The old adage goes, “Build it and they will come!” but in reality, this is far from the truth for us regular Joes. Unless you have prime real estate, simply opening a store does not guarantee business. You must find ways to attract your customers and appeal to their needs and wants. Below we’ll discuss 5 effective ways to promote a clothing store.
1. Sales! Sales! Sales! – Have weekly sales on select items. Understand that it’s not about your profit margin per item, it’s about your profit margin per order! You can break even on the sale items but there’s a chance the customer is going to buy something else that they wouldn’t have. Sales push customers to buy, and you want to make sure that they’re buying from YOUR store!
2. Create In-Store Events – Brainstorm ideas for events you can have at your store. For example, have fashion shows showcasing your store’s clothes or a clothing drive for people to donate their clothes to charity. Customers remember these things, and you always want to be on their minds when they’re looking to shop for clothes.
3. Everybody loves FREE! – Give away something with your name on it, everybody loves swag! Calendars are a good idea, imagine having your store name posted on your customer’s walls for a whole year!
4. Unique shopping bags – Paint the town with your shopping bags! Come up with an interesting design or use a unique color for your shopping bags so everybody knows where your customers just came from!
5. Mailing Lists / Newsletters – Get people’s email addresses and send out periodic newsletters with specials, promotions, or announcement. Let your customers know what’s going on in your store — maybe next time they see it, they might come in to browse.
You have to put in the time and promote your clothing store (or any business for that matter) if you want to see it succeed. Nothing comes without working for it, but also keep in mind that you have to have a good product line to sell. You can promote all you want, but if the clothes you’re selling are not what your customers are looking for, it’s a wasted effort. Not every idea listed above will work for every clothing store, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to try!