Use These Five Tips To Grow Your Online Boutique Business
/In this heavily commercialized world that we live in, independent stores are a welcome change. Many shoppers love to shop in big stores and at the same time, like the idea of shopping through a store that only has so many pieces available to purchase.
With many being more conscious about sustainability and taking care of our environment, a boutique store is a great business opportunity. In fact, shoppers are more aware than ever, with 57% of consumers willing to change their buying habits for the benefit of the environment.
In this article, we’ll cover the following:
Online boutique statistics to know
The basics of how to start a boutique business
Five tips for helping your business thrive
What to avoid when running an eCommerce store
If you’re a current owner of an online boutique store, or you’re perhaps considering it as a new business venture, then this guide is for you. We’ll talk you through all the steps needed to set up a boutique from scratch, or you can skip ahead to the juicy section if you're already established.
You’ll get an understanding of what you need to make your online boutique thrive in 2022 and beyond. With that in mind, get the digital notepads out, and let’s get started!
Online boutique statistics to know
Online shopping in the US was estimated at $768 billion in 2021. As of 2022, it’s currently at $875.2 billion. Statista forecasts that it will exceed $1.3 trillion by 2025.
The basics of how to start a boutique business
If you’ve yet to set yourself up with an online business, then it’s good to understand the basics of what you’ll need.
With any boutique business, you need to consider what you want to sell and how you’re going to source this inventory. You’ll also need to think about where you’re going to store the inventory and whether you’ll need to work from your own home, to begin with, or a warehouse.
There’s a lot of planning and research needed when looking at how to start a boutique business. You’ll need to find the funding required to buy all the stock, to set up all your relevant business operations so that everything works like clockwork.
You’ll also want to make sure you’re clued up on what it means to run an online business or any business for that matter. Certain processes like RoPA and managing your books properly will all help to stop your business from running into trouble further down the line.
From marketing to building a brand, there’s a lot to think about and it’s why many can end up failing or falling in the first year. It’s not easy starting any business and it’s one that demands a lot of your time and no guarantee of a payoff.
Five tips for helping your business thrive
In order to make your online boutique a wild success, you need guidance. That’s where this guide will help! While this is not the be-all and end-all to insight into success, it can be a good place to start.
Be particular about your stock and who you work with.
As a small boutique, remember the meaning of boutique. You don’t want to say you are a small boutique and then begin stocking thousands of different products. It defeats the purpose of calling it a boutique store.
Instead, be particular about your stock selection and once you’ve got your first season of clothing, look at it again. Consider removing any pieces that you’re unsure about in order to reduce the number. There are no official guidelines on how much you should have but we suggest 30-50 pieces to begin with.
2. Invest in good product photography and video.
Investing in good photography and video content is a must. Your customers want to see the product you’re selling, especially as they can’t try it on in-store. With poor-quality images, you’re less likely to make a sale.
Video content is highly sought-after nowadays too, especially when it comes to retail fashion. With 73% of customers who watch videos of products, buying the product as a result, it’s a good investment to make. It’s easy to make and you’re likely going to see a healthy boost in sales as a result.
3. Make customer experience a priority from the beginning.
Customer experience is a priority. In fact, it’s probably one of the most important areas of focus for your business. If the design of your site isn’t great and the functionality of the platform is messy, then it’s going to have a negative effect on your sales performance.
Look at how your customers behave on your site if you already have one. If not, then take a look at your competitors to see their customer’s shopping habits. There are plenty of online resources and tools which you can get this information from.
For example, Sprout Social is a great data analytics tool for assessing your own customer data and that of your competitors.
4. Market your business with an agency.
Be sure to look at marketing and implement a marketing and advertising strategy. You’re putting in all of this work and if you don’t promote yourself, how do you expect traffic to come to your digital doors?
As there’s a lot to manage with setting up an online business, you may wish to outsource this to an agency. Outsourcing is very common in a lot of businesses. It’s a great way to offload some of the work to experts that have experience in growing social media accounts.
5. Look at what’s trending and adapt.
Finally, remain aware of trends. In the fashion retail industry, there’s a huge influence on trends. You may want to look at trends predicted in the future so that you are able to plan your upcoming seasons with more precision.
After all, it’s important to give your customers what they want and a lot of trends end up influencing online shoppers to make a purchase.
What to avoid when running an eCommerce store
There are a million and one mistakes that are made when it comes to running any eCommerce store. According to a variety of sources including Forbes, 90% of eCommerce start-up businesses will end up in failure in the first 120 days of starting.
Those odds aren’t great and it means you’re certainly at a disadvantage from the onset. However, these tips should be helpful in avoiding anything that could have a negative impact on your business growth.
Choosing the wrong name
Just like all of your branding, it’s essential to think it all through carefully and to ensure you have the right business name.
2. Poor user experience
As we’ve mentioned, a poor UX is one that could hinder your users from staying on the site.
3. Not doing your research
From assessing your competition, looking into suppliers, or spotting new trends, a lack of research means your business output will lack quality.
4. A lack of customer service
Just like user experience, a lack of customer support is going to end up having the opposite affect for your business success. Customers need connection!
5. No marketing strategy
Don’t underestimate the power of marketing. With an effective marketing strategy, it helps boost your ROI. With email marketing alone, you can get 4,200% or 42x with every dollar your brand invests.
Take advantage of an online boutique business in 2022
With a strong focus on sustainability and a thriving industry in retail, starting up an online boutique is a great way to express your creativity and make money. However, whether it’s a new start-up or it’s already established, it’s very easy to fail at success within the first few months.
By taking these tips on board, you give yourself the best opportunities for your boutique business to survive and find its feet.
Author Bio: Natalie Redman (LinkedIn)
Freelance writer for many clients across multiple industries. Natalie has two years of copywriting experience. Natalie has a wide range of experience copywriting for web pages for businesses across many industries. She’s also an owner of two blog websites and a Youtube content creator.
