How to Attract More Customers To Your Clothing Boutique

How To Attract More Customers To Your Clothing Boutique

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Since there are over 150,000 clothing boutiques in the United States alone, attracting customers is a vital part of your business. While any sales are appreciated you will want to aim for loyal customers as they typically end up spending the most at your store. Plus they are great when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing and referrals. Nothing beats a loyal customer in the business world.

To attract more customers to your clothing boutique: 

  • Try hosting events within your local community.
  • Send out newsletters and SMS messages.
  • Offer in-store pick-up options
  • Have a social media presence. 

These are some of the easiest and most common ways to successfully attract new customers to a boutique.

Host Events In Your Community

One of the oldest marketing tricks of the trade is word-of-mouth marketing. One of the easiest ways to get your store’s name out there is to host an event for locals, whether it is for more influential people in the area or you offer tickets to the first fifty people to sign up. It can be a celebratory party with games, drinks, and snacks to celebrate a recent accomplishment or a delayed opening party. 

People tend to not question a reason for a fun event so whatever reason you find will be good. Just make sure that you specify who can sign up (21+ or is it open to everyone?) and ensure that tickets are cut off after the number stated is given out. Limiting the tickets will help you to budget better for the event and cause some envy among those who didn’t get a ticket.

While envy is not good per se it will make them more curious about the store, why fifty people snagged tickets so quickly, what the hype is about, and more. Causing them to check out your items whether that be in-store or online.

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Use Newsletters!

While it may seem useless to some, having a newsletter that is regularly sent out is priceless for a business. Starting one before your business even officially opens is ideal as you can gain contact information from everyone waiting for the opening too, but if nothing else having it early on is best.

They can serve as a reminder to former customers that your store exists still or they can inspire someone who signed up but has yet to purchase from you to now do so. People are easily convinced when they see that something is a limited edition, is on final sale, and so on. So allowing people perusing their email to be reminded of your store can cause them to finally become a customer, maybe even a loyal ones.

Many seem to think that newsletters are pointless and that no one reads them anymore, however they serve as a backup more so than a main source of information. Say Instagram went down tomorrow as it has in the past, and that’s your main source of income at the moment. What will you do if you suddenly cannot communicate with those customers anymore?

How to Attract More Customers To Your Clothing Boutique

You’ll miss out on a ton of business which is less than ideal for any company. So having the newsletter ensures that you have a method of communicating with them no matter what happens. Plus, if you have a newsletter that goes out to twenty thousand people regularly, and “only” eight percent open it, that’s still one thousand and six hundred people regularly seeing your updates. 

SMS messages also help to remind people about sales and deals going on, which can incentivize them to check your store out again, if nothing else boosting your website’s traffic and helping you to rank better on Google. Everything related to having your business be seen and heard about can help to attract new customers. 

In-Store Pick-Up

Shipping fees are astronomical nowadays and frankly, not everyone wants to pay for shipping. Many people will abandon a shopping cart online when it comes to checking out if they have to pay for shipping. So offering in-store pick-up to those local to you will draw more locals into the store and even people from a town or two away as they most likely will not want to pay for shipping.

Or, you can run promotions offering discounted or free shipping once customers hit a specific amount spent. This will entice them to follow through with their order but also add more items because they are “only” fifteen dollars away from free shipping. It’s the mentality that many people have when it comes to online shopping. 

Have A Social Media Presence 

With the rise in popularity of social media platforms over the years, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, a social media presence has become a must. One lucky video featuring your store or clothing items, can go viral and have your brand be seen by millions of people overnight. 

How to Attract More Customers To Your Clothing Boutique

Chances are that one out of a hundred people will order from you, on the low end, meaning that one viral video could result in hundreds of orders. Which can change a business for the better in no time. Since these platforms have become so common, they are the first place people go now to find information about a business.

So not being on social media can also negatively impact you when people are unable to find out more about your company. You want your products to be visible, your brand to seem unique, and your content to be clean. These are all vital elements of a successful social brand. 

They also offer you another way to communicate with your customers and seem accessible to them. You can post updates regarding items, respond to comments, share items that are new in stock, and more. Allowing your customers to feel involved with the brand and as though they have a part in it. 

Go Live On Social Media

While social media is great for daily content it also allows you to interact with customers in real-time through live streams. On TikTok, viewers can even send in “gifts” which have a monetary value while you are live answering questions and talking to them. Which is another, smaller, way in which customers or followers can support your boutique without spending a ton of money.

How to Attract More Customers To Your Clothing Boutique

Or businesses have been known to have live sales on Facebook which can get very involved depending on how you do it. People can comment to claim items, you can have models try items on if needed and more. This allows customers to see items in real-time, comment on what they want (color and size) then are sent payment information. 

This provides a more personal shopping experience for them as it feels as though they are just hanging out and discussing clothes with you. A lot of boutiques have begun to do live sales recently to sell or promote their items. 

Plus this is a great opportunity to encourage followers to share the live stream with their friends and you can do a giveaway once two or three hundred people have joined. It can be a twenty-five-dollar gift card or an accessories bundle. Any incentive to get people to share the live and have more people find your brand can help you to gain exposure, which leads to customers.

Some ways in which you can attract more customers to your clothing boutique are through hosting local events, utilizing social media platforms and their features such as live streams, utilizing newsletters and SMS messages and offering local pick-up options. Each option is bound to help you attract new eyes to your boutique.

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Related Questions 

Can social media change my business overnight?

Yes, social media does have that power now, depending upon how viral a video goes. A video that gets three million views overnight can result in a hundred plus orders depending on the sizes, styles, and items you offer. It can be overwhelming to small business owners and may cause a hectic week or two to try and fulfill orders but the exposure is priceless.

Do people even use work-of-mouth marketing anymore?

Yes! Word-of-mouth marketing is the most timeless and effective tool that individuals and small business owners have. One satisfied customer can result in five or more referrals to their friends, then those friends can refer others they know, and so on. Word-of-mouth marketing even happens virtually when people post a picture or video wearing an article of clothing and people ask them where they got it and they tell them the store’s name. It happens so often that many people do not even realize it’s occurring at all.

Do local events have to be as big as you described?

Not, they can be much smaller with fifteen or so people being able to attend. It depends upon your budget, spacing options, and the time it helps. The more people you can accommodate the better but working with what you have is always preferred. It would look bad if you gave fifty tickets away and then needed to cram everyone into a tiny space.

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.