Making money by doing what you like is a real possibility these days. So if you love shoes and have an intrinsic knowledge of all that shoes are, you might try your hand at making shoes and selling them online. This kind of business can work even if you are not a shoemaker, by selling what other people produce.
And selling online has never been easier now that there are so many channels to use.
Like every other business, the business of selling shoes also needs careful consideration and planning.
When you’re asking yourself how to start a shoe-selling business consider some important aspects:
- Deciding on where your audience might be, is one of them. So, will you sell offline, in a physical store, or online?
- Will you buy the shoes or make them yourself? If you’ve always been talented and just need a push start, then you can decide to become a shoemaker.
- Will the shoes you’re selling be new or not?
- How will you market your products?
- What channels will you choose?
- If you’ll be selling online through your website, how will you make it visible?
There are a lot of things to consider before proceeding with a business, but, don’t worry. We have you covered.
In learning how to sell shoes online we can give you some advice. As well as in creating your shoe website.
So, are you ready to find out how to sell shoes online and make money?
Read further and let’s put your thoughts in order.
BUY or MAKE?
Before anything else, you must start by considering what kind of shoes you will sell.
If you’ve always been passionate about making shoes and succeeded in creating a few pairs, you could try and sell them yourself.
There is an online shoe business that sells its own, unique shoe design and customers appreciate them. Actually, there are many. That it’s why, creating your own shoes is an amazing idea, especially if you have the skills. By creating the shoes, you must take into account that the materials you’ll use must be of good quality. The design must be unique and comply with the latest trends, but without imitating. You will need more money to start the business and create a brand, but there are also benefits to selling your designs.
For once, the pieces will be unique and, perhaps, handmade so the price can be higher than usual shoes. For example, you can use art to transform your shoes, manually paint them or make rare designs that will transform into your signature brand.
The competition is not as fierce and you could have a loyal customer database that can promote your shoes.
However, buying them either from manufacturers or wholesalers is less of a chore.
The manufacturer will deliver good quality shoes and charge a great price. After defining your target consumers, you will know which kind of shoes to bring and the deals will, also, be better.
Buying from a wholesaler has the great advantage of a good price, better than the one you can obtain from the manufacturer because they buy in bulk.
Now all you need to do is establish whether you’ll sell new shoes, as presented above, or take a chance with selling used shoes. The latter needs to be in great condition and if possible, designer brands so that people will be interested.
TYPE OF SHOES
Not only selecting what kind of shoes you’ll sell is an issue, but also the type is something to think about.
You could specialize in selling sports shoes, classic shoes, fancy shoes, or all of the above. Also, you could start by selling only women’s shoes, child’s shoes, or men’s shoes.
Again, the business concept is an important factor in all of this and before you dive into the selling shoes online business, make sure you have all the coordinates.
If you want your business to be successful, then think of all the pros and cons, and all the aspects this entails.
ONLINE vs. OFFLINE
After these first steps of deciding what kind of shoes to sell, you also need to establish where to sell them.
There are two possible alternatives: offline or online.
Selling OFFLINE entails opening a physical store and the budget will rise accordingly. There is the right space to think about, in the proper location. There is the design of the space, the legal aspects of opening a store, finding the suppliers and the right employees, advertising the store, and many more.
On the other hand, selling ONLINE might be the better solution if you don’t have a big budget. There are many options for online stores that can prove to be easier to manage and bring a profit sooner than expected.
So if you are still thinking about how to sell your shoes online, let us tell you that with a great eCommerce agency on your side, things are simpler than it looks.
Here are your choices for the ONLINE selling shoe business:
Use Social Media as a way to sell your shoes and promote them;
Social media has the great ability to connect your customers with the products faster than ever. The recent developments allow them to also play as your store and bring customers to your virtual doorstep.
For a startup, selling on social media could be a great and cheap option.
However, there are limited features you can use, and the stores lack the great quality of an eCommerce store.
Use a Marketplace to sell the shoes, like Amazon or eBay;
Marketplaces are amazing platforms that bring together vendors and clients in a safe online environment. It is also a great start for a new business and the clients are already there since the database for such a marketplace is huge.
The downside of selling shoes on a marketplace platform is that you cannot customize your store, you need to pay a commission and accept the terms of the platform.
Use an eCommerce Store to sell your shoes and control every aspect;
By creating your online store, you can control many features of design and function. For example, at Helix Solutions, we have a team of developers that find the right solutions for you and help you manage the store in the future.
Choosing the right platform to develop your eCommerce store on is one of the challenges, but after that, there is smooth water ahead.
The best thing about developing a website is you are in control of what it will look like, what functions will serve the audience best, you can optimize it to work best on search engines and include as many add-ons as the platform allows.
There are no commissions paid to a third party, no restrictions, no delays in payment, and no competition.
HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE?
And that brings us to the one problem all businesses have: how do you manage to get clients? Is it enough to just make the website and people will visit and buy? Well, not really.
Every business is a constant effort of advertising to its customers.
First, you’ll need to conceive a marketing plan – what actions to do to bring clients, who your clients are, what will be your prices, what media channels to use, and so on.
Prices
At about the same time you start researching the market for suppliers or materials, you need to settle the price list for your shoes. If you are making the shoes make sure to put down all your expenses, add a profit, and come up with the price. The same thing goes for cases you are buying shoes from manufacturers or wholesalers. Don’t forget to include in your prices the cost of marketing and advertising long term.
Target
An important point in a marketing plan is the target. Who will buy your shoes? Give them an exact description, from their studies to their habits, are they active, are they married, do they work at their office or are they standing all day long? As long as the description is detailed you can address your selling message so that it attracts the right kind of customers. Another important thing you’ll manage to achieve is choosing the right channels. Imagine a situation where you sell high-end women’s shoes for special occasions and you promote your business in a supermarket or use the wrong keywords. Not only you are losing money, but you’ll also be disappointed in the results.
Define brand identity
It’s time to define what your store will be named, how your logo will look so that people recognize it everywhere, set your slogan and use it in communication, and set a mission statement – why do you sell this kind of shoes?
This is how brands come to life.
Channels
Once you have all the elements that define a brand, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start promoting your website. There are many channels from which to choose. From promoting on social media and across other online platforms, to using conventional offline advertising, it all depends on budget and target. Make sure to also use an SEO specialist to help you create great online content according to your needs. At this point, we can help you with performance on search engines and getting your website on the first page. See here what Helix Solutions is offering in terms of services.
Opening an online store for a shoe-selling business can be overwhelming if you do it yourself. But with the help of a dedicated eCommerce team, your dream can be easily accomplished.
Contact our developers and see what our solutions are for your business to thrive.
