Between the lines: why do people behave irrationally and how to make money on it?
We have carefully read the book of American researcher Dan Ariely, “Behavioral Economics”, and now we are eager to share with you some knowledge about what illogical actions are made by absolutely every person, as well as modest assumptions about how this can be used in the shoe business.
Dan Ariely's observation: It is difficult for people to make choices when objects have no common features for comparison. For example, the girls studied could not decide who they would rather go on a date with - conditional George Clooney or Brad Pitt. But as soon as slightly worsened versions of “Clooney” and “Pitt” were sequentially added to the photos of these types of characters, the women immediately realized who they liked more. It turned out that on the sheet with photos “Pitt”, “Deteriorated Pitt” and “Clooney” the type of “Brad Pitt” seemed to be the most attractive, and on the sheet with the versions “Pitt”, “Clooney” and “Deteriorated Clooney” the choice most often fell on the type of George Clooney. The essence of this observation by Dan Ariely is that when a thing has an analogue for comparison, the thing seems much more advantageous not only in comparison with its “flawed” option, but also in comparison with all other things that seemed to be equivalent in value.
Shoes Report Assumption: This feature of human behavior can be used in merchandising. Try to put poorly selling models with even more unattractive, but similar in type. And those that seem completely hopeless leftovers can be ventured to present with bestsellers of other categories. For example, outsider ballet shoes can increase their chances of being sold next to a hit stud, because the buyer will not be able to identify a favorite among them, but if properly presented, they will fall under the “charm” of both.
Dan Ariely's observation: As if the newly hatched goslings, taking for mother the first object that came into view, a person remains under the power of the first price he sees for a long time. This is called the imprinting effect, and its peculiarity is that the first price becomes an “anchor” only when a person seriously thinks about buying at this price. Even if the “anchor” price is too high or too low, a person will consider it fair and will begin to compare the price of all other goods with this very first seen anchor price.
Shoes Report Assumption: It is worth placing bestsellers on display cases and equipment in the entrance area, for which it is not a pity to charge a high price. Paying attention to the excellent boots (and even having a brief thought about whether to purchase them) and their price, the buyer will compare this price with the price of boots placed deep in the hall. If the "anchor" price is high, boots on the far shelves will seem an extremely advantageous offer.
Dan Ariely's observation: People very quickly get used to the things that they want to have, even if things in fact do not belong to them. In addition, the more efforts a person has to make to master a thing, the more valuable it becomes in his eyes. This contradiction successfully cakes auctions, fueling a real struggle for the lot between potential buyers. And the effect of habits is used by stores through the campaign "return if it does not fit."
Shoes Report Assumption: Do not be afraid to take risks and give an unconditional guarantee of return. Try the phrase "you can just return the boots if you try them on at home and realize that you don’t like them." Most likely, the percentage of returns will not be as high as usual: it will be psychologically difficult for customers to part with a thing that they have already considered theirs.
Dan Ariely's observation: Adaptation to a new price is best tolerated by a person if, at the same time, the product or service has also changed.
Shoes Report Assumption: If you are planning a price increase in your store, do not forget to create an entourage to improve the quality of goods and services. Change the lighting, defuse the layout, set up a sofa or print badge sellers.
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How to increase sales of shoes and accessories?
"When Customers Are Few: How Fashion Store Owners Can Squeeze the Most Out of Every Customer"
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.
The main colors of women's shoes for the fall-winter 2026/27 season
Fashion continues to embrace the language of emotion. The upcoming Fall/Winter 2026/27 season promises to be emotional and slightly reflective. Vibrancy gives way to depth, and ostentatious luxury is replaced by enveloping warmth. Five key shades of women's footwear reflect precisely these sentiments: trust in naturalness, attention to texture, and a desire to find beauty in nuances. Let's turn to the professional forecast of seasonal, cutting-edge colors from the international trend bureau Future Snoops. The selection of the Fall/Winter 2026/27 palette from Future Snoops presented in this article is an emotional map of the coming season, speaking of trust and fragile honesty, balance, inner strength, and warmth that requires no occasion. These five shades transform the seasonal footwear styles into a unique color language that can help the brand and its customers express themselves and their emotions.
Revisiting classic standards of retail lighting through the lens of modern technology
Just yesterday, the principle governing retail lighting was: the brighter the light, the brighter the store, the more customers and sales. Today, this principle has lost its relevance. It has been replaced by a trend toward a well-thought-out concept, intelligently applied lighting, and carefully selected lighting fixtures. Anastasia Efremova, SR's expert in retail lighting and lighting designer at Tochka Opory, discusses current lighting principles in fashion and footwear retail, and how light helps interact with merchandise, space, and customer emotions. She will help you understand the fundamental principles of lighting through the lens of new retail space requirements.
How a fashion brand can launch a successful licensed product with a celebrity
Why fashion brands should consider licensing as a strategic tool—this is what Natalia Timashova, editor-in-chief of Shoes Report magazine, discussed with Maria Kozeeva, CEO of the Yulia Vysotskaya media holding (part of the Andrey Sergeevich Konchalovsky Production Center) and brand director of the Edim Doma and Julia Vysotskaya businesses.
How to strengthen and make your brand more sustainable
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.
Sales of additional goods and services can add up to 20-30% to a store's turnover.
Many stores today have hit a sales ceiling: they have the product range, the team is working hard, the marketing is up and running, but revenue isn't growing. Where can they find growth opportunities? In reality, the potential for growth lies right in the customer's receipt. And it's not about raising prices, but about offering customers more value at the point of purchase. We discussed with Maria Gerasimenko, an expert at SR in fashion business management and development, how to increase sales with additional merchandise, why accessories and related products are becoming a strategic source of profit, and the role of the store team.
How to learn to effectively manage store customer traffic?
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!
We are counting down the days for the main international exhibition of footwear and accessories Euro Shoes Premiere Collection in Moscow! The exhibition will be held from August 27 to 30 at a new premium venue – the capital's congress center WTC on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment.
The Battle for the Sports Shoe Market
Fashion market experts and economic analysts predict a decline in sales of Nike and Adidas. The leadership positions of the unsinkable sports giants may be seriously shaken in the coming years, as they are being pushed out by young, bold and active competitors – challenger brands. Why is this happening, and what are the main reasons for such changes? Daniya Tkacheva, a fashion market expert and practitioner with 20 years of experience in sales management, and 13 years of experience in the Nike Russia team and fashion retail, shares her view on the situation on the market in the sportswear and footwear segment.
Micam and Livetrend presented a selection of footwear trends for the spring-summer 2026 season
The Italian international footwear fair Micam presents the "Spring-Summer 2026 Trend Guide", developed in collaboration with Livetrend. The guide is based on the analysis of social networks, online marketplaces and fashion shows, as well as new technologies such as artificial intelligence and Big Data.
The share of marketplaces will grow
The footwear category on Ozon Fashion shows steady growth The share of online sales in fashion is growing, and last year it was already more than 54%. Buyers are increasingly buying clothes and shoes online, and the lion's share of these purchases are made on marketplaces. Ozon is one of the leading players in the Russian fashion market, and the Fashion direction on the platform is the fastest growing. About trends in online trading, about the specifics of the shoe market and recommendations for brands planning to sell shoes through the marketplace - in an exclusive interview with SR with the Commercial Director of the Footwear direction at Ozon Fashion Olga Moskvicheva.
Turn to Asia. Features of shoe production at a factory in China
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.
How to Compete with Marketplaces in 2025
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.
Rieker and Remonte will present their new collections at Euro Shoes!
The brands Rieker and Remonte, which are among the leading shoe companies in Germany, will present their Spring-Summer'26 collections in Moscow at the international exhibition of footwear and accessories Euro Shoes! The exhibition will be held from August 27 to 30, 2025 at a new premium venue in the WTC Congress Center on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment.
New Tamaris Spring-Summer 26 Collection: Comfort and Elegance in Every Model
German footwear and accessories brand Tamaris will present its new Spring-Summer '26 collection at the Euro Shoes exhibition in Moscow, from August 27 to 30.
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.
Creating an emotional connection through a showcase
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.
Shoe educational program: what shoe soles are made of
“What is the difference between TEP and EVA? What does tunit promise me? Is PVC glue? What is the sole of these shoes made of? ”- the modern buyer wants to know everything. In order not to smash his face in front of him and be able to explain whether such a sole suits him in soles, carefully read this article. In it, process engineer Igor Okorokov tells what materials the soles of shoes are made of and what makes each of them so good.
How to set prices that will earn
Some businessmen still confuse the concept of margin with the concept of trade margins and set prices for their goods, guided solely by the example of competitors. No wonder they go broke! Analyst at the Academy of Retail Technologies Maxim Gorshkov gives several tips and formulas with which you can set not only ruinous, but also profitable prices.
Sales of shoes and accessories: effective techniques for business rhetoric
Which speech modules are effective in communicating with potential and current customers of shoe stores, and which are not, Anna Bocharova, a business consultant, knows.
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.
The whole truth about Bayer. Who is he and how to become one?
Bayer is no longer a new, but still a popular and sought-after profession. It’s fashionable to be a buyer. Buyers are at the origins of the emergence and development of trends. If the designer offers his vision of fashion in the season, then the buyer selects the most interesting commercial ideas. It is on buyers that the policy of sales of stores and what, in the end, the buyer will wear depends on. This profession is surrounded by a magical fleur, often associated with a lack of understanding of what exactly is the work of a buyer.
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?
