In fact, as of last year, the Ecommerce fashion industry generated just over 600 billion dollars in revenue. Not only that, but sales are expected to hit the 700 billion mark by 2023.
However, launching an online store is not just a matter of creating a website and marketing your products. It requires a lot of thinking beforehand.
With that said, let's take a look at what you need to do when launching an online clothing line.
1. Choose Your Niche
It's pretty safe to say that the clothing industry is a very vast arena within itself, covering anything from high-end suits to streetwear, sports clothing, and even pajamas.
Although everybody needs clothes, some may prefer to wear simple, practical, no-nonsense clothing, while others may choose designs that are a little more flashy, valuing aesthetics over practicality. That's exactly why you need to choose your niche. Be sure to conduct a thorough market research or ask a digital marketing agency to help you out.
You shouldn't sell clothes to everyone. Instead, you'd rather want to aim for a specific audience, as that will not only make your product appealing for your target market, increasing the chances of generating sales, but it will also limit your competition.
With that said, when choosing your niche strive to find something unique, so you could stand out from the crowd. It's also a good idea to choose something that you're passionate about, as where there is passion, there also may be success.
Furthermore, try to find a way to add more value to your soon-to-be products. Take H&M, for example. They have a fashion line that focuses on Conscious clothing.
Their main selling point is that at least 50% of the materials they use are sustainable, like organic cotton or recycled polyester. It's their way of protecting the environment.
You could do something similar with your clothing line as well. In other words, try to view your clothes as a means of accomplishing a certain mission you care about.
And finally, make sure that the niche you choose has earning potential. There's no point in trying to sell something if no one else is interested in it.
2. Determine Your Business Plan
Just like with starting any other business, you'll need to devise a strategy first. With that said, this is where you would put all of your ideas on paper.
Write down your company's description, where you would highlight your products, customer demographics, and how you are going to keep up with the competition. Talk about each one of these aspects in detail.
You should also mention your company's mission, vision, and values. Don't forget to talk about finances as well, like how you will obtain funding, how much you will need, and how it will be sourced.
It's also recommended that you'd devise a marketing plan by now, where you'd pinpoint your marketing strategies both online and offline.
3. Determine Your Business Model
Besides putting a business strategy together, you'll also need to figure out how your company is going to operate.
You see, there are plenty of ways to sell goods online and when it comes to clothing you've got four at your disposal, those being: print on demand, custom cut and sew, private label, and dropshipping.
Let's go over each one of these methods in more detail.
Print on Demand
Let's cover the simplest model first. As the name suggests, the print-on-demand model involves taking already existing clothing, like plain T-shirts, for example, and applying prints based on the customer's order.
These prints can either be custom, where the client will come with the design, or you could offer a predetermined set of models.
One thing to note here is that even though this might be the cheapest business model, profit margins also tend to be lower, especially if you're planning to work with a third-party printer.
Custom Cut and Sew
With custom cut and sew, however, things are different. This is where you would manufacture your own clothing from scratch. This is great for businesses that aim to develop their own brand as it gives them the ability to create unique clothing articles that will allow them to differentiate themselves from the competition.
However, this comes at a price. The Custom Cut and Sew business model is the most expensive, as you would need to source the materials yourself, acquire a manufacturing space, hire many employees, etc.
Private Label
Think of private labels as a mix between the business models we've just talked about. This process involves buying blank clothing without any labels from a certain manufacturer, customizing them to your liking, and adding a label of your own.
Dropshipping
And finally, with dropshipping you essentially act as the middle-man between your customers and the manufacturers you collaborate with.
You see, as a dropshipper, you don't need to stock up on inventory. You simply take your customer's order and then send it to your supplier, who will handle the rest, including shipping.
4. Create Your Website
After you've figured all of that out, it's time to go ahead and create your own website. The first thing you'll want to do is to find a domain name. Choose something that's unique, easy to spell, and easy to remember.
When it comes to designing your website, make sure that it reflects your brand's aesthetics, while also emphasizing user experience. Your website needs to be intuitive and easy to use.
Now, designing your website can be quite a daunting task, especially if you don't have any prior experience under your belt. In which case, you should consider hiring a team of web design professionals to do it for you.
Also, take mobile-friendliness into account. After all, over 50% of all web traffic is generated by mobile devices. So, having a website that is designed with small screens in mind is an important part of enhancing the user experience.
You can either opt for a mobile-first, adaptive or responsive design. However, experts at Digital Silk, a renowned Miami web design company, suggest that you should choose the latter, as it's the most cost-effective way of making your website mobile-friendly.
Speaking of user experience, make sure that the checkout process is as simple and quick as possible. As a matter of fact, 26% of users will abandon their carts if the checkout is too long. Part of a good shopping cart user experience is the payment process. Today there are many payment options like credit card, Paypal, Apple Pay, Bitcoin market payments, Google Pay and many more. Offer customers as many options as possible so they can pay the way they like.
Furthermore, since you will be running an online store, the products will be the center point of your website. With that said, don't skimp on the product display.
While it might be tempting to take product photos yourself simply because it's cheaper, remember that a professional will do a much better job. After all, the people who are visiting your site will be most interested in the products you sell.
As a consequence, your products need to be showcased in the best way possible. Don't treat product descriptions as an afterthought either. They need to be SEO optimized while also giving the potential buyer all of the information he needs.
5. Define Your Launch Strategy
After you've got everything else in order, it's finally time to launch your online store. However, for that, you'll have to come up with a plan first. Think about how you will manage to attract your first customers.
For example, you could post content on your social media accounts, letting followers know that something big is coming up. Or, you could send out teaser emails to an existing database. The key thing is to generate hype.
And lastly, figure out how the launch is actually going to roll-out. You might run a promotion, or host a live event on Facebook, for example. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that everything else is in place beforehand.
Check that your website is working perfectly, your pricing is correct, etc. Nothing could hurt your reputation more than a rocky launch.
Final Words
All in all, launching an online clothing store requires a lot of thought and research, but hopefully, the information you found in this article will make your job much easier.
The Editorial Team of MyBloggerLab consists of a group of Professional Blogger geeks Led by Syed Faizan Ali (Founder of MyBloggerLab).
Post a Comment
We’re eager to see your comment. However, Please Keep in mind that all comments are moderated manually by our human reviewers according to our comment policy, and all the links are nofollow. Using Keywords in the name field area is forbidden. Let’s enjoy a personal and evocative conversation.