business can be carried out from anywhere.
- However, a business can continue its sales activities by marketing its products online while producing and preparing product stock. In this case, the business in question will need a physical location for stock storage and production, which will bring about high costs.
The most fundamental advantage of undertaking production work and preparing product stock is absolute control over quality. However, this is also the most costly method of starting a shoe business.
The most practical way to eliminate extra expenses on production facilities or stock maintenance and bring your business completely online is to use print-on-demand. In this way, while you focus on design and marketing activities, printing provider companies will take care of material costs.
The only disadvantage of printing on demand is that you cannot do quality control. That’s exactly why you should make sure you find the right partner to achieve a consistent line in your product quality. Then you can open your online store and sell your shoes through marketplaces such as Shopify, Etsy, eBay or Amazon.
These e-commerce platforms require subscriptions, add-ons, hosting, etc. Note that there may be additional costs related to issues – production or finding manpower, etc. It is certain that they will be much more economical compared to large expenses.
7) Handle Legal Procedures.
Suppose you have opened your shoe store, but it is equally important to place your business on a legal basis. If you are not partnering with legal entities, you must ensure that your business is registered as an “individual entrepreneur” in official records.
In the process of legalizing your business, resolve these two issues in particular:
- Decide on your business type – sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC – limited liability company, corporation
- Have a business license/permit and tax certificate.
8) Open a Business Bank Account.
Create a separate business account for activities related to your legal entity that are unrelated to your personal assets. The same goes for your credit card.
To open a business bank account you will need:
- tax plate
- Identity card of the company’s official
- Operating certificate
- Trade registry gazette registration
- Signature Circulars
- Chamber of Commerce registration certificate
- Signature declaration approved by a notary
If you keep track of stock or have staff, you will also need to have business insurance to keep things running safely – you can check with your bank or try getting quotes from insurance companies to find out about the options they offer. Note that depending on your business model, you may also need additional licenses or permits.
You should also apply this personalization that you made in your bank account to your social media accounts. When promoting and marketing through social media platforms, be sure to create a separate account for your shoe store and avoid using your personal account.
9) Decide Which Shoes to Sell, Design, or Manufacture.
There are two different approaches to designing your shoe line:
- Make shoes from scratch. This includes shoe design, material sourcing, production process recording initial inventory, etc. It will also bring jobs.
- Focus on design and outsource production. Printing on demand will allow you to create your shoe line—in no time—with no upfront costs. While print providers take care of the production side of the business, you can focus on design and finding different product alternatives. To do this, you can partner with Printify, a platform that has a significant audience in sales through on-demand printing.
The process will work as follows:
- Create a Printify Account. Go to the Printify home page, click Start Selling, and create an account. You can also use a Google account or email address. Then get free access to Printify with unlimited products and up to five stores per account. Small businesses can upgrade to the Premium plan (annual billing will be $24.99 per month), which offers up to ten stores per account and up to 20% off all products. Another plan specifically for sellers who receive more than 10,000 orders per day is Enterprise, which offers users unlimited store openings, a 20 percent discount on all products, and personalized pricing options.
- Integrate Any Sales Channel into Your Account. Integrate the sales channel of your online shoe store—Shopify, Etsy, eBay, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce, Squarespace, etc.—with Printify. Note that this may require you to create a standalone website and pay for subscriptions. Selling shoes on marketplaces like Etsy and eBay doesn’t require an added cost, but each listing on Etsy will cost $0.20 to post.
- Choose and Design Your Shoes. Choose a shoe model and print provider from the catalog and create your dream shoe.
- Publish Your Products and Start Selling. Use the Mockup Generator to personalize the shoe you choose and bring your designs to life by clicking Start Design. Once you’ve done everything, click Save Product. Now it’s time to edit the descriptions and set the profit margin! Be careful to use appropriate keywords at this stage. Finally, choose the image and color that suits the shoes. Once you’ve completed the design and product creation, click Publish. The product will also automatically appear in the online shoe store you have integrated into your Printify page.
10) Take Advantage of Digital Marketing Strategies.
Digital marketing is important in promoting e-commerce businesses and bringing in new customers. That’s exactly why you should focus on exploring the marketing resources your e-commerce platform offers.
- When it comes to digital marketing, the first thing that comes to mind is undoubtedly social media – and social media is free. In order to reach potential customers, you should create business accounts specific to your shoe brand on various platforms. Start by publishing consistent content based on the platform’s target audience, including promotional posts and educational content that highlights brand/product features. Remember, Instagram appeals to much younger audiences than Facebook. Pinterest – especially for those who have a store on Etsy – is a great place for online marketing. Apart from these, you can also consider opening a TikTok account where you can work with a niche focus. You can leverage the power of social media to collect email addresses in exchange for promotional codes, coupons, or free ebooks, but you must ask users for permission before sending emails.
- MailChimp etc. to create email marketing campaigns. You can use the tools. MailChimp is an e-mail marketing software that allows you to create your own e-mail designs, prepare e-mail newsletters, reach thousands of users at the same time, and allows you to analyze them by keeping detailed statistics of your work and strengthening your e-mail marketing strategy. In addition to social media, you can also access the e-mail addresses of users/visitors through your website and use them for a much more valuable purpose. Make it easy for customers to subscribe to your page with widgets you place on your website and buttons in your Facebook store. Send customers promotional news and informative emails regarding the purchasing process. Informational emails inform customers about their order status and shipping process and are usually sent automatically. Promotional emails, on the other hand, can help you win back lost customers by providing attractive information or offers – such as seasonal discounts or information about new products.
- Optimizing the content with SEO (Search engine optimization) will also create organic traffic. Use Google Trends to research keywords that are relevant to your target audience and be sure to include them in almost every piece of content, from product descriptions to alternative text and even blog posts.
Keep in mind that each platform brings its own marketing opportunities and stays up to date by following developments in social media or the digital world.
Conditions for opening a shoe shop
a)Shoe shops must have a closed area of at least 60 m2.
b) You can sell shoes, leather accessories, bags, wallets, and belts in shoe shops.
c) In shoe shops, 1 warehouse, 2 stacking sections, toilet, safe, trial section and display sections must be shown in the sketch.
d) The toilet should be arranged so that people with physical disabilities can use it.
e) A detailed workplace layout sketch should be drawn by a technical person.
f)This location should not be changed without permission.
NOTE: It is forbidden to take items out of the shop.
Documents required to open a shoe shop
1- Copy of identity card and residence certificate
2- 2 photos
3- Photocopy of title deed.
4- Building permit document.
5- If rented, the original or notarized copy of the rental agreement.
6- Photocopy of tax plate.
7- Photocopy of the relevant Chamber of Tradesmen or Chamber of Commerce registration.
8- Insurance or bond certificate, or photocopy of retirement certificate.
9- Water subscriber card meters will be installed in the workplace
10- If there is a migration license previously issued to the same address, it will be returned to the municipality.
11- A report will come from the fire department that fire precautions have been taken.
12- A photocopy of the identity document proving that you have declared your identity to the police.
13- Signature circular, photocopy of the Trade Registry Gazette (in case of a company)
14- C. New criminal record from the Prosecutor’s Office
Note: These documents are for informational purposes only and may differ from municipality to municipality. For definitive documents, please contact the relevant municipality.
Cost of Opening a Shoe Store
You should first learn what you need when opening this type of business. Determining how much money you need to get started is one of the most important steps.
INVENTORY
One of the biggest expenses you’ll need to cover when opening a shoe store will be your starting inventory. This cost will vary depending on the type of shoes you want to sell.
STORE LOCATION
Shop location costs will vary depending on your city and neighborhood. Shops located in popular districts of big cities are rented at higher prices than shops in small cities or less preferred neighborhoods. Your costs will vary depending on how square meters the shop is (it must have a closed area of at least 60 m2) and whether you rent or buy the shop.
LICENSE/REGISTRATION
Before opening your shop’s doors to your customers, you need to obtain business licenses and permits. Before applying to the municipalities you are affiliated with, you must make sure that the building complies with the approved zoning project and has a residence permit. You can download the application forms from the municipalities’ websites and find out which documents you need to bring for the application.
ADVERT
Advertising expenses for your new shoe store will vary depending on the advertising tools you will use to promote your business. The costs of television and radio advertisements vary depending on the frequency of advertisements and broadcast hours. You can promote your company using social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Decide how much you need to spend on advertising by evaluating your startup costs.
OPERATING EXPENSES
In fact, when we open a new place, we all want it to be famous immediately. But the truth is that your shop needs to spread its reputation and build a customer base to become a profitable business. Before opening shoe shops, they must have sufficient capital to cover at least 3-6 months of operating expenses. Determine how much your store location, utilities, staff, advertising, and inventory costs. To determine the correct amount of money, include any additional startup costs needed to open your shop.
If you provide detailed information about the shoe shop you want to open, our experts will make a cost calculation for you.
Is the Shoe Business Profitable?
The profit margin of the global shoe market is quite high and there are no signs of the industry slowing down.
Especially online shoe sales are a very profitable business model. So much so that in the third quarter of 2023, the global shoe market generated a revenue of $381.90 billion. It is predicted that the market will grow by 5.88 percent every year until 2027.
Last word
In our article, we included the details of opening a shoe store. We provided critical information about the design and production stages of the shoes you will sell, the platforms on which they will be sold, and customer base creation and marketing strategies. Most importantly, we talked about ways to bring this dream to life without requiring capital.
Now it’s your turn. Make your dream come true and open your shoe store with the power of print-on-demand.
Lots of sales!
