India’s shoe market is one of the fastest-growing in the world, with an estimated value of $10 billion and a projected growth rate of 8% annually. India has a huge potential customer base for a shoe retail business. This presents a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs who are looking to enter the market and capitalise on this growing trend. With a diverse range of styles, materials, and price points, the shoe industry in India offers endless possibilities for innovation and growth.
Whether you’re looking to cater to high-end fashion consumers or budget-conscious shoppers, there’s never been a better time to start a shoe retail business in India.
Keep reading to learn more about how to start a shoe retail business, from planning to the final setup.
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Effective Tips For Starting A Shoe Retail Business In India
Building a footwear startup in India can be challenging. You need a strategy and action plan to predict the challenges and overcome them. Let’s go through the step by step process of how to start footwear Retail business in India.
1. Conduct Market Research
Before starting a shoe business, it’s crucial to analyse the current demand and identify popular shoe styles most preferred by consumers. Having a deep understanding of different types of shoes, materials, quality, and the purchasing behaviour of customers will help to create the right strategy plan.
For example, Indian consumers are price sensitive and seek value, quality, comfort and durability of the shoe. India has a mixed demand for local and international shoes, and Bata, Campus, Hush Puppies, Aqualite, Ecosoft, Piere Cardin, and Goride are the most popular ones.
Survey the trends, demographic requirements, offerings, pricing and market strategy of these brands. It will help you to better understand the competitive environment of the market and accordingly position yourself.
Market Research can be a time consuming process but it can help you to understand your customers and competitors better.
2. Create A Solid Business Model & Plan
There are several factors to consider when creating a business model and plan. It provides the roadmap to follow. Determining the business goals and objectives plays an important role in shaping the plan and implementing it hence its necessary that goals should be specific and measurable.
Secondly, determining the target audience will help you to understand the preferences, buying power and consumer psychology. It will help you to determine pricing strategy depending on the age group and quality of the shoe that you’re offering.
In addition it will help you to develop an effective marketing strategy that is focused to build brand awareness and attract the targeted audience. For example, social media platforms such as facebook, instagram, twitter are great places to promote your brand in less time since you’ll be directly interacting with your customers.
Furthermore, establishing an effective financial strategy is critical; it should document all costs related to inventory, warehouse rent, and marketing. It should also include working capital, sources of cash such as debtors and creditors, and the tenure of credit period.
3. Choose An Ideal Location For Your Shoe Store
Before choosing an ideal location check if the location is easily visible and accessible to your potential customers. The location will have a direct influence on your revenue. Consider a location which has high foot traffic such as malls, popular streets, the main road as it will increase your visibility and boost sales.
A high foot traffic area will also have an impact on the rent of the location, and rent will impact the profitability of your business. Make sure you decide the budget of rent beforehand, because there will be other expenses such as taxes, utilities. Once the location is finalised it’s important to decide the layout, it should provide ample space for customers to move around and be comfortable while shopping. The ambience, colour of the store should be visually appealing as it enhances the shopping experience.
4. Register Your Shoe Retail Business
To start a shoe business you’ll require to apply for a few registrations and obtain a business licence from appropriate government agencies. The documents that you’ll require includes PAN Card, Aadhar Card, Address Proof, Bank Details etc. Also you’ll need to select the structure of your business whether its private limited, sole proprietorship, partnership or LLP.
Along with obtaining licences and permits it’s important to register for taxes such as GST. All this legal paperwork might seem daunting but it’s an essential step to ensure that you are in compliance with all tax regulations. Make sure you take professional guidance if needed to ensure that your business is meeting all the legal and regulatory requirements.
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5. Find A Reliable And Trustworthy Supplier
Identifying and tracking a potential footwear distributor in Mumbai will play a crucial role in your business. You can start looking for shoe distributors online, check various websites, reviews, and verify the products they offer meet your requirements. Spread a word in your friends and family, and start making a list. Once you’ve got details about the potential suppliers, start reaching out to them and examine their products and services.
Once you’ve identified a few suppliers, verify their credentials by checking the licences, certifications. Check the quality of the product, whether or not they meet your standards and additional services they offer and whether it is at a reasonable price.
Finally, once the contract is signed it’s important to maintain a good relationship with your supplier by communicating regularly, giving feedback and observing if the issues are addressed properly on time. Remember maintaining a good relationship can also lead to favourable pricing and better terms over time.
6. Hire The Necessary Staff
Hiring is a challenging task, especially when you hire for the first time. The first step is to determine your staffing needs. This may include salesperson, administrative staff, marketing, operations. Once you’ve identified, start looking for candidates who possess required skill sets such as good at communication, self-motivated, good convincing power, problem-solver and have required knowledge about shoe industry.
Since you’re just beginning your business try to hire qualified and experienced employees, as they are well aware about the dynamics of work. But you should also examine the candidate’s personality and check if they are fit for the role.
Every business has their different requirements, therefore it’s important to provide constant training and support to your staff. It will help them to enhance their knowledge, develop customer service skills and sales techniques to drive more sales.
7. Launch Your Shoe Retail Business
Finally, you are all set to launch your shoe retail business. Now, to ensure the launch is successful you can host a grand opening event inviting your friends and family, offer special discounts if any on the occasion of opening. It will generate excitement and hype for your business and give a boost to your business by word of mouth.
As the days of launch come near ensure you keep building a buzz and excitement about it. Also ensure all the staff is prepared and on their feet, inventory is stocked up and if you’ve printed any marketing materials such as pamphlets is ready to go for the opening day.
8. Promote Your Shoe Retail Business
During the launch of the shoe business, make sure you promote your business through social media platforms, and start the hype on social media a few days before the launch. You can also offer some discounts or deals to your followers. This will attract broad potential customers. You can also create a website, list the shoes and offer a limited-time sale. Additionally, you can also collaborate with influencers.
Another effective way to promote your shoe retail business is via traditional marketing such as newspapers, television, and radio channels. Continuous promotion is important to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Along with promotion, providing quality products and exceptional customer service also plays an important role. Listening to the challenges faced by customers and solving them will build a reputation and the customers will stay loyal to your brand.
Conclusion
Today, starting a shoe store in India is a lucrative opportunity and this is the best time as the demand is high and competition is low.
Before you decide, make sure you do thorough market research, and create a detailed business plan which includes financial aspects, marketing, product offerings and other operational details. A detailed business plan will ensure that you are on the right track and will prepare you in advance in case of any obstacles. Ensure all the legal formalities are done properly and necessary licences, permits are obtained and you’ve registered for taxes.
If you are looking to start a shoe retail business feel free to reach out to us to learn more about our products. As an emerging shoes manufacturer in India, we understand your needs and will help you get started with your shoe retail business.