Basic Tips and Advice for Starting a Clothing Retail Business
Clothing retailers are a good choice of business. People will always need to buy clothes, so making a sale is relatively straightforward. Plus, it is almost recession proof, meaning that it can make it easier to weather economic turmoil.
However, it certainly isn’t all plain sailing. Given the benefits of starting a clothing retail business, it’s unsurprising to learn that many people have the same idea. Clothing is one of the most competitive industries because there are so many retailers around.
For this reason, it’s important that you arm yourself with as much useful information and advice as you can. Today, we have aimed to help you in this end by providing you with a number of tips to help you to get it right first tie.
Distinguish Your Business from the Competition
There is a high degree of competitiveness within the clothing retail market. This means that in order to stand out from the crowd, and to make sales, your business needs something that distinguishes it from the competition.
The feature that you choose to distinguish yourself with must be something that is in demand. For example, you may be setting up shop in a student town and have noticed that there are few choices of evening dresses. This could prove your distinguishing feature.
In order to find out if it is, you must do two things:
- Conduct market research: ask potential customers if they are in need of a retailer that sells evening dresses. Is it something that comes up frequently enough that you will gain a steady stream of customers?
- Contact a wholesaler and see what’s on offer for wholesale evening dresses. Are the prices reasonable? Is the stock varied enough? Is a steady stream of dresses viable?
Make Sure You Have the Correct Permits
In the UK, the retail trade has several governing pieces of legislation. You must ensure that you comply with the law. You can contact your local Trading Standards Office for details of compliance.
Location, Location, Location
Your choice of location is vital to your success. You need to ensure that you find a venue that is suitable for your intended customers. For example, if you're looking to sell upmarket clothing, you shouldn’t place the shop in an area that is considered rundown.
As well as the geographic location, you also need to ensure that your chosen premises are the correct size. You need to account for the shop floor, changing rooms, and stock rooms. It’s surprisingly easy to underestimate the amount of space you need for stock, so do ensure that you do the maths!
Contact Wholesalers
This is one of the most important steps in the process. You need to make sure that you can find the correct stock. This is stock that you have established via market research that will sell well, for example, evening dresses.
However, it’s no good having stock that you can sell easily if the price you pay from the wholesaler leaves too little profit. For example, if you buy wholesale evening dresses, you must make sure that you can sell them on for a profit.
Does the price you're paying match the quality? Does it leave you with a decent profit margin? Is the wholesaler flexible with purchase volumes? Are you allowed samples to see how well they sell? These are all important things to look for from your wholesale supplier.
We hope that you have found this article useful. If you would like to discuss your needs with a wholesaler, please visit http://www.babezlondon.com/.
Five Helpful Tips When Buying Clothes from a Wholesaler
If you run a clothing business, then you will need to buy your stock either from a manufacturer of clothing or from a wholesaler. Most businesses choose to buy via a wholesaler because manufacturers often require large bulk purchases (1000+ pieces at a time) and most clothing retailers require smaller purchases.
It’s important to get it right when buying from a clothing wholesaler. Today, we discuss five great tips to help you make the most of your wholesale purchases.
Tip 1: Learn How to Negotiate
As with many B2B transactions, negotiation is important when discussing your needs with a wholesaler. The first price they provide is always negotiable. Unfortunately, new clothing retailers may be unaware of this and may simply accept the first deal. Don’t do this. Instead, you need to negotiate the price.
There’s plenty of information available online that provide step-by-step guides to the negotiation process. We recommend that you spend a good few days researching and practicing your negotiation techniques.
Tip 2: Know Where to Find Them
As a successful business owner, it’s paramount that you understand how to find your suppliers/wholesalers. There are a few places where you can source information on decent wholesalers:
- Local networking groups – networking is by far the best way to find contacts.
- Industry networking events – same as above, except this is specialised to your industry.
- Lancashire – this is home to the British textiles industries, and so there are many wholesalers here. You can buy a huge array of clothing in Lancashire, from wholesale women’s leggings to wholesale men’s briefs; it should definitely be one of the first places you look.
- Industry directories – you will have to pay for the best directories, but they are well worth it because they have many contacts that are sourced using quality methods.
Tip 3: Ask for Samples
Before you buy any bulk purchases, ask for a sample. You may be offered a freebie or a salesperson may come out to you with a sample to show you. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you understand exactly what you are buying before you part with any cash.
Tip 4: Make Sure They Offer You a Decent Overall Service
When it comes to buying from a wholesaler, it isn’t all about the goods themselves. It’s also about the service that the wholesaler offers. You need to ensure that the wholesaler:
- Delivers goods within a framework that works for you
- Offers dedicated account managers that will work closely with you
- Offers decent payment terms that work well for your business (this might take time to achieve)
A good service means the risk of business interruption for you is minimised.
Tip 5: Ask for Testimonials
Finally, to ensure that the wholesaler is offering the service they say they are, ask to hear from their existing customers. You could do this by researching online or by asking the wholesaler directly.
Focus in particular on testimonials from businesses who are buying the same products that you are. For example, if you're buying wholesale women’s leggings, ask for testimonials from customers who buy the same product.
We hope that you have found this article useful. If you would like to discuss your wholesale needs with a clothing wholesaler then please visit http://www.babezlondon.com/.
