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E-Commerce May 06, 2022

How to Sell Shoes Online: Fundamentals

Kseniia Hrechyshkyna

Kseniia Hrechyshkyna

Copywriter

Author

Julia Tsymbal

Julia Tsymbal

Business Analyst

Expert

How to Sell Shoes Online: Fundamentals

Time to read: 20 minutes

Content

  1. Why Sell Shoes Online?
  2. Steps to Creating Your Footwear Brand
  3. Benefits of Developing Your Shoe Store on Magento Commerce
  4. Conclusion

Commercial sectors differ in multiple ways: implementation models, marketing techniques, positioning in the market, and so on. However, the general business environment implies particular pillars that are needed to prosper. The first and foremost pillar is online presence. The recipe for a successful business is simple: it includes the use of modern digital technology in conjunction with the market specifics.

In this article, we are going to overview the specifics of the footwear industry and explain how to combine them with the current e-commerce trends and how to make money selling shoes.

Why Sell Shoes Online?

Or, let’s say, why not sell shoes online? The footwear market is quite a wide niche that can serve people of all ages and with various needs. Moreover, shoes are a product in constant demand, which points to its relevance regardless of the time of the year and any other aspects that may endanger other sectors—tourism, for instance (as is well known, tourism is the sector that has been most heavily impacted by COVID-19 restrictions).

Here are some facts and figures, courtesy of Statista, to confirm the idea above:

Hence, the footwear industry is attractive in its diverse opportunities and can prove to be highly profitable, if approached correctly.

Shoes

Steps to Creating Your Footwear Brand

So, how to sell shoes online and make money? Like any other market, the shoe market evolves due to competition. Along with risks of loss, competition brings business owners the willingness to stand out from the crowd, to the extent of setting new standards sometimes. That is how e-commerce has become a mine for seeking an unparalleled solution. Further in this article, we will highlight the steps that can point you in the right direction in your digital endeavors.

Pick your niche and do market research

Choosing your niche is the first step on the journey of conquering the market; it will be of critical importance to your future direction and the ecosystem you will build and expand around your business. You can either focus on a narrow niche or select several footwear types and target a larger customer segment.

Obviously, starting with a specific type of shoes is more likely to eliminate initial risks and allows you to test your ideas in practice gradually. But if you have previously had commercial experience and are mature enough as a business owner to put higher stakes on your assortment, then you can freely combine several categories in one catalog.

So what are the most sought-after segments in the footwear market, and how can they be classified?

In accordance with a target audience, these segments are

Other groupings into which the footwear market can be divided are:

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Once you pick your niche, market research must be your second step. There is a basic set of questions you should ask yourself before moving on to significant actions:

Along with market conditions, you should have a clear picture of who your potential customers are. For this, you should create an ideal customer profile (ICP): a description of the ideal user of your products. The ICP includes all necessary information about your target audience: geographical location, gender, age range, lifestyle (active, passive), buying preferences, shopping frequency, and so on. In addition, the ICP answers some other questions such as “What problems does your business solve for your clients?” or “What makes your products more suitable to them than your competitors’ products?”

Ideal Customer Profile

Determine how you will source your products

When all general market and target audience prerequisites are collected, you can move on to the selection of how you will source the shoes you are about to sell. Generally, there are four main approaches to this process:

Dropshipping

Decide where to sell

The next step on the way to building a prosperous business is deciding on where to sell. There is a wide range of options and combinations of touchpoints with your customers. For instance, you can sell only offline, both online and offline, or focus exclusively on your digital presence. Pay attention to these three basic sales channels and, proceeding from the business data you’ve gathered earlier, pick the most appropriate sales channels or their combination.

Focus on your brand concept

There is nothing better than when you are able to realize yourself as a businessperson and creator, and there is nothing better than a well-developed brand concept. With its help, you can add value to your business and prove that what you offer to your clients is more than just a product. It significantly contributes to your brand recognition and establishes a firm emotional engagement with your customers.

Nike, an international sports footwear and apparel corporation, is a good example of a business that not only sells shoes but also translates a message. “Just Do It”, Nike’s slogan, inspires customers to greatness and motivates them to achieve their goals by wearing Nike’s sneakers.

How to create a brand concept as appealing as Nike’s and outsmart your rivals? Consider the following elements first:

Develop your online shoe business

If you opt for an e-commerce store as your primary sales channel, then this article’s section is for you. The e-store is an ideal way to kickstart your business and buy and sell shoes online, and here is why:

However, building a website is a challenging task. In the majority of cases, though, it can be rewarding if you use the services of a professional e-commerce team such as Dinarys. If you choose to entrust your shoe store project to the hands of our talented developers, we can provide you with the following website development services:

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Ready-made vs. custom development

To let you figure out which approach in website development to follow, let’s sort out the pros and cons of ready-made vs. custom development.

Ready-made website development means that you base your e-store on a box solution, such as Magento 2. This is definitely an easier and faster method to create a website than building it from scratch. However, the level of customization will be lower—each e-commerce platform has its limitations in terms of functionality. Let’s observe the pros and cons of ready-made development in more detail to determine whether this approach would fit your business needs.

Pros:

Cons:

Custom website development. This implies creating a website from scratch to include various functionalities developed to be as efficient as possible. In contrast to ready-made solutions, this option is more flexible but also more expensive.

Pros:

Cons:

Efficient marketing strategy: what to consider?

Whether you choose a ready-made solution or decide to build a website from scratch, you should build an efficient marketing strategy to engage your website visitors and get recognition among shoe-shopping fans. The main pillars of your marketing plan are

Social Networks

Benefits of Developing Your Shoe Store on Magento Commerce

Magento is an e-commerce platform that provides multiple opportunities for designing a top-notch brand identity and presenting it effectively online. As specialists with years of dedicated experience in website development, in our practice we only use proven technology. That is why we often recommend Magento to our clients.

Must-have features of your shoe store

Let’s figure out why Magento can be a worthwhile investment and what benefits it may bring to your online shoe store.

First of all, default Magento comes with a full set of all the essential features needed for developing a full-fledged e-commerce store, including:

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Conclusion

Building an online shoe store, like any e-commerce store, requires a thorough understanding of the market and potential customers’ needs. This information is a starting point for any successful brand.

Footwear businesses can leverage different sales channels, from social media and marketplace platforms to full-fledged physical and online e-commerce stores. The latter is the most efficient solution for creating a comprehensive brand concept.

As e-commerce consultants with years of experience in developing e-commerce solutions from idea to realization, we know how to promote your brand’s values through the use of digital technology. Contact us today to discuss how to start an online shoe store together with Dinarys!

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