An appeal of footwear for the consumer is the combination of fashionable with practical. An appeal for the retailer is that the items carry relatively high profit margins, in some cases 50%.
Keeping all available sizes in stock might mean carrying substantial inventory. The shoe department in the New York City Saks Fifth Avenue occupies the entire 8th floor. But because of the popularity of these items, it can be worthwhile for you to foot the bill for shoe stocking. And maybe also stockings. Or socks.
There are few sure things in retailing. The ability of shoes to increase sales revenues might be one of them. In 1999, retailer Nick Swinmurn convinced venture capital investors to begin the firm now known as Zappos and owned by Amazon.com. Mr. Swinmurn’s pitch was that footwear in the U.S. is a market worth $40 billion annually.
Whatever line of merchandise you sell, consider if you can include shoes. Sporting goods? Shoes fit well. Toys? How about tiny shoes for the dolls? Home improvement products? Steel-tipped shoes could make the do-it-yourselfer feel like they’ve the heft of a professional carpenter.
High heel shoes have a magical appeal for women consumers. Many claim the added height makes a woman feel more assertive. A few classic psychoanalysts said the high heels’ shape penetrates any penis envy. Hey, there are two of them rather than the man’s one. The psychoanalysts refer to this as overcompensation. Then, too, retailers skeptical of psychoanalytic interpretation can still observe how the elevation of a high heel sculpts the calf and thrusts the pelvis forward, stimulating sexual attractiveness all around.
It’s not only the high heels which are accounting for high sales. For just the three months ending in November 2012, retail sales of cross training shoes rose 16% and basketball shoes 19%.
Including footwear in your merchandise mix could be a shoe-in.
Click below for more:
Shoe Things for Higher Sales Revenues
Size Up Your Shoppers
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