Competition in fashion business is fierce
You are thinking of starting an online clothing/jewelry/apparel company, and the competition seems too much to handle. Besides it’s quite easy to be bogged down in setting up manufacturing, delivery and other things before you actually start to sell. All of these issues have to be taken into account to produce a well-thought-out e-retailer in fashion or any other type of eCommerce business. However, with fashion, you have some issue that other industries are not faced with as much.
Opening an online fashion store that is competitive is no easy task. First of all, it means leaving the safety of your office behind, forgetting about steady income and paid holidays, as well as vacations – all of those perks that come with a corporate job. You are guaranteed to work overtime for 14-hours a day to get things rolling. It’s something that you will do all day and every day. Below, I’ve outlined key things to consider if you plan on being successful in launching a fashion e-retailer.
Do you have experience in fashion?
Have you studied fashion in college? No worries if you haven’t. Many successful entrepreneurs have watched their fathers and mother run a business, or maybe they’ve spent time working on the floor in a high-end clothing store. In any case, before launching a store you have to get some real-life experience in the industry.
Try to ask yourself and frank about: “Do I have the competitive advantage and experience to succeed?” If not by a large margin then your only choice is to offer great products and services. Your competition is not with the stores down the block; you are competing with a global mall. Pay close attention to the type of people your business aims to sell to and to the moves you have to make. Placing sales at the right time and knowing current trends on the street cannot be overestimated.
Launching your Website on eCommerce Platform
A few days back, I wrote about the profitability of online stores in the nearest future. For fashion stores, my advice would be to use Magento to create a site with high usability. Large swathes of top e-retailers have been built on top of it. It offers a number of options for small upstarts to set-up a full-fledged site and to get extra insights. You can get to know more at Fashion eCommerce Solutions.
Designing for mobile
Taking into account eMarketer research, more than 30% of the global population uses smartphones on a daily basis. As of 2016 in the USA and most of Europe over 51% of people use mobile devices as their primary means of purchase, as IBM’s data state. Clearly, creating a versatile mobile site from the very start gives you the necessary edge to stand out from the competition. To start and save cost, plan on having a website with great UX. Later on with more and more items being added to your catalog, developing a native mobile app is a logical next step.
Advertising fashion
Having chosen your target audience, you can create very specific and cost-effective online marketing campaigns with banners and text ads. Use affiliate services and find sites in your niche with large traffic to publicize your fashion website. You can agree on barter – they show your ads in exchange for a percentage of sales made from people that come from them.
Offer unique items
You may specialize in fashion jewelry or high-end fashion apparel, but always check what is sold in large retail stores like Target and Sears. Your pricing policy may not let you give you 90% discounts on earrings, but people like to get what they pay for. So keep quality in mind, and never promote something trick people by sending them look-alike cheap stuff instead of the high-quality pieces they ordered. This lets you build your reputation and a mass following.
