What to read to boost your financial IQ
There is nothing new under the moon, everything once happened to someone already. And the current situation in the economy is no exception. Therefore, to understand what point of time and space you are in, whether the crisis will affect your business, you can look at the primary sources or, at least, read the translations
Sources in English
Charles Morris. The Trillion Dollar Meltdown. The author predicted market shocks caused by mortgage defaults - the book examines the cause and effect in detail.
David Smick. The World is Curved. The mortgage crisis is just the beginning of problems. A detailed description of the following difficulties is in the book.
Kevin Phillips Bad Money. The author analyzes the state of the dollar, credit issues and global markets.
Peter Schiff. Crash Proof. A rare book that provides not only an analysis of the situation, but also ways to protect against a crisis.
Sources in Russian
The publishing house "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber" very quickly translated the American bestseller of recent months - the book by George Soros "The New Paradigm of Financial Markets". Soros talks about his own experience in the financial market over the past 55 years and, based on it, makes a forecast of the market development after 2008. Soros argues that the global financial system was built on the basis of false assumptions, and offers his concept that allows you to understand the mechanisms of the functioning of financial markets in a new way. Soros believes that markets move with the same frequency both to the point of theoretical equilibrium, and from it, and sometimes they can fall under the influence of processes, first self-developing, and then self-destructive.
By the way, back in 2004, Alpina Business Books published Soros's book “The Bubble of American Superiority. Where should American power be directed. " In it, a well-known financier, researching the US economy and politics, came to the conclusion that the situation is developing according to the “soap bubble” scenario, which is observed from time to time in the stock markets. Even then, he came to the conclusion about the perniciousness of George W. Bush's domestic and foreign policies and offered his own vision of the development of events.
To understand that nothing animal is alien to a person, it makes sense to look into the book by Terry Burnham "Sneaky Markets and the Lizard Brain: How to Make Money Using Knowledge of the Causes of Manias, Panic and Crashes in Stock Markets", published by Eksmo Publishing House. It reveals the biological causes of irrational human behavior and explains their impact on investment preferences.
In our opinion, it is imperative to read “The Age of Shocks. Problems and Prospects of the World Financial System ”- a book by Alan Greenspan, who headed the US Federal Reserve System for over 18 years. It is a global economic analysis based on the personal experience and worldview of a consistent defender of the market system: principles of governance dating back to the Enlightenment; energy infrastructure; global financial imbalance and fundamental changes in the world demographic situation that pose a threat to the further development of society; concerns about equitable distribution of results. In conclusion, the author tries to imagine what the nature of the global economy will be in 2030. The book was published by Alpina Business Books.
If you are interested in the opinion of a financier who denies market efficiency and believes that high liquidity is bad for his company's stock, then you should read Warren Buffett, Essays on Investment, Corporate Finance and Company Management. The translation was made by the publishing house "Alpina Business Books".
And the most recent book novelty: Jeffrey Pfeffer, "Management Wisdom Born from the Mistakes of Top Managers." Publishers ("Eksmo") dates back to 2009, but appeared in book networks in December.
Must read
George Soros. "New paradigm of financial markets"
Alan Greenspan. “The era of shocks. Problems and Prospects of the World Financial System "
Warren Buffett. "Essays on Investment, Corporate Finance and Company Management"
Jeffrey Pfeffer. "Management wisdom, born of the mistakes of top managers"
Terry Burnham. "Dastardly Markets and the Pangolin Brain: How to Make Money Using Knowledge of the Causes of Manias, Panic and Crashes in Stock Markets"
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In recent years, offline retail in clothing, footwear, and accessories has been operating under conditions of a steady decline in incoming traffic. By the end of 2025, offline store traffic in Russia had declined by 8-15%, with the offline segment's purchase rate declining more sharply than the overall market, according to Retail.ru. According to statistics from individual shopping centers, the decline by the end of last year was between 15 and 25%. How can salespeople effectively engage with customers in such challenging conditions? We'll explore service strategies in low traffic conditions with SR expert Elena Vinogradova, who specializes in purchasing and sales in the fashion business. The expert shares proven methods with practical examples of speech modules. Elena is confident that, in a context of declining traffic, high-quality service is becoming the main competitive advantage for the shoe industry.
Offline vs. Marketplaces: How to Survive and Win in 2026?
In Russia, e-commerce's share has grown from 5% in 2019 to nearly 23% in 2024 and continues to grow, with e-commerce market analysts predicting it will reach over 30% by 2029. Offline retail, meanwhile, can not only survive but also grow by 20-30% annually if it stops offering clothes on hangers and shoes on shelves and starts selling unique experiences. We discuss this topic with Shoes Report regular contributor Elena Vinogradova, an expert in fashion buying and sales and the author of the Fashion Business Blog, a blog for retailers and buyers.
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Revisiting classic standards of retail lighting through the lens of modern technology
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2025 has become a year of survival for many fashion brands in the challenging and rapidly changing conditions of an overheated market: declining traffic, the closure of entire chains and companies, the consolidation of sellers on marketplaces, the shift of customer traffic from offline to online—all these and other factors have impacted everyone, especially the weaker ones, those experiencing various challenges. The market has shifted to savings consumption. Some consider this a crisis, but our expert, Dania Tkacheva, a business consultant specializing in sales management and strategic development for fashion brands, calls it the maturation of the market. She offers distressed companies her own tool for diagnosing their business and opportunities for recovery and recovery. She calls this tool the Brand Maturity Pyramid.
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Customer traffic in shopping malls and street retail is declining; people are shopping less offline for a number of objective reasons, one of which is the convenience of online shopping with all its advantages. And yet, offline shopping continues to thrive. How can we control store traffic, learn to correctly calculate and influence the number of people visiting stores to ensure profitability?
From July 27 to 29, the Euro Shoes@CAF_Eliteline 2026 exhibition will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Elite Line is an international specialized exhibition of footwear, fur, leather, and accessories. The exhibition will feature collections from international and domestic manufacturers from Russia, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, and other countries.
Just a month until the Euro Shoes exhibition in Moscow!
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Micam and Livetrend presented a selection of footwear trends for the spring-summer 2026 season
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Finding a partner factory for shoe production is not an easy process. Today, many Russian brands sew their collections in factories in China. The concept of the women's shoe brand N.early N.aked, founded in 2019, was based on the idea of producing shoes suitable for dancing, with a perfect fit. Initially, the shoes were sewn in Europe, but in 2022, shoe production was moved to China.
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The shoe business is a complex process due to the many related micro-strategies used to extract profit. It is necessary to determine how much goods to purchase, what trade margin to set, and approve the norm of balances at the end of the season. In addition, it is necessary to draw up a sales plan and decide on marketing campaigns that take into account seasonal demand and the competitive environment, set up a personnel motivation system and correctly set control points.
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New Tamaris Spring-Summer 26 Collection: Comfort and Elegance in Every Model
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KV+ sneakers for city and sports for the first time at Euro Shoes
The Swiss brand KV+ is not so well known to the general Russian audience, but it is well known in the world of skiing, because it was there that KV+ took its first steps and actively developed. The Swiss brand has earned the trust of the professional sports audience over the past 35 years. At the same time, the Russian sports market of ski equipment has always been a priority for the Swiss.
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Emotional response from customers is the key to successful retail sales. Shop windows are capable of not only attracting attention, but also evoking emotions: from joy and nostalgia to a sense of belonging and the desire to possess. Using psychological triggers in shop window design helps turn a passerby into a buyer. SR expert in visual merchandising and retail design Viktor Malygin talks about approaches to the concept of shop window design and current themes and plots for presenting goods in shop windows.
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Sales of shoes and accessories: effective techniques for business rhetoric
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We form the salary of sellers: expert advice
“How do you charge your consultants for personal or general sales?” Is one of the most popular questions causing a lot of controversy and gossip on the online forums of retail business owners. Indeed, how to properly form the earnings of sellers? But what about bonuses, where to get a sales plan from, do employees allow them to buy goods at discounted stores? In search of truth, the Shoes Report turned to a dozen shoe retailers, but no company wanted to disclose its motivation system - the process of its development was too complicated and individual. Then we asked four business consultants, and finally became convinced that the topic of seller motivation is very complex, because even our experts could not come to a common opinion.
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Technology Selling Issues
There is nothing worse than meeting the buyer with the words “Hello, can I help you with something?”, Because the seller works in the store just to help. Criticizing this well-established pattern of communication with the buyer, Andrei Chirkarev, business coach for effective sales and the founder of the New Economy project, shares the technology of truly selling issues with readers of Shoes Report.
Fur, and not only: types of lining
In the production of winter footwear, various materials are used that are designed to retain heat and meet the requirements of consumers: natural sheepleather, artificial fur, artificial fur from natural wool and others. All types of lining fur have their own advantages and disadvantages. Let's consider the properties of each of them.
The best models of Czech shoes of the past
In Soviet times, for shoes from Czechoslovakia sold under the Cebo brand, customers stood in line for four hours and did not regret it, because Czech shoes were considered to be of high quality, comfortable and fashionable. Shoe designer Juraj Shushka shared a photo archive of his collection with Shoes Report magazine, which contains the most interesting Cebo models from the 1940's to the 1980's.
Retail Arithmetic
Before you begin to solve specific problems, you need to find out how accurately all the leaders of your company understand the basic terminology of retail.
How to fire a worker without tears, scandal and trial
Sooner or later, any manager is faced with the need to part with an employee. Correctly and on time the dismissal procedure will save the company money, and the boss himself - nerves and time. But why sometimes, knowing that a break in relations is inevitable, we postpone the decision for months?
