So, you just created your fashion brand and now you’re starting to make money, but you want to add more value to the brand. You may find that you are selling more of your lower cost items and you’re wanting to up the value of your merchandise or you want to increase profits, there are ways to add value.
To best retain customers for your fashion brand:
- Focus on giving the best customer service you can.
- Offer high quality merchandise as well as merchandise that will fit all budgets.
- Pay attention to trends and make sure you’re offering what people are buying currently.
- Offer rewards, store cash and other offers can provide incentives for customers to come back.
Customer Service
Good customer service is vital to keeping customers happy. You don’t want to be a push over, but you also don’t want to accuse customers who aren’t satisfied with their purchase of lying or trying to scam you. It takes paying attention to what you’re selling and seeing regular complaints. If one item keeps getting returned, you may want to discontinue carrying it. Some materials are not as good as others and not all brands are equal.
You also will want to greet all customers as they come in and make sure all customers are equally taken care of. You don’t want to allow a bias to affect how you treat customers. Some stores have special bias training that will go over how an unconscious bias will keep their staff from properly treating some customers based on misconceptions they may hold.
Confused customers are also customers who may not come back. If you see a customer who obviously looks lost, you need to jump right on it and make sure they get the help they need.
On the same note, you will want to make sure you aren’t overbearing to customers. There is nothing worse than walking into a store and having everyone jump on you like vultures. It can feel like you’re being suspected of stealing or worse.
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Quality Merchandise
This should go without saying, but make sure the items you’re stocking your shelves with are of a good quality. There is nothing wrong with some lower cost items to fill smaller budgets (or provide impulse add-ons) but you will want to make sure you offer some higher quality and more expensive items as well. Even stores like Walmart offer higher priced options for some options.
Make sure your products will not easily rip or tear. You want to choose products that will come with a higher quality of make and fabric.
Merchandise for All Budgets
Not everyone will be able to afford to keep buying fast fashion and season trends. Adding some classic pieces to your inventory can help people decide they want to invest in your clothing. A lot of people prefer nice, quality classic pieces over the fast fashion trends that come and go with each season and are typically a poorer quality than others.
Don’t forget accessories. Accessories tend to cost less and can make some decent impulse purchases. Shoppers will see some pretty 12.00 earrings and impulsively buy them along with the outfits they’re buying, and it adds extra money to their order. People will also look for high quality sunglasses in the summer, but some people don’t believe in spending over 100 for a pair of sunglasses (like, people who have a tendency of losing their sunglasses so need a cheaper and easily replaceable pair). If you add sunglasses that cost between 1.00 and 2-300, you will hit both demographics and the one-dollar sunglasses will add up.
Go from your head to your toes to see what types of accessories you can add to what you already offer. Shoes are a high-priced addition and socks go with shoes. Even if you don’t sell shoes, you will benefit from adding socks. Anklet jewelry will also add small impulse purchases to your inventory. Body piercing jewelry is hard to find for people who have facial and body piercings. They are not cheap but not too expensive, they are also good additions to your business. Earrings will be one of the most popular accessories you will add. Most women have piercings in their ears, so nearly everyone wears earrings, and most people have multiple pairs. Necklaces and bracelets also work well for impulse purchases, gloves work well in the winter and near winter. Arm socks can be popular among young adults and teenagers.
Look at how your target market and see how they typically accessorize when they get dressed every day.
Pay Attention to Trends
Every clothing store needs to pay attention to what is in style. Even though many people do prefer more classic styles that will last longer than a season, the people with money to burn- especially teens with part time jobs and endless disposable income will typically like wearing what is directly in style each season. Pay attention to what your specific demographic buys in terms of style and brand. You don’t want to stock a brand that typically appeals to older women when you’re trying to reach teen girls, but older women are also a really good demographic, and nothing is wrong with trying to appeal to both grandmothers and granddaughters.
If you want to appeal to teen boys, pay attention to what sports brands they like and what sports teams are popular in your area.
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Rewards Programs and Store Credit Cards
Store credit cards can get customers to spend more than they typically would than if they were spending cash out of their own bank account. When signing up, people will have an easier time if they are being offered a discount if they get approved and if they don’t get approved. This could take more than if you’re newly starting out, but once your shop is established it’s a good idea to look into some of the major credit companies and start offering a credit card. Many of the popular cards offer larger discounts to customers and help customers save as much money as they can. (Look at companies like Kohls, they offer 35 off if you get approved and up to 30 off during different times of the year). It’s not good enough to just offer a store credit card, customers need incentives to sign up and remain active.
Rewards programs are easy to set up and offer points for every purchase, then result in gifts and extra money for people who spend enough. Rewards offer an incentive to keep coming back to spend more money.
Some stores offer free cash for certain prices, a popular amount is ten dollars for every fifty spent that can be used later. Store cash can be used on any items in the store and will be able to be used later to keep customers coming back. Many times, customers will not only come back to spend the cash, but they will also spend over and that will be an added profit that possibly wouldn’t have existed if they didn’t have an incentive to come back.
Some stores use a punch card rewards system where you get a card punched every time you buy a certain item and on the eighth or tenth purchase, you can get one free.
There are other options if you want to do something different to stand out, all you must do is think about what you’re wanting to offer and work out a way to implement that.
There are many ways to add value to your store. You will want to try to add as much value by combining as many different ways you can think of to do it. Remember, you’re in retail and in retail, customer service is extremely important so training your associates in good customer service etiquette is important as well and should not be overlooked.
When you’re looking at what you’re going to stock, make sure you have a wide variety of brand names and if you’re big enough, enough of your own store brand to cater to your whole demographic. Knowing your demographic is one of the most important parts of marketing and selling as well. You need to understand what drives them to make the choices they make, and you need to have a deep understanding of how they think and feel.
Don’t overlook adding items like body jewelry. Many people have piercings in areas other than their ears but there aren’t many places to buy jewelry. Don’t overlook adding fashion jewelry either. Fine jewelry may cost a lot more than a twenty-dollar necklace or ten-dollar earrings, but people are more willing to pay a cheaper amount for daily use earrings and the prices can add up.
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Related Questions
What Types of Accessories Work?
Jewelry, socks, hats, sunglasses, and anything else that costs less than clothing that you wear will help with impulse buying and adding extra money to your profit.
What is Impulse Buying?
Impulse buying is when someone doesn’t go into a store to find a particular item but the price and item are just right so they go ahead and purchase those items on impulse. Impulse merchandising in stores is candy displays beside the counter, toys at child’s eye level and cheaper merchandise beside the check out. Those items are priced lower and displayed so that people will notice and buy those items on impulse.
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.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Fashion Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a designer or boutique owner at a craft fair, farmers market, retail location or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Fashion Business Boss: I want to help fashion business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.