The online clothing store has become a multi-billion industry in a single year, so far it’s the most crowd puller niche of eCommerce. With outreaching $759 billion dollars in 2021 and predictions are that it will go beyond $1 trillion by the year 2025, there is a great potential in the online business to cash in on.
There are decent advantages of starting a business online
- Currently, eCommerce holds around 27% share of the fashion market, and this is growing every year rapidly.
- Research shows that the new generation prefers shopping online instead of visiting a store and then making a purchase.
- The online mode of business has lower barriers to entry, it will take a month to establish a real physical store while getting started online won’t take much time once the business model is prepared.
- Starting an eCommerce business requires less investment as compared to a traditional store business.
If you are thinking of starting your own eCommerce clothing business, then you are in luck, because it is trending and welcoming many new ventures that have unique styles. However, thinking of starting an eCommerce business and actually starting are two very different things.
It’s easy to desire a world where you become a famous fashion brand in a single night, but reaching that point demands a lot of hard work. Here in this article, you will get an overview of how to start your garment eCommerce business
Table of Contents
Choose your clothing niche
You have to choose the clothing or apparel niche before you decide on the products you are going to sell. Deciding your niche will help you to position your brand in a uniques way. Choose a niche that really excites you, the one for which you are very passionate. Make sure the niche you are selecting has the income potential too.
You need to be very particular about the niche you are choosing as it will help you drill down your set of potential audiences to whom you will be marketing your products. This will also be helpful in preparing a product list, which will restrict your competitors and open your doors for gaining customer trust and loyalty.
Select your clothing store products
As your niche is decided, it’s time to select your online store products. There is a number of clothing products available, you have to choose those products that are falling into your niche.
Don’t be tempted by the urge of selling a lot of products, because it will dilute your uniqueness and you will be a normal online brand like others. Start slow and small, later expand as you grow.
Choose products that can be replaced with the changing trends. Plan your products accordingly, so that you are not left with a huge inventory of unsellable products. Eventually, in the clothing business, you have to be dynamic and innovative in dealing with the changing trends.
Choose your Business model
Here you choose if you want to use white labeling, clothing manufacturer, or opt for dropshipping to make your online clothing company.
There are four types of online business models for clothing stores – Custom cut and sew, print on demand, dropshipping and private label. These models are quite simple to set up. You can search for suppliers and coordinate with them to integrate them into an online clothing store.
Outline your Clothing store Business plan
This is when you outline your online business plan in terms of products, market, big competitors, brand identity, and brand fulfillment strategies. Make a check that you are able to answer the questions like, where the traffic for the brand will be the maximum and what will make your business engaging to that traffic.
Most importantly, plan out your pricing of the product by keeping these into consideration – hosting, web development, design and development, material, labor, equipment, transportation, and production cost per product (also including the samples). Once you determine the cost, you can formulate your margins.
Creating and launching your online clothing store
As soon as you decide on your brand, you should go and buy the domain for the same. Now you can choose the platform for your store and the theme as well. Creating an online store is the most fun as well as responsible work. You need to make sure that your website is user-friendly and you should not rush for selecting it randomly. Go through all options and then come to the conclusion with one of the websites that suits your brand the most.
While launching your online business you should be very clear about the launching strategies. This should cover functions such as testing your store’s functionality, proofreading before launching. Before launching, ensure that your social media channels are ready too. Also, set up your email in automation, and update your audience about your store launch.
Bring traffic and market your store
The largest traffic drivers are PPC, email marketing, social media, content marketing, guest posts on well-known blogs, influencers, and podcasts. You can go for google ads and social media ads to generate organic traffic at your online store. You can always target potential audiences through word of mouth.
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