Shops

I would like to have the customer to focus on clothing in shop and not price only. We have price tags on stock dresses. Customers are also able to special order in another size. We are a small boutique with large competitors in our area. We do not have the volume as others and the advertising budget. We are battling problems what we should set our margin at.

First, do you have a niche? Does you store offer clothing that consumers will not be able to find, or find good replicas of, in the large compeditor stores? That is what you need to focus on when ordering supply. Make sure either the product you offer or the method of offering is unique and cannot be duplicated in the large department store. The rest can be handled by cleaver marketing.

Marketing: If you have a store front window, keep it changing regularly – at least once a week. This helps you from blending in and is like free advertisement. Don’t look the same every day out of the year. Once a month (or every two months) place a whole bunch of balloons outside and celebrate something…… arrival of a new clothing line, back-to-school specials, customer appriciation week…..
This is ture for in-store decor also. Keep clothing rotating, so that a rack I may not have seen in the back of the store on my last visit seems like new merchandise on my second visit. Keep clothing on displays and manikins constantly changing. Change displays to change with the season. This creates interest and intrigue.

Make sure signage is visable in the store that indicates you can special order sizes.

Incentive to return: There are a couple local shops that I use, even though they are more expensive, because they have a frequent shopper card. It gets punched everytime I spend $20 (which is easy to do) and after 15 or 20 puches I get $20 off next purchase.

Incentive to referr: The place where my mother works offers a coupon to paying customers. On one side the customer writes his name and address then gives it to a friend. The friend brings in the coupon and presents it to the clerk upon paying for an item purchased (over $X amount) then the original customer (whose name is on the coupon) is send a thank you for referring your friend to use note along with a generous coupon to use on their next visit – like 50% off one item under $x.00.

Lastly, is the experience in your store unique? Are customer warmly greeted at the door? Does staff try to learn frequent customer’s name and use the name when greeted/conducting business? Is staff attentitive to customer when trying on clothing (offer to exchange sizes, colors, or assist customer)? Are mints out on the counter? Is a drink refressment offered – particularly on hot and cold days? (People always linger longer when there is food available.)

As for margins, be confident enough in your product (or order product that you can be confident in) that you set a price that makes you the profit you need to keep the store running without feeling like you have to compromise on the price. I guess what I’m trying to say is, be confident in your product (and instill this confidence in your employees) and your customers will be confident in buying it, no matter the price.

Best wishes.

Posted retail shop |