The fall in demand has made many promotion tools ineffective. Is it possible to regain previous success or find new ways to attract customer attention? The answers to this question were sought by Liliana Berger.
"Change or Die!"
This frightening phrase from Tatiana Komissarova, dean of the Higher School of Marketing and Business Development of the State University - Higher School of Economics, sounds like a verdict for retailers. “The rules have tightened, and there is no third choice. Fighting the situation is not worth it. It just needs to be changed. The crisis has too clearly demonstrated the weaknesses of the middle segment of the shoe business. And today, with an incompetent leadership and an inexpedient approach to solving the tasks set, neglecting the restructuring of system management and innovative views, the collapse of the company is inevitable, "explained Tatiana Komissarova.
The lower the demand, the more attention you need to pay to the service. This truth, slightly forgotten during the large-scale deployment of regional networks, has now come to the fore.
A big difference
The problem is that most of the leaders of Russian shoe companies did not have time to reorient themselves. They grew with the market and used only a marketing marketing model. Under the changed conditions, the consumer marketing model will be more effective.
What is the difference between them?
In managing the mood of customers. If the sales model is built to stimulate as many purchases as possible, then consumer marketing is focused on the other - from the many options to choose the right one.
Why did the marketing model stop working?
To maintain a stable sales, good sellers, marketers, specialists in advertising and PR are needed. However, last year, companies reduced their advertising budgets and staff. This slowed down the sales model.
What prospects does the consumer model have?
Unfortunately, in Russia there are very few specialists who can work with consumer markets (this model is typical for Japan and European countries. The practice of using it is about 30 years). Our marketers are used to supporting demand, not shaping it. Only by changing the approach, you can return customers to stores.
Example: Last year, Realpro did a great job for the Trace shoe store chain. The company changed its positioning, navigation in the trading floor was simplified, and a creative promotion strategy was developed.
The main goal that the network pursued was to turn from a “men's shoes store” into a “store for the whole family” and expand its audience. The facade of the store was stylized as a shoe box. For the convenience of customers, sections in the trading floor are differentiated by color: men's shoes are in the blue sector, women’s in the pink and children’s in bright yellow.
Is advertising profitable?
How is advertising changing? Glamor with ideal advertising models is a thing of the past. Artificial impeccability buyers are fed up and wanted more information. So it is necessary to give it - generously and from the heart. About the quality and properties of the product, about how it can be useful to the consumer.
Zenden employees believe that people like funny and enjoyable ads. “The crisis, winter apathy, a hangover after the holidays spoil people's lives, and they don’t want to spend money. With our advertising, we try to create their mood and help them return to normal. Our clients are young people and middle-aged people who actively respond to cheerful, vibrant and positive advertising. For example, on advertising posters with discount information, a collage with mowing mice was depicted. After we released outdoor advertising in the style of Soviet propaganda about the price revolution. ”
You must choose the right channel for the distribution of advertising.
According to studies presented at the XIII International Conference "Marketing in Russia", advertising on the Internet is most effective. It is gaining momentum and advertising using sms. Image advertising still does not lose its relevance, as people sometimes want to see something beautiful and pleasant around them.
BTL promotion is of interest
The owner comes to the store to make a profit. The buyer is to have fun. BTL stocks usually appear at the intersection of these two interests. Unlike sales, BTL are built either on interactive communication with customers (send a photo, draw, sing, come up with and get ...), or on cooperative cooperation with companies from another sector (store + restaurant, store + pharmacy, store + cinema, store + gallery). Both methods are effective, and the only thing that is required for complete success is a clear organization. The expected results are quite obvious: for the buyer not only to come and buy, but to remember and speak.
One of the most successful and interesting BTL events in 2009 was shoe packaging. Agree, packaging is a strictly functional thing. But world-famous brands, using a fantasy game in their work, invented new forms with hidden additional properties.
Reebok Extra Grip has come up with a unique package. In anticipation of new sneakers, the buyer comes home, opens the box, and there it is empty. The secret is that a pair of shoes is attached to the inside of the cap.
By its centennial, Converse has released jubilee packaging in the form of a book stack, which can be stored on the shelf among other literary works.
In the box from Nike Stadium sneakers you can find a whole stadium in the form of a three-dimensional image. And Clot x Nike Air Force 1 created for his sneakers a kind of mysterious Pandora's box from Greek mythology.
Cooperation with Disney allowed the ECCO network to organize a series of campaigns “Watch a movie in Ecco shoes” - when buying two pairs of shoes, the buyer received a ticket for the premiere of the movie.
What else pleased the Russian companies with the buyers?
MONARCH chose the queen
The MONARCH Footwear chain of stores held a photo contest “Become the MONARCH Queen!” For a month. The winner was the 18-year-old Muscovite Anna Stepanyan. She will be the face of a chain of stores in the new season "Spring-Summer 2010". The award took place in one of the Moscow showrooms of the network.
Anna Stepanyan won the jury with a combination of elegant severity and gentle femininity. “The photos were taken by a professional, but Anna’s natural beauty and grace were visible on them,” says Elena Volkova, director of advertising for the company. The winner of the competition, in addition to filming for an advertising campaign, received a gift certificate in the amount of 10 000 rubles.
The competition also established incentive nominations for girls who won the most votes on the website www.monarch.ru. The title of “Vice Miss MONARCH” and gift certificates for 5000 rubles went to Ekaterina Arbatskaya from Moscow, Ekaterina Tatarnikova from Saratov and Natalya Zhukova from Rostov-on-Don.
Bally supported fellow countryman
Bally, the world's oldest luxury brand, sponsored the Le Corbusier - The Art of Architecture exhibition at London's Barbican Art Gallery. This exhibition is the first survey of the work of this world-renowned architect in London in over twenty years. The exhibition showcases the work of Le Corbusier for 60 years. The exposition focuses on a unique multidisciplinary approach: combining the richness of his paintings, films, sculptures, books and old photographs, original architectural models and interior models.
Both native to Switzerland, Le Corbusier and Bally are known as pioneers in their fields. Bally is known for introducing factory-made shoes. Le Corbusier became famous for radical ideas in the field of architecture.
The opening of the exhibition coincided with the new period for the Bally brand, as the brand first turned to e-commerce and launched its online store.
Along with the exhibition, Bally released an Argus bag for men and a wonderful model of Ilya women's shoes; everything is the personification of the modernist style of Le Corbusier. Both models were created specifically for the opening of the exhibition.
Sela took up animal husbandry
Sela regularly holds BTL promotions. The St. Petersburg office of the company thought about using the airspace of stores, hanging an inflatable cow in the entrance area. It was impossible not to notice the toy of impressive size. She was very pleased with the children who persistently drove into the parents' store. According to the creators of this decor, they managed to draw attention to the brand in a super-cheap way. The price of a cow is only 50 rubles. “SELAvie,” as the company says.
Clarks entered world literature
Clarks Ukrainian store for children held a competition "Big fantasies of little dreamers." Young masters of pen and paper were supposed to compose a fairy tale in which the main characters would be a pair of shoes. All 11 participants for their honest work received a teddy bear and Clarks book, “Keeping Your Hands in Turbulent Hands” - during the holiday, which was held in the store. An additional prize - a nice mouse - was awarded to the works of Marta Agafonova and Diana Gabrilchuk. Well, the fairy tale-poem of eight-year-old Valeria Bondarenko “Friendship” was recognized as the best.
Сonclusion There are three key findings. The crisis has changed the marketing marketing model to the consumer one. Buyers need much more product information. Information will be more intelligible if you make it entertaining.
| Please rate the article |
Euro Shoes — March 4-7, 2026 at the WTC Congress Center
From March 4th to 7th, leading brands from Europe, Asia, and the CIS will gather at the WTC Congress Center in Moscow to present their Fall/Winter 2026 collections, capture current trends, and set the direction for the fashion industry.
What factors influence pricing, and how to work with retail prices for shoes
Footwear retail is one of those segments that is highly dependent on seasonality. Pricing in the footwear business, in turn, depends on a multitude of factors, from production costs to the vagaries of weather and regional factors.
Customer profiling in a shoe store. What is this technique and how can it be used in sales?
Profiling is a scientific method of "reading people," allowing one to create a psychological profile of a person and predict their actions or behavior in certain situations, or even catch them in a lie. Profiling is used in sales because the salesperson needs to understand a person's emotional state and their underlying motivations for purchasing. An expert and practitioner in sales growth in fashion, SR, discusses this method and its practical application in footwear retail.
SOHO Fashion Group: 20 years of sustainable growth and collaboration with global brands
This year, SOHO Fashion Group celebrates its 20th anniversary—a significant milestone that highlights the company's sustainable development and its contribution to shaping the Russian fashion market. During this period, the company has established a leading position in the industry, forging strong relationships with international brands and establishing itself as a reliable representative of the fashion segment.
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.
Salvatore Ferragamo's Shoes Inspire Pastry Chefs
Italian confectioners have created cakes that are exact copies of six legendary pairs of shoes from the archives of the Italian "Shoemaker to the Stars" maestro Salvatore Ferragamo. They were presented in the 10_11 restaurant of the Milan hotel Portrait Milano, which is part of the hotel management company owned by the Ferragamo family.
Main trend themes for footwear and bags collections for the fall-winter 2025/26 season
Whatever aesthetics your collection adheres to - craft heritage, elegant minimalism inspired by traditions or, conversely, futuristic forms - if your customer strives to be fashionable and you need to regularly update your assortment with current trendy novelties, pay attention to the design trends, models and details of women's shoes and bags in the fall-winter 2025/26 season described in this article. To prepare it, the author used materials from the international trend bureau Fashion Snoops, which is a source of commercial forecasts for the seasons ahead, and current trend analytics of key events in the fashion industry around the world: industry exhibitions, shows, shows.
How Pareto's Law Works in a Shoe Retail Store
Analysis of the company's performance is an important quality of a manager. Many indicators in the retail business are subject to analysis, primarily - sales planning and inventory balances, KPI performance by employees, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, the number of sellers, their work schedules and many other factors that affect the final result of the store. In this material, SR expert on increasing sales in shoe retail Evgeny Danchev, using the Pareto principle, understands the reasons why revenue and volumes of goods sold are distributed very unevenly between weekdays and weekends. The author is confident that the Pareto principle is indispensable in the systemic analysis of sales management efficiency and sales results. But it is important to apply it correctly and interpret its meaning.
Clarks: 200 years of quality, style and innovation
In 2025, the legendary British brand Clarks celebrates its 200th anniversary – an impressive milestone that demonstrates its enduring relevance, impeccable quality and global appeal.
New brand in the SOHO FASHION portfolio – BEVERLY HILLS POLO CLUB
SOHO Fashion continues to grow and develop in the Russian footwear market, and in 2025, the leading distributor's brand portfolio added a new one – the legendary Beverly
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 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.
The cyclicality of fashion and its impact on the financial results of the fashion business
Stylists and experts never tire of telling both professionals and ordinary consumers of goods and services in the fashion industry that fashion develops cyclically. The cyclicality of fashion has a significant impact on the financial results of the fashion business, since it dictates periods of demand and decline and determines which goods will be in demand at a certain moment. SR expert in assortment planning and management Emina Ponyatova talks about which aspects of the cyclicality of fashion should be taken into account by shoe retailers in their work, and how they affect the financial performance of the business.
PETER KAISER - the best brand of 2025!
"CAPRICE Schuhproduktion GmbH has received a certificate for awarding PETER KAISER the title of "Top Brand 2025".
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.
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. Properly 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 put off the decision for months?