Emily Dickson

Business Communications
EN-253-06
Spring 2020
4/17/20

Managing Consumer Perceptions

My business is a sneaker and running attire retail store called Sneaker Soul. Our goal is

to provide top of the line running and sports gear to every customer that comes into my store

to ensure that they will have absolute success. My employees will provide their knowledge and

experience to help every customer with the best shoe that fits their needs. The ambiance of my

store will be welcoming and professional to make every customer feel comfortable and

confident in their perches. In order to fulfil all these goals, I have decided to visit Marathon

Sports in Shrewsbury, Ma.

Marathon Sports was founded in 1975 and has ground to 11 retail locations over the last

45 years. They have spread their love and knowledge about running across the bay state aria

which is what inspired my business. through this prosses, I would like to learn more about

different types of sneaker, what sneaker is best for a specific shaped foot and how that keep

their customers happy and coming back for more.

Based on the different kind of running you do will determine what kind of shoe will work

best for your training. A long-distance runner's body is lean and relies on slow-twitch muscle

fibers during training. Sprinters rely on fast-twitch muscles and typically have a heavier build.

Sprinting spikes have rigid soles that help increase speed while sprinters are on their toes. Long-

distance spikes use more flexible soles, enabling more natural foot movement and providing
more comfort than the sprinting versions. The shape of long-distance spikes also tends to be

flatter.

Different runners have different shaped feet. Being able to find a show that fits the

shape of the foot will prevent injury. There are three different types of feet; supinate, pronate,

and neutral. Supinate is when your weight rolls onto the outer edges of your feet, pronate is

when your weight rolls onto the inner edged of your feet, and neutral is when your weight rolls

evenly throughout your feet. For someone with supinated feet, they want a shoe that gives

them more support where that are lacking so a show with more support on the outer edge

would be the best and for someone with pronated feet, more support on the inner edge would

be best.

While at Marathon Sport, I observed the way the employees interacted with the

customers and engaged them in what they were trying to sell them. Always greet everyone that

come through the door with a “Hello, how are you today? Is there something I can help you

with?” This makes the customer feel valued and important. Making sure you know a little bit

about their background in running will help find a show that will be best for their activity level

and engage with the customer to make them feel more comfortable. Lastly, ask them if they

want to sign up for their rewards program. This program emails them special promotions and

coupons for future purchases.

The Demographic market of Worcester, Ma is fairly large. Between the 6 colleges with

cross country and track teams, many road races during the year and it being a large city, the

Worcester area is a good place to provide my product and services as a small local business.
 Overall, visiting Marathon Sports and getting the inside scoop of how I want my business

to be was very enlightening. I learned a lot about different shoes and how to engage the

customers. I also am more confident on where I want Sneaker Soul to be located to gain the

most success.