The Best Revenue Streams For A Clothing Business

So you’ve taken that leap and have decided to open a clothing business. Good for you. Whether you are making tons of sales through the foot traffic that comes through your store, or if you are struggling to get customers in the door, you can always find new revenue streams that can increase your total profits and make your business the smashing success you’ve always dreamed it can be. So, what are some of the new, exciting , and effective revenue streams that the most successful clothing businesses are currently using? Better yet, are these revenue streams tried and true with successes track records? Let’s find out together… 

The best revenue streams for a clothing business are:

  • Do trunk shows or pop-up locations.
  • Try collaborating with other brands.
  • Have a strong presence on social media and consider becoming an influencer.
  • Create a great website for an online storefront. 
  • Become an Amazon seller as soon as possible. 

In this article, we will take a closer look at each of these revenue streams that you can use to increase your revenue. While some of these revenue streams may require some effort on your part, some of them can increase your sales with little to no effort from you. Let’s read along to see what some of the top clothing businesses are currently doing, as well as why they are using these streams over the many other options that are currently available. Why are these streams more in-demand that others? Well, let me answer that question for you…

What Are Trunk Shows and Pop-Up Locations, and Why Should I Consider Doing Them?

The Best Revenue Streams For A Clothing Business

The first two additional revenue streams that you can use to increase the profits of your clothing business are trunk shows and – up locations. Now, you may be wondering to yourself, “What in the world are trunk shows and pop-up locations?” Allow me to answer that for you. Pop-up locations are also commonly known as pop-up stores, flash retailing, or pop-up retail. This occurs when a proprietor opens a short-term location for a few weeks, or even possibly a month, as a way to introduce their merchandise to a wider audience and increase their sales. Pop-up stores have become a popular way to host trendy events. 

Trunk shows are another revenue stream that you can use to increase your revenue. So, what is a trunk show, and how would it be beneficial to your clothing business? Well, much like its name with indicate, trunk shows are events where you display your merchandise from a storage trunk to potential customers. 

If you decide to have a trunk show, you would bring the merchandise to your customer at their retail locations, or in a predetermined setting like a hotel room. Trump shows are commonly used to give people a preview of the merchandise that you will be showcasing at a pop-up show. These two methods usually work in conjunction with each other, and can be quite beneficial in increasing your sales.

Does Collaborating With Other Brands Really Work?

Collaborations between designers or people in the clothing business have been around practically since the beginning of fashion. While there are several ways in which this can occur, collaborations are most commonly found when to designers get together to create something entirely new, or when people in the clothing business make an agreement to showcase the other retailer’s merchandise. 

For the purposes of this article, I am going to Focus mainly on the second option. Collaborations usually work best when a clothing company agrees to showcase merchandise from an accessory retailer, or vice versa. For example, if you own a clothing store, you can make an arrangement with someone who sells bracelets, earrings, purses, or any other accessory that is usually associated with fashion.

The Best Revenue Streams For A Clothing Business

However, you do not need to limit your options regarding brand collaborations to a static, physical location. One of the more popular options to showcase brand collaborations lately is by using influencers on social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. This puts your product in front of more people than if you would rely solely on foot traffic for your location. Fortunately, you do not need to limit brand collaborations to similar Industries. 

Most of the best collaborations occur when two products that are completely different work together. Ultimately, what matters is that you are putting your product directly in front of people who would not normally get the chance to see what you have to offer. I’m sure you will see in the rest of this article, you do not need to rely on using one of these revenue streams at a time. Most of these can be used in combination with each other, and that is usually how many of them work best.

How Much is Needed to Start a Fashion Brand?

Should I Increase My Social Media Presence Or Become an Influencer?

As I briefly touched on in the previous section, increasing your online presence is crucial to be success or failure of your clothing business these days. There are an astounding 3.96 billion people on social media around the world, per Statista. This number is expected to increase to approximately 4.4 billion people by the year 2025. If you give it some thought, those are literally billions of eyes that you can introduce to what you have to offer. 

I’m sure that most of you have scrolled through Facebook on more than one occasion, and have seen several advertisements come through your newsfeed. I must admit that I am guilty of making more than one impulse purchases solely based on these advertisements, and I know that I can’t be the only one. As a business owner, think of the increase revenue you can see just by having a strong social media presence. 

Yet another way to introduce your merchandise to people who may have otherwise never seen it is by using social media influencers. These are people who are compensated in some manner for showcasing different brands and products on their social media accounts. Influencers generally have a large number of followers, and have outgoing and likable personalities. 

Some of the more popular social media influencers have millions of people who are hanging on to their every move, waiting to see what they are wearing and what they are doing. Today, more and more businesses are noticing this. Chief Marketer says that 66% of all brands use mid-level influencers, while 44% of brands use influencers with a large number of followers. Approximately 62% of these businesses compensate influencers monetarily, while over 35% of them compensate influencers by providing them with free products.

Why Should I Have an Online Storefront? 

More than ever, people are opting to shop online rather than go to physical locations. According to the website Ecommerce 360, online sales have increased over 50% in the last two years. Online sales now account for 14.2% of all retail sales, totaling an estimated $870.8 billion per year. As our lives have become more and more digital, our daily habits have also changed. Shopping is no exception. 

The Best Revenue Streams For A Clothing Business

Most people prefer the convenience of being able to shop from the comfort of their own homes, which is why having a great online storefront is essential to the success of most businesses today. Thankfully, you can use your social media accounts in conjunction with your online storefront. If you combine those with the use of an influencer, you have hit the digital media trifecta. Your sales should drastically increase, and greatly improve the profits for your clothing business.

Now that we know why it is essential to have an online storefront, let’s examine some of the key components that make up an online storefront. Per E-Leaning Industry, here are some of the essential elements that you should include in your online storefront:

  • Be sure to put your best selling products directly on your homepage.
  • You can bundle similar items to create product collections.
  • Have a section where visitors can leave their contact information and feedback. 
  • Include an option that allows people to zoom in and closely view your products.
  • List all available shipping and delivery options, complete with prices.

How Do I Become an Amazon Seller, and Will It Be a Viable Revenue Stream?

Finally, selling your merchandise on Amazon is a great way to increase your revenue for your clothing business. Per the website EDesk, Amazon has recently overtaken Walmart as the world’s largest online retailer, with over 500,000 third-party sellers based in the United States.  Those third-party sellers are responsible for over $11,500 in revenue per minute. Selling your merchandise on Amazon can provide your clothing business a chance to increase its revenue by selling your products to people who may have otherwise never visited your physical location. Still, there are many other people who have made the decision to sell exclusively on digital platforms such as Amazon or a website, deciding to forgo their brick and mortar locations altogether. 

The Best Revenue Streams For A Clothing Business

Becoming a seller on Amazon is not a complicated process, however, there are fees that are associated with being a seller on this platform. According to Amazon, you must pay a fee of $0.99 to them for each sale you make. You must also pay a referral fee to Amazon for each sale, which will be a percentage of the total transaction. This percentage differs by department. There is also a professional plan for high-volume sellers, where you pay a flat fee of $39.99 per month no matter how many transactions you make. Once you have decided which plan suits your clothing business best, you need to create a seller account. To create a seller account, you will need the following items:

  1. Either a business email address or a current Amazon account
  2. A credit card that can be charged internationally
  3. A valid form of Government identification 
  4. Tax information
  5. A working phone number 
  6. A bank account where Amazon can deposit your funds. 

If you have the requirements listed above, you can create an Amazon seller account here. you decide to use Amazon as a means to compliment your physical location through additional sales, or if you decide to sell your merchandise exclusively on Amazon, it has proven to be a viable revenue source for any business. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have taken a closer look at five of the most popular and proven revenue streams that can be used to increase profits for your clothing business. The first way to increase revenue for your business is through  trunk shows and pop-up locations. These have been in the fashion industry for years, and are usually quite popular. 

Another revenue stream you can use to increase your sales is through a collaboration with another brand. This can help to diversity your clothing business’s revenue streams by allowing you to get paid simply by featuring another company’s products. These days, it pays to have a strong presence online, and it is another way to increase sales without increasing foot traffic in your store. 

Becoming a social influencer can help draw attention to your products as well. Another revenue stream that is worth looking into is a having a great website built for your business, complete with an online storefront. This is yet another proven way to increase your revenue. 

Finally, you should give serious consideration to becoming an Amazon seller. This is a revenue stream that has worked for many other businesses for several years, and it can be work for you. If you give some of these a chance, I’m sure that they will bring additional revenue and profits to your clothing business. Don’t forget to let me know how they work out for you. 

How to Start Your Small Clothing Business from Home

Related Questions

How much revenue does the average clothing business make during the course of a year in the United States?

There are many factors that go into demanding how much the average clothing business makes per year in the United States. Some of these factors include expenses, marketing, overhead, the size of the company, its location, and the types of products it sells. With that said, the average clothing business in the United States makes between $23,751 and $140,935 per year. 

What kind of salary does the average clothing business owner make per year in the United States?

If the owner of a clothing business chooses to pay theirselves an annual salary, this will more than likely be based on the profits of their business. While this number may fluctuate depending on many variables such as total number of sales, expenses, rent or mortgage, and overhead, the average salary of a clothing business owner in the United States is approximately $51,000 per year.

To learn more about how to start your own fashion clothing line check out my startup documents here

Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.