How to start a business online for clothing

So you decided to open your online clothing business or store. No wonder why: with online clothing stores valued at $ 1 billion a year, it’s by far one of the most popular niche eCommerce. With the expected revenue of $ 713 billion by 2022 and emerging middle classes around the world with disposable income, there are many potential companies that can benefit from it.

However, opening a successful online clothing store is much more than buying a domain and placing an ad. A successful shop depends on the niche you choose, the brand you create, the quality of not only your clothing products but also your website, customer service, and implementation strategies. Just because a niche is popular doesn’t mean you have instant access to potential customers. In fact, the opposite is the case. As the popularity increases, the pressure to differentiate your business from millions of others who are already online increases. If you’re new to eCommerce gaming or want to add clothing and clothing to your growing business portfolio in 2020, this post is for you! In this guide, we will guide you through the steps you need to take to build a successful online clothing store. Also, read the post for expert tips on building a successful brand after building your clothing brand

Let’s start! 

Step 1:

Choose the niche of your online clothing store Before you can choose your products, you need to decide what clothes and the niche you want to sell in. By choosing your niche, you can choose the products and create the overall business plan for the type of potential buyers you want to attract. Ultimately, you can position your business in a unique way. The trick is to be very specific and really penetrate your niche as it will help you identify and market your potential buyers more easily. In this way, you can also develop your product list to address your specific target market. This allows you to restrict your competition and increase your chances of long-term customer loyalty. The HUMAN online clothing store is an impressive example of this. Your niche? Pop Culture. How do you take care of it? With bold humor: a unique expression that appeals to what they call “pop culture nerds”. And what pulls potential buyers into this niche? Patterned chiffon skirts or designer shoes, but shirts, sweatshirts, and socks.     

Step 2:

Think ahead As we know, fashion and clothing are constantly changing. First, choose stable products that can be easily changed to fit changing styles, such as B. ties or shirts as shown above. If you choose a more traditional fashion, plan the changing styles by setting up a suitable store, e.g. B. Drop Shipping to make sure you are not sold out. There will always be changes at the end of the dress-up game. Success depends on your ability to think ahead and deal with changes in an innovative and creative way. Focus Yes, be as specific and narrow as possible at first, but think about the ultimate goal. Think about where your online clothing brand will expand in the future and focus on the end goal. In this way, you can ensure that you can implement new or trendy products in your store more smoothly by adding products to your range or product line and expanding your store in your niche. Bonus tip: The secrets of how a 6-digit e-commerce company dominates your niche 

Step 3:

Choose the business model of your online clothing store Now that you know your niche and have an idea of what types of products you want to sell, it’s time to choose a business model for your online clothing store. There are four types of business models in which online clothing and clothing stores are located: Print out on request Personalized cutting and sewing Trademark Dropshipping Each business model has its advantages and disadvantages, and the choice between them should be based on your goal, your budget, and your general skills.Let’s take a closer look at each one

The business model of the print-on-demand clothing business

Print-on-Demand is the simplest and cheapest online business model for clothing. In fact, personalized t-shirt printing is expected to generate $ 10 billion in sales by 2025. These are the types of stores where you print your logo and designs on blank garments and everything is automated. There are enough styles and colors in this type of store and it is the most profitable option when it comes to small order quantities. A good example of a company that deals with this is Printful, which has developed into a mega-print-on-demand brand and is launching a variety of new products and services this year, including active clothing, storage, and construction.

The business model of the custom clothing store

The best for those of you who want to launch your own clothing and design brands. This type of business model of the online clothing store is intended for those of you who want to build your own fashion line from scratch. In other words, do everything from designing your clothes to making and manufacturing. The biggest advantage here is that you can sell something really unique and customize it as you like. However, bespoke tailoring companies have excellent management as they are responsible for finding and coordinating your model builders and manufacturers, procuring your fabric, etc. This means that a lot of the initial budget and time are required. to start your first line. Professional tip: Are you looking for a model maker? Here are three suppliers selected to get started: Smarter design character JLD Studios Modeler.

The business model of the private label clothing store

Business models for private labels is essentially the intermediate point between on-demand printing and cutting and sewing. They offer greater customization than the first, but less “work” and budget than the second. This type of template is when you buy blank or unmarked clothing and then add your own design, label, or label before selling it in your store. This can be a lot more convenient than on-demand printing, as better bulk purchase prices can be negotiated. Unfortunately, there are some disadvantages, such as the need to manage compliance and inventory management yourself. However, there are platforms that will help you simplify the process, e.g. B. Threadbird, where you can shop and customize clothes and clothing. They also offer fulfillment services for those of you who prefer your own warehouse.

The business model of the dropshipping clothing store

Similar to print-on-demand, dropshipping clothing stores allow you to sell clothing made through wholesalers. This is a convenient route as no pre-purchase, storage, packaging, or shipping is required. The downside is that your products are not that unique and there may be a multitude of stores selling the same products as you. However, setup can be fairly simple. With apps like Oberlo, you can find, coordinate, and integrate many providers into your online shopping store. 

Step 4:

summarize the business plan of the online clothing store You have your niche, products, and business model. It’s time to outline your business plan. You should outline you: Market (deepening your potential buyers in segmented markets) Products (decide what makes them unique) The biggest competitors (list of your main competitors) Business model/compliance strategies Brand/company description (how your target market should see your brand) When it comes to e-commerce strategies, you need to make sure you answer questions such as B. where your traffic comes from (potential buyers) and what makes your products interesting for this traffic. In addition and very importantly, part of the business plan must also include their prices. Price budget per product with the following important cost aspects: Equipment, web development, hosting, etc. Design and development Production cost per product, including samples. Work and transportation material Once you know the cost, you can calculate your margins, looking for a margin of around 30-50% when using sewing and sewing patterns. However, you should also look at your biggest price competition at this stage and make sure you don’t set prices directly outside the market. Bonus content: Would you like to know how to spy on competitors? 

Step 5: build your online clothing store Now comes the fun part: create your online shop. The first thing you need is your domain. We recommend that you buy it separately once you have your main idea. You want to make sure that the domain is still available after you’ve designed your area and created your site. We recommend Namecheap for this shopping.

Do you need help choosing an e-commerce platform? These instructions will help you choose the right manual for your company. Main differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus and selection

 Step 6:

start your online clothing store Once your products are installed, the business plan was drawn up, compliance organized, and the website completed, it’s time to open your online clothing store. Here are some starting tips to help you get started. 

1. Define your starting strategy: Are you going to make a promotion? Make a live video on Facebook? Are you using an existing email database to promote teaser banner ads? Regardless of the strategy you choose, you have to implement it step by step at the start. This should include activities such as checking and testing the functionality of the entire business before launch
2. Prepare your social accounts Before launching your website, make sure your social account pages are configured and ready. In fact, you have this content with content before your big start. In this way, you can publish your social ads at launch and market your new shop to an already growing audience.
3. Activate your email marketing and automation strategy. Make sure that all of your automation emails are set up and tested. And that an email marketing strategy is planned for the first three months. Professional tip: Install a well-designed popup to collect email addresses and use discounts and coupons as incentives. 
4. Make sure your Google Analytics and Google Ads accounts are set up Next. We recommend that you set up your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts before you start. This allows you to monitor traffic to your store in real-time during startup and generate traffic through SERP displays.

Step 7:

Increase traffic to your online clothing store The last step? Bring traffic to your newly launched online clothing store. The main traffic drivers are email marketing, PPC, content marketing, blog posts from social media guests, and influencers. Bonus content: Everything you need to know to win with Google Shopping in 2020 [Complete Guide] For a new unbranded business, a consolidated SEO list, or a database.