A Guide to Fashion Retail: The Basics of Marketing and Merchandising in the Clothing Industry

Retail is a competitive field. Not only do you need to offer the best deals, but you also need to provide personalized customer service and make your store as welcoming as possible. To succeed in retail, you’ll need to understand the basics of marketing and merchandising; this includes understanding how clothing is priced, what types of items sell well, and where the best place for your store might be. Here are some tips on how to get started with fashion retail!

The Different Types of Fashion Retailers

The following is a brief look at the different types of retail businesses you’ll come across:

Rent-to-own retail: Unlike physical stores, these businesses don’t need any inventory. Customers rent items they want to wear. As long as customers keep making payments, they can keep wearing the clothing as long as they like.

Online retail: Online stores offer most of the same services as brick-and-mortar stores. However, they usually don’t have any employees on-site and instead use a shopper to carry out most work. In addition, they often have similar branding to brick-and-mortar stores but have specialized websites, allowing them to offer unique products.

Cash-and-carry stores: The services provided to customers are limited to a minimum to minimize the general expenses of the store. Buyers purchase goods, pack them and deal with the transportation on their own, as the store provides no delivery option.

Boutiques

If you’re selling high-quality fashion that sells at a moderate price point, you’re probably a boutique. Boutiques typically sell one or two unique lines of clothing at a time. They may also have a few items by the same designer, but these are very specific lines that wouldn’t typically be found at other retailers. Boutiques typically charge more than department stores, but this is to compensate for the high quality and attention to detail that the store considers when designing and producing their merchandise. To find your ideal location, talk to your family members, neighbors, and friends. If they’re all right around the corner from a new boutique, it may be worth expanding your inventory to include items your boutique currently sells

Department Stores

Department stores are the top department stores. Typically, they offer a wide selection of clothing and accessories, ranging from popular names to high-quality brands. Unfortunately, while department stores can be great places to discover new brands and styles, they aren’t great for apparel. The selection in department stores tends to be very limited, making the merchandise not easily shoppable. What’s more, there are usually several styles and cuts that the store has in stock, but customers don’t want.

That makes clothing shopping in department stores a less-than-ideal experience. However, department stores are great places to see if any new brands you’re considering may be a good fit for you. You’ll also be able to pick up bargains, especially at the end of the season.

Marketing and Merchandising for Clothing

Want to learn more about marketing and merchandising for clothing? Let’s take a look at some of the essentials.

The Basics of Pricing: You’ve got to figure out how much your clothing items will cost to make the most sales. One of the most important parts of merchandising is pricing your clothing properly so you can ensure the highest profits.

Estimating Store Profits: You should make sure that your clothes are priced in such a way that you can make a decent profit from each item you sell. You should estimate the price per piece of clothing and set a minimum quantity of clothing that you sell at each price point. This will also make sure that you only sell the right amount of clothing.

Pricing Your Items

Since many people prefer to get the most for their money, the retailing business can get very complicated very quickly. You’ll need to decide how much your clothes will cost, and if you’ll sell them at a discount. This is often based on trends and price comparisons. You’ll also need to look at how quickly you can sell items, as it may make more sense to sell them for full price if you’re in a busy area and have a good customer service reputation.

A lot of people find fashion retail to be a fairly simple process since they buy clothes from clothes shops and resell them on the internet. This is typically the cheaper option, as you don’t need to maintain a physical store.

Stock Management

The single most important thing that you’ll need to do as a newbie clothing retailer decides which items will be part of your store’s sales. Your potential customers will see clothing they want, and a new store will need at least a few basic sizes and colors to sell. Take some time to really study the different clothing items you have and whether you’re likely to sell them.

You’re now ready to begin your sales strategy. If you’re in a shopping center and have to enter the building to do business, begin by first making your store visible. Select a high-traffic location, and hang signs with your store name and address in order to draw shoppers in. Another way to attract customers is to hire some outside help.

Marketing Your Store

The first step in marketing a clothing store is understanding its current profit margin. This is where you can look at what other clothing stores are doing, what kinds of advertising work best, and where you might find the best space for your business.

Once you’ve determined your current profit margin, you can decide what kind of marketing works best. Perhaps you’ll need to spend a bit more on advertising, or you’ll find that making flyers and handing them out to your neighbors is more cost-effective. Perhaps you’ll need to hire a professional to get your name out there. Whatever the case, your marketing needs to be specific to your business.

Location, Location, Location

Your store location can make or break your business. This is especially true if you sell clothing. Clothing items are subject to seasonal demand, so if you choose the wrong location, your store could end up

staying open for less than a year. You need to consider how long it will take you to sell an item, and you need to think about how long it will take to make the item to the sale. In the end, choosing a location where there is plenty of foot traffic and shopping in your target area is a good idea!

You might want to test out the keywords you think will be most successful for your store. For example, if you are looking for fashion and children’s clothing in Crouch End, try searching for “Crouch End Clothing” on Google.

Planning a store location

In order to compete in the retail market, you’ll need to find a location where you can turn a profit. According to Owner Landing, choosing the right location is vital. Most people need a place that is convenient, accessible, and reasonably priced. According to an article in MNN, the best places to open a clothing store might include:

• On the outskirts of the city.
• Highway exits.
• Near downtown and shopping districts.
• Least traveled highways, which are usually highway exits.
• Nestled in the middle of a college campus.

If you’re looking to develop your knowledge of fashion retail, we recommend you take these tips on the subject and use them in your everyday life. Following these tips can help you to become a better business owner and can help you to understand what goes into owning a fashion retail business.