Orignal Blog: Online Boutique Business
The eCommerce fashion industry is tipped to increase at a CAGR of 14.2% by 2025 with the fashion industry expected to hit a $1501 billion valuation by 2027. The revenue from apparel, footwear, and accessories continuously increasing and is estimated to hit $295.7 billion by 2025 in the US alone.
The notable growth showcases the increasing smartphone penetration and online access, growing middle-class people with disposable income, and enhancement of influencer culture. The plethora of opportunities highlight that if you have an eye for style or a passion for fashion, starting an online boutique is a good move.
Plus, a boutique is defined by stylish products complemented with personalized services, wherein small boutique stores excel as they are known for selling specialized products for a specific segment of customers. Starting an online clothing boutique business is a good opportunity for small stores to become a brand over time.
As an entrepreneur, if you are wanted to recreate the in-person experience of a boutique virtually with online boutique store development or have an online boutique idea, then reading the guide would justify your time investment. Here’s the checklist for entrepreneurs on how to start an online boutique business.
10 Steps to follow for Starting an Online Boutique Business
Identify Your Product Niche
Before starting an online boutique and clothing business, it’s essential to identify what you wanted to sell through the store because the boutique includes a wide variety of items to sell. As you are targeting a specific segment of users, you need to sell a particular range of products that appeal to them. First of all, decide your target audience, then the products you are going to sell so that identifying the source and supplier of products becomes easier.
When you have started selling a range of products, enhance the product range that’s closely related to what you are selling. For instance, when you are selling women’s athletics shoes, then it doesn’t make sense to begin selling men’s athletics jackets, socks, and shirts.
Create a Business Plan
When you have identified a product niche, the next thing is to source products from online boutique suppliers, which requires you to invest a lot of money. For additional financial needs, as an entrepreneur, the businesses need to be ready with the plan to convince the banks or investors for financial assistance. Here’s how to create a business plan.
Perform necessary research that includes- creating a buyer persona where target audience information is collected from everywhere, market analysis to identify market size, product growth, and gaps, and SWOT analysis to size up competition. Post-research, select the business model to acquire a specific type of license. The business fall under the following categories- dropshipping, selling products with private label, and custom sewing products. Entrepreneurs can go through this guide that helps them know the types of eCommerce business models and how to select the business model.
After business model selection, the next come is financial planning where it’s decided how much investment from outside sources is required after adding all the expenses to the product price tag. The last part of the business plan is to create a marketing strategy that helps in spreading the word about the product and increasing user outreach. You can leverage social media, seo, PPC, press releases, influencer marketing, and other channels depending on your product type and target audience.
