For the novice Xiaobai, some things about opening a children's clothing store are unclear, so they have not dared to implement the plan of opening a store easily. Century Fairy Tale has been engaged in the wholesale of brand discount children's clothing for more than ten years, and has rich experience in wholesale of brand children's clothing. There are customers with good business, and customers with poor business, and I have heard the sharing of many customers. Today, autor has sorted out some details about opening a store and problems that need attention. At the same time, autor will also summarize the problems encountered by Century Fairy Tale customers in the process of opening a store. This article may be a bit long, but autor hopes that any friends who want to do a good job in their own shop will take a closer look. Please correct me if I say something wrong, we can discuss and learn from each other.
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First of all, there should be a long-term plan to open a children's clothing store. There needs to be a simple plan. The autor divides it into several links.
1. Preparatory stage before opening
1. Psychological preparation stage
- Do you really want to open your own clothing store with your heart?
- Are you interested in clothing?
- Do you treat opening a store as a business or as your own business?
Is there enough motivation to keep you going? Was your opening a passion or the result of careful thought? Do you have the energy to take care of the store after it opens? Do you have the energy and time to deal with the various problems that arise at any time in the process of opening a store? ? When you can say yes to all the above questions, you can prepare for the next step.
Many people who don't have much experience, just because they are full of enthusiasm and lack of professionalism, often after opening a store, in the first few months, friends will join in and the business will be good, but after leaving the support of friends and accepting the test of the real market, the business will not became very difficult to do.
2. Funding preparation
How much does it cost to open a children's clothing store? This is the first question that many newbies ask. What we should think about is how to open a store with the least amount of money, not just how much money you have. Don’t open a store for the sake of opening a store. As a layman, first of all What should be considered is the risk. The most effective way to reduce the risk is to increase the income and reduce the expenditure, and to control the investment cost.
The initial stage of opening a children's clothing store is basically the following four expenditures:
1) Storefront rent
Store rent is not directly related to children's clothing brands, but is determined by factors such as the local price level, the location of the store, the size of the store, and the type of apartment. The location of the store should be selected as far as possible in line with the customer's habit of purchasing children's clothing products, such as: large local commercial centers, clothing pedestrian streets, accessories of large residential areas, etc. There is a truth that the storefront with more money will definitely be the one with the largest traffic flow. According to the budget, you can finally choose the location and rental cost of the children's clothing store that suits you.
2) Store decoration
There is no way to give birth to the cost of decoration. Your grade and price are actually directly related to your decoration, which is rarely mentioned by the autor. The environment can change a person's consumption concept. You would say that capital is the priority, but you don't want to do how gorgeous decoration, but make the limited funds perfect in decoration. There are a lot of shop decoration plants on the online platform. Get more exposure to relevant decoration knowledge, make your own personality and taste, and strive to decorate the most beautiful storefront with the least amount of money.
Generally speaking, the decoration cost of children's clothing store will be around 500 yuan per square meter. If you want to decorate more high-end, then you need about 800-1000 yuan per square meter. The specific amount of money needs to be determined according to the grade of the children's clothing store and the area of the store.
There are also some in-store facilities: shelves, hangers, cashiers, models and other in-store facilities cost about 3,000 yuan for racks and hangers. Then the model is expected to cost about 1,000, and the cashier is expected to be about 500. If the store is relatively large, an additional budget of about 1,000 yuan is almost the same.
3) Employee salary
Some friends manage their own stores, so they don't need to count this fee.
If it is a small children's clothing store, it will have a certain advantage. Only 1-2 employees are needed, the salary is about 3,000 yuan per month, and the commission is determined by the employees' own sales ability. If you don't have time to manage the store, you need at least 2 employees, and try to hire people who are familiar and reassuring for the cashier.
4) Funds for the first purchase and later replenishment funds
The costs involved are also different for getting goods from different purchase channels. If you go to the children's clothing wholesale market to buy goods, the purchase volume will not only be large, but the products are not guaranteed, and the price may not be cheap; if you buy from some weak children's clothing brands, they usually obtain the goods through the children's clothing factory for processing, and provide them to the distribution.
The goods of the dealer are also second-hand sources, and they need to transfer the cost of processing to the dealer to make a profit. Therefore, the purchase cost of the dealer includes the cost of processing and the logistics cost of multiple transfers. Therefore, the above-mentioned children's clothing purchase channels all have middlemen who make the difference, and the purchase cost of children's clothing is not cost-effective.
It is a good choice to find a first-hand children's clothing brand manufacturer to purchase the goods. Century Fairy Tale Clothing provides the first-hand supply of brand children's clothing, and there is no cost for middlemen to earn the price difference. profit margins.
It is recommended that novices take the goods in the early stage and purchase in a small amount. If the first purchase is too much, there may be a backlog of inventory later. Therefore, when purchasing goods for the first time, you can purchase a small amount of goods, and you must control the cost, and try to focus on the complete variety.
Then, during the sales process, record the styles with better sales for replenishment, for general cities. The initial purchase cost of small children's clothing stores should be controlled within 4000-5000$; larger ones should be controlled within 6-7000$ yuan as much as possible. If it is in a first-tier city, the cost budget will be higher.
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3. Knowledge preparation
The current retail environment and the upgrading of the consumer market have also put forward higher requirements for clothing retail stores. The threshold of the clothing retail industry has become higher and higher. To put it bluntly, it is not professional, and it is difficult for the store to make a profit.
Everyone thinks that the threshold of the clothing industry is low, and you can be a boss as long as you pay for it. You think that the person who opens a clothing store is to buy goods, hang clothes and sell them. Then you are very wrong. Anyone who has been in a clothing store can become an all-rounder!
Learning about clothing
Knowledge of fabrics, styles, workmanship, colors, accessories, etc. needs to be learned carefully, at least by looking at the model number, color, size, price, fabric composition, etc. on the hangtag of the clothes; knowing the main fabric ingredients such as: cotton, Hemp, chemical fiber, etc. The best and most direct way to learn more experience is to visit shopping malls, or go to the Internet to search for relevant materials to learn. Practice makes perfect. The more you see it, the more you will naturally understand.
2) Learning from shop opening experience
If you have friends who have opened a store, it is best, you can let them take you, don't be embarrassed, learn with an open mind, you will definitely benefit a lot. But not all experiences can be learned. Many of them must be experienced by oneself and experienced only after suffering.
3) Learning of knowledge in the clothing industry
The clothing industry is changing very quickly. If you want to truly grasp the cutting-edge children's clothing market, it is best to go to all the nearby wholesale markets and take notes while watching. At least be aware of what the general trend is this year, what is the trend direction, what is popular, and what is the price range, know the quality and grade of the clothing in the price range you want to sell, whether it is before opening a store or After opening the store, there is only one thing to do well in your own store, that is, study, study, and study.
After the above preparations are done, then we can move on to the next step - site selection and market research.
2. Market and site inspection
Just entered the clothing industry, don't rush to open a store, go to the clothing industry market first to understand clearly and then do a comprehensive market research, the best period is about a month. It is best to inspect the streets around it to see how the flow of people is? How's business? How many passengers are there in a day? And you can enter the store to learn about their prices, the services of the sales staff, pay attention to their sales skills, and so on...
This is the foundation of the foundation. Even if you have a good facade, the product is not attractive, but as long as there are people, the traffic will change quickly, and the poor facade will be miserable, so the autor simply divides the site selection into The following points.
1. Main Street and Back Street Site Selection
To open a children's clothing store, you need to choose a good address. The first choice should be to choose a location with a lot of traffic or a lot of children (of course, this is still more difficult), and then choose the facade of the community (residential area), and then you want to open a large scale. You know, choosing a good address is the first step to success. As long as the cost difference between the two is less than 50%, the autor is in favor of choosing Main Street. Because the main street of each city is a bustling commercial street, people in this city know this street, so the source of tourists is not a problem, and there will be regional advantages for future development.
2. Inspection of passenger flow
Passenger flow is the direct reason that determines the survival of a store. The same store is placed in different passenger flow areas, and the ratio of entering the store to see the goods and pick up the goods is relative. Because the ratio of entering the store to get goods is proportional to the flow of people passing by in front of your door. Everyone knows to open a store in a place with many people, but at the same time pay attention to what constitutes the main body of these people's traffic. For example, if you open a children's clothing store in the place with the most people in Guangzhou Railway Station, the autor estimates that the business will not be very good, because it The main body of the flow of people is people who go home or go out, they will not stop to buy, and they are not in the mood to buy. Therefore, during the inspection, we must understand the main situation of the crowd around the store and the main situation of the passenger flow.
3. Inspection of similar competitors
First understand the city, there are not many children's clothing stores, how many are there, where are their geographical locations, how are they decorated, and what are the brands of children's clothing stores opened? How is the style? What are the advantages of the children's clothing store you are going to open?
4. Investigation of consumer groups
The crowd structure around the store you choose is mainly students or companies, whether there are more communities or more commercial streets, and you need to carefully observe the age structure and spending power of the stores around you. Because The structure of consumer groups directly affects the positioning of their own grades.
During the inspection process, it is best to record all the information inspected in the mobile phone memo, or on the notebook, in order to facilitate thinking and research. For the store you want to choose, if you can trust the reliable information you have, then you should make a move, because there are often people looking for a prosperous store, but not a prosperous store. As the saying goes, there are many dreams in the night, if you miss it, you will regret it too much.
3.positioning phase
Make a precise positioning for your store according to the results of the inspection and the scope of your actual ability. Every mature clothing store has its own style positioning. Some have different styles, such as trendy stores, some are new and fast, such as fast fashion, and some have different styles, such as foreign trade stores or Korean stores. A clear positioning can deepen the impression of a store in the minds of consumers. This positioning is the first place that comes to mind when there is a certain shopping demand that meets your positioning.
Clothing store crowd positioning is not accurate, there is no user portrait, and I don’t know who to sell the clothes to. Every lady boss who has no clear positioning and swayed left and right for a long time, or finally left in disappointment, or found a direction to dig deep and form It belongs to its own style, and eventually survives and grows.
Why do clothing stores need to be positioned?
A very fundamental reason is that the area of the store is fixed, the number of goods that can be placed in the space is limited, and the categories of goods are also limited, which cannot meet the diverse needs of consumers.
When many shop owners buy goods in the early stage, they want to take this model and that one, in order to manage as many products as possible to meet the needs of more consumers. You must know that in terms of the number of products, small stores and large stores are incomparable. Large supermarkets have a large enough space, complete products, and clear clothing categories, which can meet the different needs of different ages, but the width of our small store is after all. Limited, complete products are not a bad thing, but there are nearly 10,000 kinds of clothing products, how many can be placed in one store? At this time, we need to identify our own positioning and consumer groups, cultivate a group of old customers through daily operations, gradually form our own style, reduce commodity categories, and highlight selected products for display.
Only by accurately positioning its own customer group, carefully selecting products suitable for such customers, and then building its own unique competitiveness with a small amount of purchases and a fast update speed.
Before opening a store, customers often ask Century Fairy Tale about how to accurately position the store. Century Fairy Tale’s opinion is: positioning must be based on its own resource advantages, target market positioning, and build online sales channels. Increase item width.
We must be precise in the positioning of the market, not greedy, we can be greedy in the early stage, and we can get diversified goods, but in the daily business process, we must cultivate a group of loyal customers, find the positioning of our own store, and provide targeted services for these customers, meeting their shopping needs.
4.the decoration stage
Renovation according to the positioning of the store, or the same sentence, store decoration is the face, it must not be saved, or it will be more than worth the loss if you are not satisfied with the anti-work in the future.
1. Door head decoration
The decoration of the front door has a great influence on the rate of customers entering the store. If the whole store feels sloppy, disorganized, and the light is dim, customers are too lazy to enter the door. If your store is simple and refreshing, set up floor-to-ceiling windows and place a few trendy models. , people can see it at a glance from the outside, the lighting is warmer and warmer, and the whole speaker is put on a little soft music to create a comfortable shopping environment, just like a fire in the dark night, giving customers a different freshness It will definitely attract customers to enter the store, and then make a transaction logically.
There are also children's clothing names that should be chosen according to your storefront characteristics and the characteristics of your clothing grade taste. This is a university question, and there is a chance to discuss it slowly.
2. In-store decoration
- Ceiling. Simple and bright, don't be depressed, you can have decorations, but don't make it dark like a haunted house. Also, when decorating, the ceiling must be high, and don’t feel stuffy as soon as you enter the door. It’s best if you can make a few beautiful chandeliers, and the atmosphere is simple.
- Walls. Wallpaper is the best choice. As for the color, it is better to match the color of the goods you are selling, or it is better to use bright tones. If you are creative, you can make several three-dimensional display windows, and the size, specifications and materials are also matched according to the mainstream colors of the products. If there is space, it is best to make a three-dimensional mirror, which will definitely have a good effect.
- Image the wall. It is the main wall behind the bar facing the door, which is a showcase of your store’s personality and taste. As for how to decorate, that's your wisdom, remember one thing, keep it simple and elegant, and highlight the theme.
- Locker room. Don't underestimate the dressing room, this is a private place, and it is the most sensitive place for women. First of all, it is self-evident that it is closed. Third, there must be enough light, the space should not be too small, and there must be a seat. place. There must also be hooks. The most important thing is to have a mirror, so that you don't have to change one and look at the mirror once. If it is not suitable, you can just replace it directly inside, so as to avoid the embarrassment of being seen.
- A place to rest. If the space in your store is really limited, then at least two high stools should be prepared; if there is enough space, it is best to put a simple coffee table combination or high-end seats, so that regular customers can sit and communicate with you when they come. , which will add a lot of emotion.
- Lighting decoration. Why does autor put the lighting separately? Because autor slowly discovers the importance of lighting, the same clothes, different lighting, the display effect is completely different, the difference in visual effects directly affects the desire to buy, as for the lighting The collocation and decoration should be determined according to the specific situation. This is also something that needs to be pondered. If you do it well, there will be unexpected results.
The next stage is the purchase stage. In fact, this stage should be carried out at the same time as the decoration, even in the preparation stage of the first stage, because the source of the goods is also what everyone is most concerned about and worried about.
5.the purchase stage
In the preliminary inspection, the inspection of the source of goods is also included. Now, we will start to purchase goods when the store is decorated. The general principle should be a small amount and a variety of styles.
As a clothing store owner, you must know the principle of the proportion of goods in the physical store, divide the goods in the store systematically, arrange the proportion of styles reasonably, 20% of the special items, which are affordable and cost-effective, the main purpose is to attract customers; 60% is the basic Products, as your profit point, mainly rely on them to make profits; 10% are the main products, the meaning of their existence is to allow customers to make comparisons, so that the profitable products are more high-quality and cheap; the other 10% are associated products, don’t underestimate These small pieces, sometimes these small pieces can balance the daily expenses of the store. Therefore, before picking up the goods, you must make a rough estimate based on the store's positioning and psychological budget. If you exceed the budget, don't take it. The proportion of goods taken by a clothing store is generally as follows:
The proportion of goods taken:
- Basic products, the goods that make money in the store, with good styles and suitable prices, usually account for 45% to 60%;
- Main products, mainly big brands, enhance the overall image of the store, and improve the grade of other products in the store, accounting for 10% to 15%;
- Associated products, clothing-related, such as underwear, socks, home clothes, school bags, umbrellas, small hairpins, silk scarves, etc. Sometimes these small items can balance the daily expenses of the store, accounting for 10%.
- Special offer products, specifically to get some low-priced and high-quality goods, come and go to make gimmicks for your store to attract traffic, so that customers can go to his store to see other products through these low-priced products, Account for 10% to 20%.
6. Sales stage
What the store does after opening is to sell things. Three points for the product, seven points for the sale. As for how to sell, then you have a lot of knowledge. It can be said that the strength of sales ability directly affects whether the product is hot or not, and affects the transaction rate, association rate, repurchase rate and so on of the store.
As for how to do a good job in sales, it cannot be finished in one or two sentences. Today, I will briefly talk about a few points that need to be paid attention to.
1. Shopkeeper Psychology
Remember three words when doing business, be normal. Don't expect everyone who comes into the store to buy your clothes, let alone sell every piece of clothing. Therefore, after the store opens, you must adjust your mentality. The autor feels that you should adjust the following mentality:
1) Self-adjustment
After spending so much energy, the children's clothing store is about to start business. The expectations are very high. There is a saying that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. So you must correct your mentality, as long as you work hard, you will be able to do it well. Tell yourself that you run the store as your own, and I will do my best to do my best. Give yourself a position in your heart, that is, what is the future business idea, what is the style of the product in the future, and what is the service to customers. This is called the central idea. Even if you deviate a little in actual operation, you can still change it if you have a guiding idea. come over.
2) Customer attitude
autor always agrees with a friend-style business model. Don’t treat customers simply as paying customers. They can be your friends. As for why they are not friends, there is only one reason. You have no contact and communication. People’s first impression is very important. Yes, so you have to create your own storefront or your own gold service attitude, which is an intangible asset. People are emotional animals, especially women, as long as you grasp their psychological demands, you can definitely get in-depth contact. It doesn't really matter if you buy or not, because it's a world of difference between getting a friend and getting a customer or an order. Since it's a friend-based business, you have to make some human-friendly changes, such as price flexibility. , event discounts, small gifts and other details.
3) The attitude towards the store clerk
The clerk should not be just an employee. If you think that they will work hard for you if you pay, then you are wrong, because the store is not a big company after all, and small mistakes will not be magnified. But in a small clothing store, the mood, mentality, and attitude of the clerk directly affect sales. Communication is a kind of psychology. You can make her do what she needs to do seriously only if you give her a sense of dependence and trust. If you are always guarded or distrusted, then your clerk will definitely not work hard for you, because your disrespect will directly make her have a psychological change. When dealing with shop assistants, autor feels that they should encourage them more in life and spirit, care more about life, give them more praise and affirmation at work, give them hope and goals, and make some promises that can be achieved. As for how to do it, it depends on the shop owner. mentality and behavior.
4) Coping with a changing mindset
The plan can never keep up with the changes, and there are many things to do every day when opening a store, such as purchasing, placing, selling, after-sales, replenishing, statistics and so on. Therefore, you must maintain a good attitude, and then learn to summarize and summarize a set of methods suitable for your own shop. In this way, unnecessary workload will be reduced. If there is only oneself in the store, it is easier to adjust. If there are several shop assistants, it is even more necessary to have a changed mentality to face them. Because if you do not handle the relationship well, it will directly affect the sales of goods and the image and performance of the store. As for how to communicate with the clerk, this is a topic, and I will talk about it separately when I have time.
2. Buyer Psychology
There are many types of buyers, which can be roughly divided into: those who have direct consumption awareness and enter the store to see the goods; those who may visit the store without consumption awareness; those who visit the store with potential consumption awareness; and those who simply visit the store. The following is a brief description of how to understand the purchasing desires of different groups of people.
- Enter the store with direct consumption awareness. That is to buy clothes with banknotes. Generally, they ask more carefully. You can tell from the detail of their questions. At this time, the owner should not sit still, and must be warmly entertained and explained in detail. Then take the initiative to let the customer try it on, and by the way, praise the effect of the dress, for example, it is very eye-catching, very good-looking, etc. Under normal circumstances, it can be done. And this kind of customer will basically become a repeat customer, because when she wants to buy clothes again, she must recall your store, because your store once had clothes that she liked and bought.
- Dispensable consumption consciousness. You can buy it or not. Such customers basically depend on the efforts of the store owner. Don't stare too closely, give them enough space and distance, and see that they are attacking when they are hesitant. The next step is to persuade customers to increase the proportion of their desire to buy. Such customers usually pick a lot of faults because she has a choice. At this time, don’t talk about how good her clothes are. You should talk more about other topics and try to cite the topic as much as possible. Go elsewhere, let the client and yourself have something to say, get closer emotionally, and laugh and laugh. Once you become familiar with it, don't talk about the things she asked her to buy, let alone the money. You just say that since we are talking like this, if you like this one, you will wear it first. Everyone is a friend. it is good. The first reflection is that they must refuse, but because of their affection, they usually pay for it. The second thing is that you will buy it if you don’t say it, and it will definitely become your repeat customer. The third type is rare. If you really accept it, it is estimated that there are not many like this. If you really encounter it, you will win the lottery.
- Potential consumption awareness. Those who come out to go shopping on weekends or in their spare time, the purchase goals are not too clear. Such customers generally ask more about the price, but do not ask specifically, because after listening to the price, they will make a psychological comparison. Then it's one piece at a time. If your eyes don't stay on a piece of clothing for a few seconds, then you don't bother her. If you feel that she likes and likes which one, then introduce it to her in a friendly way, don't put pressure on the other party, and don't give the customer the feeling that you are eager to sell this product, and you must have a feeling that he is not in a hurry for you Don't be in a hurry, but you must be easy-going, so even if she doesn't buy it this time, she will definitely enter your store first next time.
- purely for shopping. Such customers generally do not have any intentions, but they will have image memories, so do not welcome them with any dissatisfied eyes or an unhappy attitude, but welcome them equally. Communication must be right, they are all potential customers.
3. Sales skills
1) Wait for the guest to come to the door
The most basic sales, some additional services can be added. Put some humane things, such as playing some light music, providing free drinking water, setting up an area for rest and chatting, installing a wall-mounted TV, putting a non-slip mat at the door, etc., to make people feel that you are very attentive.
2) Advertising
Including new products, the merchant labels must be more eye-catching, and a small display board or cartoon welcome guests should be placed at the door, so that guests can know that your home has a new product when they are outside the store. The indoor lighting must not be so dim, so that the new products and styles in the store can be clearly observed outside.
3) Activity discounts
It's best to have a point card, and if you can, make some coupons. As for the discount, it depends on the actual situation. Or you can hold some activities on weekends, it is best to create an atmosphere at the door, or hold some buy-one-gift or purchase discount activities, so that the popularity of the store will be active.
4) Discounts
Every once in a while, dispose of the goods that are out of season or in stock, even if they make less money. Don’t let them be pressed, they will die. If you move them, they will become recyclable liquidity, or you may invest in some suitable products. Discounted products, in short, continuous activities, the popularity will be more and more prosperous.
Opening a clothing store is as simple as it is simple, and difficult as it is. If you want to stand out in a fiercely competitive environment, you must be prepared. After all, opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared! If you have money and supplies, you may be able to open a clothing store, but you cannot open a clothing store well. If you want your clothing store to run well, open for a long time, and make money, all shop owners should want to achieve. Therefore, to open a profitable clothing store, you need to meet the above conditions. If you want to be a good businessman, you need to have the brain of operation, the thinking of buyers, and the skill of exhibitors. I heard that people who opened clothing stores later became all-rounders! Novices find their own way through exploration. Others’ suggestions are for reference, absorb what they need, combine their own reality, and avoid detours, and there will be unexpected gains.
