I am currently 29 years old and I own a retail clothing store We are going to be celebrating our first year in business Now on our first months opened, business was booming majority of the money that was made in the first months went directly back in the store for more merchandise and after 3-4 months it started to slow down it slowed down to the point where I had to take out my personal to make sure to get by Overall I know there will be good days and slow days in a retail clothing shop but It seems like there isn’t enough funds leftover and to be able to pay off the suppliers in full I don’t think I am over spending on personal stuff Any tips?
I am sorry to hear that you are going through hard times with your business. Before I move out from LA few years ago, my ex-girlfriend had a small breakfast and brunch place and it went through hard times that she almost closed it down. What we did at the time to boost sales is the following and I hope this will help you with your shop.
- We increased our presence on IG and tried to make more engaging posts directed at our target customers.
- She listed on DoorDash and UberEats, so i guess in your case you can offer your products on Etsy or Amazon.
- We reached out to some of the local micro-influencers to promote the business and it worked really well for her.
- Try to engage with the community, for example do a charity event with donors to give winter clothes to the homeless as the winter is almost here.
- have a calendar of national and local events and try to draw on your display or change the way it looks for every occasion, you’ve got very big holidays coming up soon.
- maintain a list of your customers with a CRM you can use the one that is offered with Square or Odoo. send your customers emails before the holidays, tell them your special offers, give them coupons, and congratulate them on their birthdays.
- develop a referral program this is the best thing for word of mouth marketing.
I really hope this helps and i wish that your business gets back to making money. Local stores are the best thing for our communities and I would love to hear that you thrive again.
Thank you I appreciate that! And what is a crm? And referal program ? Like send someone my way get a discount?
I second this, you have to develop different channels of customer acquisition/ marketing. Online and offline marketing, get gritty.
As you implement new strategies, keep a tally for how many customers each strategy is bringing in. Don’t try to keep it in your head. Hard data will inform your future strategies.
I second the micro influencer thing too. Friend of mine has a local t-shirt company. She sells at craft shows and stuff like that. She is very successful and popular but she also has the local influencers of our town all wearing her gear &/or advertising it. It has worked very well for her. I would look into it. It shouldn’t cost you much to advertise this way and helps spread the word about your shop!! Good luck!