The best tips to start an online clothing store

If you are reading this article, you know that creating an online clothing store has its quirks. Although a lot of people think that starting an e-commerce is always the same, regardless of the sector, it is actually quite different. This is not only because of the fierce competition in this market, but also because managing a wide variety of products, sizes, and brands is difficult. Do you want everything to be crystal clear before starting your online clothing store? Get ready, in today’s post we explain all the key points for you to start off on the right foot. Let’s get to it!

1. Establish who your ideal audience is

If you don’t know your audience, it will be impossible to sell them anything. The key to every business is understanding how your target audience, or buyer persona , thinks. When you know what a person needs, it is easier to show your products’ potential. By knowing what your clients are looking for, you know what you have to focus on to hit the target. Since nothing is clearer than an example, we have two for you:

• Doña Carmen is an infant clothing store. More accurately, for baby clothes. Can you imagine the website having a dark or black background and direct or aggressive language? No, that wouldn’t make any sense.
• Flip Flop and Fangs is a clothing store for teenagers. If you look closely, both the esthetic and the language used are completely different. If you want to sell, you have to speak your client’s language.

2. Be careful with your online clothing store structure

One of the main difficulties when starting an online clothing business is knowing how to organize the products in different categories You shouldn’t just use the men/women division, but instead should also consider other possible classifications depending on age, type of clothing, brand, materials, etc. This is a very important step since you are making it easier for clients to find what they want. And if they can get it in two clicks, better than in three. Here you have two examples that show two different ways of organizing products:

• Undefeated is an online sports clothing store. Given their huge variety of products, they chose to show them in different categories such as “new arrivals” or “summer”. Once you are in one category, you can find subcategories depending on the type of clothes or the brand.
• Buylevard uses another classification system. First of all, it categorizes clothes as women’s and men’s clothes. Then, it classifies them according to the type of clothes, shoes, accessories, brands, looks, and trends.

3. Use an internal search engine such as Doofinder to make finding products easier for the clients

As we have already said, one of your main worries should be that clients find the products they want as quickly as possible. In order to do so, a useful solution is to add an internal search engine such as Doofinder . Modalia .

4. Foster loyalty among your clients from the very first day

The importance of this point stems from the fact that it will always be easier for you to sell to somebody who has already made a previous purchase than to a completely unknown visitor. One mistake that many shops make is focusing themselves only on acquiring new customers. However, the reality is that it is much more profitable to garner loyalty from users that are already satisfied with their first purchase. 

5. Create irresistible product cards

One of the great secrets to having your product sales explode lies with optimizing your product cards. You have two big weapons in this battle: photos and text descriptions. Whenever possible, it’s better if the photos include somebody posing with the clothing being worn. Don’t take just one photo, show it off from all the angles and display a detailed close-up so the texture can be seen. Take a look at how it’s done on Net a Porter . The same is true with the description. Don’t cut it short by only mentioning the basic characteristics of the item. Explain how it feels when you put it on and for what type of occasion it could be worn. Furthermore, there are still many shops that don’t take advantage of the full potential of product cards. You have a huge opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition.

So what’s stopping you now from launching your own business?

With this advice you already have all the information that you need to start your own online clothing store. Although there is a lot of competition in the sector, you now have some strategies in your arsenal that not everybody else does. Use your advantage wisely — get selling!