Online Clothing Store: 7 Tips To Consider Before Starting A New Online Clothing Store In 2020

Looking to start a new online clothing store? If so then it’s the right time to create a new ecommerce website design that allows you to sell all types of fashion apparel. 

Today the fashion industry is considered to have huge market space. In the future, there is a huge scope for growth in the fashion industry. Google forecasted that by 2022 fashion e-tail is going to reach $713 Billion. So if you are planning to start a new online clothing store then you have made the right choice to enter into the multi-billion a year industry.  

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Starting a brand new online ecommerce store is more than buying a domain and hosting for a blogging website. Your online clothing store will be very much on the niche you are going to select, the branding you create, your service, the quality of the site, product, and more. 

Yes, the clothing industry itself can be a niche but you can be more specific like apparel for men, for women, bridal wear, and more. Being specific in your industry will allow you to target specific users that can become your paying customers. 

Today there are a number of e-commerce websites selling clothes online, thinking of starting a new store and actually creating a new online clothing store are two different things. It takes a lot of back ends efforts to outperform your existing and old competitors who have already created a good customer base. 

If you are still thinking that after creating an online clothing store you will start getting customers then you need to reconsider your thinking. To get customers you need to focus on the basics. 

In this article, we will help you in determining some important tips that you can consider before creating an online clothing store for your business. 

If you are looking to set up a woocommerce store then make sure to check our blog on How To Set Up A Fully Functioning WooCommerce Store Using WordPress?

5 tips to consider before starting a new online clothing store: 

1. Select the right nice for your online clothing store 

The first and foremost thing we recommend you do before starting an online clothing store is selecting the right niche for your store. By right, we simply focus on a specific niche because people need clothes but all of them will not need the same clothes for them. 

Today in the competitive market the key to success is being specific which means if you are planning to start an online clothing store then make sure your product is meant for a specific group of people. Instead of making your goal to sell all types of clothes on your online store, you can plan to sell specific clothes meant for specific users. 

Later on, it can become a big advantage as you can highlight your specificness to grab the user’s attention. So if you are are looking to select the right nice for your online clothing store then you can follow the below-mentioned points: 

  • Make sure your product is uniques (having less competition) and stands out from the crowd 
  • Select a niche that you are passionate about. That means your nice should excite you and should encourage you even during downtimes.  
  • Before selecting any niche, ask yourself whether you can create the impact, add value to your online store, and become an authority in your niche by offering user-specific products.   
  • Make sure your selected niche has a good customer base and can offer you good earning potential. 
  • Understand what your customer is failing to get and how you can offer them? 

So the bottom line is, whether you want to want to offer men wear or more specific athletic wear your niche should always excite and offer you value to sustain in the competitive market. We always recommend you to be specific because most of the time online clothing stores that try to sell everything fail to grab user’s attention because of the big ecommerce giants. 

2. Identify and analyze your competitors 

After identifying your niche next comes another important step that will allow you to decide the products you can sell, insight into your potential customer’s problems, the clothing industry, and more. Yes competitor analysis can offer you a wide range of data of your industry and its customer’s activity within a short period of time. 

But make sure you analyze both direct as well as indirect competitors. Direct competitors are ones who sell similar products that you are planning or already selling. On the other hand, indirect competitors are one who doesn’t sell exactly the same product but targets the same kind of customers.

Competitors analysis will help you to get some valuable information using which you can bridge the gap between customers and products. Make use of search engines to find your potential competitors then analyze their website design, number of pages, how they have categorized the product, and more. You can also make use of tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, Owler, and more   

3. Plan your budget 

By looking at your competitor’s website and business model you might have a clear idea about what you need to put in to outperform them. That’s why next we recommend you to plan your budget. Acting according to your budget will enable you to get a more organized business structure. 

If you are starting with the new business model then it’s always recommended to keep it simple. Instead of having multiple designs plan a budget for a single and simple design. Once your store starts getting traffic and conversion then you can plan to increase your budget. 

Having a budget for your online clothing store will allow you to work with a fixed figure mind. Not only that but your budget will also allow you to plan where you are going to spend more money and whether you will revoke the return back from the investment or not.

While making your online clothing store budget plan make sure to define whether you are going to sell manufactured products or go to manufacture cloth on your own. For the new beginner, we recommend investing in small design and equipment, with the increase in your product demand you can expand your budget and manufacturing unit. 

Make sure you have a strong budget plan for marketing. Because one thing that will help you to spread awareness and grab potential customer attention to your product is your marketing strategy. 

Create a separate budget for your marketing strategy and avoid making your marketing budget plan depending on your competitor’s marketing strategy. It’s not compulsory that strategies that are working for your competitor will work for your business as well. 

4. Create a  business plan for your clothing store 

Once you are done with the planning budget for your online clothing store next comes the most important step where you need to create a well-thought business plan for your online clothing store.   

The fashion industry is notoriously difficult to predict many times newly started businesses get success within a short period of time. So you need a business structure when you are planning for big. A well-designed business plan goes beyond selling items and making money. 

A well-designed business plan should include:

  • How will your business operate? 
  • A high-level summary about what you are aiming to achieve and what your business is planning to accomplish 
  • Your online clothing store description, product, potential customers demographics, and your competitors 
  • An in-depth report and statistic about the marketplace and market research that include details like average sales, total number of other sellers and projected growth rate
  • A detailed report of your direct and indirect competitors  
  • Management and company description 
  • Details about the products and other services you are going to offer 
  • A complete summary of your online and offline marketing strategies. 
  • Sales strategies 
  • How your business is going to get funding and the total fund required to start your business. 

When making an online clothing store business plan is important to identify what type of business model you are going to select for your ecommerce store. Online clothing businesses have four different types of business models.  

Print in demand 

This type of online clothing business model is used by businesses to either print or alter existing clothes depending on customer’s demand. Using print in-demand business models you can offer custom created clothes that can include the dedicated design or company name, logo, and more. 

This type of business model will either hire a third-party vendor to print or you can have an in-house team to print design. But here is the thing this type of business model doesn’t come with ready to sell products. You can display the item on your website but depending on the quantity you need to specify the delivery time.    

Private Label clothing 

One of the most widely used online clothing business models where a business partner with an established manufacturer and asks them to prepare unique clothes under their brand name. In this type of business, model products are designed by in-house teams but produced by third-party vendors. 

But here is the thing in print label clothing you need high investment because you need to hire a third party vendor just to produce products for your brand which will include upcharge for branding. 

Custom cut and sew 

Custom cut and sew business models are used by businesses that design and offer their own products. That means you need to have your own manufacturing using to produce and sell clothes. 

This type of od online clothing business model is meant for business with good funding or investment (backup). Because you need to invest in buying material, equipment, manufacturing unit, and more. SO if you plan to opt for these models then make sure you have a good backup.   

Dropshipping 

It is another widely used and easiest business model of all the above. It makes you a middleman between customer and manufacturer which means you don’t hold any stock of product instead your manufacturer or third party vendor ships the product directly to the customer. 

A drop-shipper job is just to grab customer attention and encourage them to purchase the product, the rest of the work is carried out by the third party company.  Using little investment you can earn good margins. 

If you are planning to start a dropshipping business then makes sure to check our blog on: 

Dropshipping Guide: Tips To Start A Dropshipping Business In 2020

Dropshipping Marketing Strategy: 7 Ways To Grow Your Dropshipping Business In 2020

5. Identify and select the right ecommerce platform

After creating your business model next comes another important step to identify and select the best eCommerce business platform for your business. Today with the wide range of ecommerce platforms available in the market it has become difficult for a new beginner to select and identify the best one for their business. 

A user-friendly ecommerce platform enables you to access the backend and make changes in your within few clicks. Selecting a good e-commerce platform will help you to list your items quickly and easily, add photos, descriptions, titles, and more. Not only that but selecting the right ecommerce platform builder for your business will also allow you to create a fast and easy checkout process. 

With the vast variety of options available, it becomes difficult for an ecommerce business to select the right one of their stores. Never think of using the same platform that is being used by your competitor because things that are working for your competitor may not work for you. 

So, to identify the right platform for your business you can start by identifying your requirement, and depending on that you can select the right one for your business.  If you are a new beginner then you can select woocommerce as your ecommerce website builder. Once your store starts growing then you can hire an ecommerce website design company to create a custom design for your business. 

If you are looking to select the best ecommerce website builder platform form for your business

10 Best Ecommerce Platform 2020 To Setup A Successful Online Store .

6. Start Promoting your online clothing store 

Once you are done with setting up your online store next comes the crucial part of promoting your ecommerce website to grab more visitors and customers. Remember no one is going to tell any customer that you have created an online clothing store. It’s your job to spread awareness about your store and products.  

To attract more customers you need to spread brand awareness on various social media platforms and also through emails. Create quality content that offers a solution to your customers and tells them about your product. 

You can make use of social media platforms, emails. Online ads and more to not only spread awareness but also to sell your products. Today marketing is more about helping customers and telling them how your customer can be useful than directly selling your product to them. 

Optimize your website for SEO and create a strategy for social media and email to increase the traffic and sales of your product. If you are planning to use emails then make sure you don’t buy it, instead try to offer some incentive in return you can ask your potential customer email id. 

If you are using social media then try to be consistent, improve your social media engagement, and interact with your followers. Build a strong and impactful marketing strategy that enables you to create a strong online presence.  

Conclusion 

Putting your hands into any kind of online business can be a big gamble. That is the reason why most entrepreneurs focus on entering into an industry that has a stable customer base. Starting an online clothing store is one among them. Every year the clothing industry is expanding and it is believed that by 2022 it will reach $722 billion. 

Clothing industry flexibility encourages people to start their own business. Above we have listed all the important steps that are required to start a new online clothing store. Remember online businesses that start their business with an organized backed and strong business plan make an impact in the industry. 

If you are looking to create a new conversion-centric and revenue-generating online clothing business then focus on creating a custom ecommerce website design that can help you to attract more potential customers to your online clothing store. 

Frequently asked questions: 

1. How do I start my own online clothing business? 

To start a new online clothing store flow the below steps: 

  • Identify your niche 
  • The research you target market 
  • Choose an ecommerce website builder platform for your business 
  • Analyze your competitor websites 
  • Determine the price of your product
  • Create an online store for your business 
  • Create marketing strategy depending on the data you received from target market research and competitor analysis 
  • Start offering discount and coupons to grab more traffic
  • Ship your products  
  • Have a clear return and refund policy 

If you are planning to start a new conversion-centric online clothing store that grabs the user’s attention and encourages them to purchase your product. Then you can reach out to a leading ecommerce website design company that can help you in building the store you desire. 

2. How much does it cost to start a new online clothing store? 

The pricing of starting a new online store totally depends on the size of your e-commerce website. If you are looking to create a custom eCommerce website design for your business then it costs you between $5000 – $20000. Depending on the size of your online clothing store. If you are starting with a limited budget then you can use ecommerce platform builders like Shopify, woocommerce, Bigcommerce, and more. Once your business starts growing then you can create a custom research-based ecommerce website. 

Your online clothing store can offer you a huge amount of profit but it totally depends on your e-commerce website design and your marketing strategy. To create a conversion-centric and revenue-generating online clothing store, you can partner with an experienced ecommerce website design company that works with an in-house marketing team. 

3. How do you choose the right online clothing store niche? 

You can play a crucial role in making your online store successful. Today every person needs clothes but it’s not compulsory that they will need the same cloth. That’s why we recommend you select a specific niche. There are other points that you can consider:

  • Identify products would interest customers
  • Discover the needs of your customers
  • Identify and analyze your potential business that is already working in the same industry 
  • Identify what type of clothing products are liked by customers and how they interact with it 
  • Figure out the product coating
  • Look for a product that offers good margins and have a good customer base  
  • Buy a small existing ecommerce website in your niche 

If you are looking to create a new online clothing store for your business that drives traffic and conversion on your website then you can partner with an experienced ecommerce website design company that can help you in building result driven and revenue-generating online clothing stores.