HR Recruiting Trends
Rising unemployment does not increase your chances of hiring professional staff: retailers with experience and excellent administrators are still worth their weight in gold. How to search and find the best of the best, what trends in recruiting will help to close vacancies in the company quickly and forever?
Each retail chain solves the problem of personnel shortage in its own way: some develop tempting compensation packages and entice specialists from competing firms, others improve the personnel training system, and still others invent special motivational programs (we wrote about non-monetary motivation in issue No. 125). Each method has its pros and cons; a universal human resource management tool has not yet been invented. At the end of last year, world-renowned HR expert John Sullivan formulated the main directions in recruiting for the next couple of years.
1. Recruitment Gamification... The term refers to the use of gaming tools in non-gaming processes. Such tactics will help to involve candidates in the game, setting certain tasks for them, the solution of which will determine the skills and potential of the future employee. This strategy can also increase candidate awareness of the brand: a fun game can connect the brand with positive values and corporate culture, thus introducing the company to candidates who have not previously considered working for it. Founder of IT company SVNGR, Seth Pribach, said, “If you let your employee be an 80th level elf, they will perform much more efficiently.” For example, trying to attract young people to collaborate, Miter Corp. noticed that its workforce is aging. she decided to attract a young staff member created the video game "Honorable Work", in which players become participants in a virtual tour of the company's workplaces and can try themselves as managers of various departments, performing certain tasks.The company not only quickly closed all available vacancies, but also increased its reputation among young professionals.Therefore, any recruitment activities should be a branding tool.Any job advertisement should be an advertisement of the company's brand itself.The aim of recruitment activities, in the end, is to position the company as a place where it is convenient and prestigious to be both a client of the company and an employee.
2. Competition for talent. According to experts in the personnel market, competition for highly qualified personnel will only grow in the coming years. The term “aggressive recruiting” has even been coined to accurately reflect the ongoing battle for talent. Bounty hunters seek out information on candidates for the sake of a good deal, resorting to new and new ways of gathering information.
3. Recommended recruiting. Do not confuse this cadre search system with nepotism, which, for example, thrives on the French labor market. However, we also have a similar recruitment system in high esteem. The international experience of large HR agencies proves that if you get right to the point, recruiting staff according to the recommendations of employees gives results faster than all other ways of hiring and is even cheaper. Thanks to the rapid development of social media and the growth of their role in the life of any society, such recruiting today begins to develop with renewed vigor. In some large companies, up to 50% of the existing staff got into the company precisely thanks to the recommendation of existing employees. According to John Sullivan, advisory recruiting will certainly grow into a large recruitment campaign in which every employee of the company will participate, and in a constant mode.
4. "Boomerang recruitment" or re-hiring of previously resigned employees. Hiring former employees of the company today is not something out of the ordinary, on the contrary, the return of the “former” helps the company to quickly and efficiently solve current tasks and build development plans. Boomerang Employees have already proven that they can be a source of the highest quality for hiring. Thanks to the development of this area, the share of "returnees" accounts for up to 10% of the total hiring.
5. Online interviews. The development of IT technologies has allowed many companies to reduce the cost of conducting multi-stage interviews: online assessment of the professional knowledge and skills of candidates for a particular position becomes cheaper and more efficient. This not only saves time and money, but also significantly improves the quality of hiring. Increasingly, companies are using video interviews that have already proven their effectiveness, so they will be used more and more until it becomes a common practice for an initial interview in any company - from IT to retail.
6. Facebook profile instead of resume. The information presented in popular social networks will tell about a potential employee much more than his resume. so companies quite officially increasingly work with the candidate’s profile on social networks. But you must remember that in this area there are some administrative and legal restrictions, but, according to experts, they will be resolved soon and personal pages on the networks will become an official source of information for recruiters.
7. The role of Hr portals is declining. As job seekers increasingly insist on "truthful and true" information about employers, job pages on corporate websites, as well as on professional search and hiring sites, are decreasing: a short list of requirements and an even shorter list of bonuses voiced on such sites, do not reflect the full picture, and even more so, do not tell the candidate a word about the company. Is that the social package included in the list of bonuses, today can serve as some guarantors of the decency of the employer. But this is far from the most important information, much more important is the general atmosphere in the company, the attitude of employees to each other, professional leadership ... The Chinese division of the international agency Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu created a "virtual tour of the office" to attract talent and increase brand loyalty. A gamer can visit the company's work areas, conference rooms and training centers, study the daily routine of Deloitte specialists, as well as chat with existing Deloitte employees in real time to get reliable information about the work and better understand the company and corporate culture.
Where can you find reliable shoe manufacturing in Russia today?
The share of marketplaces will grow
The Battle for the Sports Shoe Market
Shoe factories in Russia are closing one after another
Shoemakers' problems are growing
Euro Shoes opens a new season for buyers and brands
In the first days of spring, from March 4–7, the international footwear and accessories exhibition Euro Shoes Premiere Collection in Moscow will once again gather buyers and other industry professionals to discover the collections of global footwear brands for the upcoming Fall-Winter 26–27 season.
Chinese brands and factories at Euro Shoes
The Russian economy's pivot toward Asia and the active development of the footwear industry and the technological base for producing a wide range of footwear in China are opening up new prospects for cooperation with Chinese partners.
The home collection from Australian brand EMU Australia at Euro Shoes
SOHO Fashion invites you to discover the new Fall/Winter 26 collection of Australian footwear brand EMU Australia at the Euro Shoes Premiere Collection international exhibition in Moscow.
Rieker and Remonte with new collections - at Euro Shoes
Rieker is well-known and beloved in Russia. Each pair of Rieker shoes is designed with the anatomy of the foot in mind, using Rieker's signature Antistress technology to ensure maximum comfort.
The 37th Euro Shoes Premiere Collection exhibition concluded successfully in Moscow.
From March 4th to 7th, the International Euro Shoes Premiere Collection exhibition took place at the WTC Congress Center in Moscow. It is a specialized B2B event for footwear industry and fashion retail professionals and the key industry event of the new purchasing season and selection development for fashion retailers. Approximately 100 companies and brands participated in the exhibition, presenting their Fall/Winter 2026/27 footwear, bag, and accessory collections to professional visitors.
Store Manager: Strategic Asset or Redundant Position?
Owners of small shoe stores often juggle multiple roles: negotiating with suppliers, managing inventory, handling marketing, and even personally participating in sales. In such an environment, it's difficult to focus on strategic development and operational management. This is where a store manager comes in – a key employee who oversees daily processes and ensures stable business growth. However, many owners believe they can handle this on their own. SR fashion business management and development expert Maria Gerasimenko explains why a store manager is essential and why you can't do without one if you want to grow and scale your business.
Spring/Summer 2026: Five Trends for Athletic Shoes
In a highly competitive environment, especially in the dynamic digital environment, fashion trends are changing rapidly. We're highlighting five trends from international trend bureau Future Snoops that address local market demands.
Where can you find reliable shoe manufacturing in Russia today?
The market is changing, but the key question for buyers and brands remains: where can you find real Russian manufacturing that you can work with directly—without complicated processes, surprises, and wasted time? On February 12, 2026, this question will be answered not with presentations, but with practice: the Izmailovo Hotel, Beta Building, will host the 2nd All-Russian Technology Industry Conference "Footwear Manufacturing in Russia"—a meeting of footwear manufacturers and those who order, sell, and develop their brands.
MARCO TOZZI announced the launch of the new MT Sport collection.
German footwear brand MARCO TOZZI has announced the launch of its new men's footwear collection, MT Sport. MT Sport is a new collection of men's footwear in a sporty, casual style. It will be available in partner stores this spring.
Tamaris SS26 Collection
In its Spring-Summer 2026 collection, Tamaris combines tradition, innovation, and the latest fashion trends.
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.
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 BeverlyHills Polo Club (BHPC). This is an international brand that has become a symbol of the American way of life, freedom and style. Founded in the 1980s, it is inspired by the spirit of polo sport, which
associated with elitism, aristocracy and an active lifestyle.
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. 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.
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.recognition of the brand. Since its foundation in 1825, the company has not only created shoes, but also set the standards for comfort and style, remaining a symbol of British craftsmanship and innovation.
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.
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. 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?
