Market resale boutique merchandise by offering customers fashion styling ideas.
A boutique is a retail store with merchandise geared to a specialty market. It tends to promise customers a higher quality and more unique inventory selection. A resale boutique may stock vintage wear, couture or a host of other eclectic second-hand specialty apparel. The type of specialty merchandise offered and the geographic location will shape a resale shop's local marketing options.
Newsletters
Develop a monthly newsletter for customers. Highlight unique merchandise available at the resale boutique. Use models to style resale items in newsletter photos that give potential customers functional ideas. Consider hiring a freelance writer to create short fashion articles that customers will be interested in reading. Send the newsletter to a customer mailing list, and make them available in store.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the most effective when it uses opt-in lists developed from in-store signup lists. Email is an inexpensive mode of transmittal of information. This can includes sales and clearance merchandise as well as fashion styling ideas and tips. This also is a great way to build traffic to a resale store's website.
Social Media
Social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter provide an additional platform for businesses to keep in touch with their customers. It also can help build fans who are interested in specialty thrift merchandise. Like newsletter and email marketing, use social media to advertise sales and special events and to provide relevant information through short articles.
Shama Kabani, author of "The Zen of Social Media Marketing," does caution that social media marketing is different than traditional marketing and should be managed with additional care. For example, marketing mistakes on social media have the potential to go viral. This can result in quicker and wider brand damage than if a marketing message was presented through traditional media with smaller market demographics. Social media controls can include using a project team approval system for company posts.
Entertainment Industry
For resale boutiques in urban market areas such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, the potential to market apparel to the entertainment industry is a viable option. This is especially true for shops with inventory that include vintage apparel and accessories that can serve as costumes and props. To get on buyer's radars, advertise in publications that target entertainment producers.
Fashion Stylist Presentations
The growth of reality-based television programs that focus on fashion styling has helped consumers understand how important it is in building wardrobes. Add additional value to your customer's fashion styling knowledge with in-store events with notable fashion stylists. The styling presentations can offer styling tips and include question-and-answer sessions. These events can build the store's brand and translate into increases in customer loyalty and store sales.
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