How To Sustain Growth As An Independent Boutique

how to sustain growth as an independent boutique clothing shop

When you decide to embrace the retail industry, there are a variety of options that you could try. More commonly, it’s about joining a famous brand, or a chain, so that you are guaranteed to enjoy an easier and smoother launch for your shop. But there is also the luxury end of the retail sector, where you can embrace a much more independent career – a boutique owner – that has the potential to be more rewarding. 

A boutique offers not only all the advantages of an independent structure – aka you can decide of the décor, the marketing, the items, and the pricing system – but it also needs all to respect all the rules of a shopping chain. To sustain growth, a boutique like a fashion or beauty store has to compete against chain shops and big brands. In other words, you need to be in a position to offer the same facilities, to rely on the same marketing toolbox, and to maintain your identity versus the bigger names in the retail sector. 

Small Shop, Big Facilities 

You may have a small boutique, but that doesn’t mean that you need to think small too. Your boutique has to offer most of the facilities of large chain shops, as your customers will not be keen to compromise. What this means is that you need to have some basics, from retail credit card processing devices – because nobody wants to pay large purchases in cash – to smartphone payments and a return policy. As a rule of the thumb, most shops allow 14 to 28 days return, so your customers will be happy with a policy that remains fair in comparison. 

Additionally, there’s another facility that you want to include in your boutique strategy, and that is a loyalty program. Loyalty programs are designed to increase customer retention and to support purchase renewal from existing customers. Bonus points, tier system reward, or even VIP benefits, there are plenty of strategies for you to choose from for loyalty programs. 

Oiling The Marketing Wheel 

There can be no success without increasing your boutique awareness. In other words, traditional marketing tips are valuable to boost sales, even for some boutiques. While advertising can be better suited for large chains; you can still choose to implement targeted advertising strategies, using PPC and geographic targeting, to direct local shoppers to your boutique – assuming you have a website. 

More often than not, though, direct marketing remains a successful approach, as you can prepare a launch campaign with a discounted offer for new customers, for example. Most people are interested in hearing about new shops in their location, so it’s a good idea to target every home within a certain radius around your boutique. 

Stay True To Yourself

Finally, success does happen, even for small boutiques. While the prospect of being successful is good news, it is also linked with growth and expansion. Therefore it’s important to remember your business vision, especially when your boutique is growing. As you will need to hire a new team to help you, you need to ensure that your vision is communicated clearly to new team members. Additionally, it’s helpful to maintain a solid relationship with your helpers, assistants, and colleagues. Indeed, you need to define goals that are valid for their individual role within the business, and that support the overall boutique strategy.

Conclusion

It's not easy to continue growing an independent boutique in today's current retail market. Keep these tips in mind and make sure your retail shop goes above and beyond to stay competitive long-term.



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