A simple guide to opening an online clothing store

By okaybliss — ON Dec 19, 2023

Fashion is one of the biggest industries globally and remains fast-growing. If you are considering starting an online business, a clothing store is a good idea. This article will walk you through the steps of starting an online clothing store and optimizing it for sales.

The steps include:

1. Choose a Niche

The fashion industry is enormous, and targeting all the divisions will be futile. It’s better to choose a niche and handle it as best as you can. For example, you can decide to sell streetwear and base your brand around this niche. You may decide to sell formal suits and market your brand around elegance and stylishness.

The huge fashion industry fosters healthy competition. No one can point to a single brand dominating all the areas. There’s room for many competitors, especially as the clothing sector grows globally. You can choose a good niche to ride this growth by considering these questions:

What clothing items do I love?
What clothing items are trending?
What can I offer that other brands can’t?
How much profit can I make from the clothes?

2. Choose A Name

After choosing a niche, the next step is selecting a name to differentiate your brand from the competition. The name is how customers will identify your business, so you should choose one that’s easy to remember. It should be easy to spell and pronounce so customers can swiftly recall and recommend your brand to others.

3. Register Your Business

Registering an online clothing outlet is not always mandatory, but it’s advisable to do it. Formal corporate registration makes your business look more trustworthy to customers and fellow businesses. People will more likely patronize a business registered with the government, with clear legal backing in case of disputes. Non-registered businesses are disadvantaged because people find it riskier to patronize them, fearing they can run away with their money or offer poor service with little consequences.

4. Source Your Items

It’s ideal to source products first before launching your online clothing shop. Suppliers can take significant time to deliver products, and you don’t want to leave customers hanging because products weren’t available when they ordered.

The main ways to source products include:

Design and manufacture the clothes yourself. You can contract a team of designers to help you or start with a one-person show if you have the skills.
Order clothing items wholesale from an external supplier and sell them for a profit.
Dropship items direct from an external supplier to the consumer, acting only as the middleman. But, this model carries significant risk because you don’t control the quality or delivery times.

Examine a supplier’s reputation before sourcing items from them. Also, check their prices, shipping times, and handiwork quality. You can consult customer reviews to give you good insights about a supplier.

5. Create Your Website

The next step involves knowing how to make a clothing website. Designated website builders have made setting up an online store as easy as ever. You can choose a ready-made template to form the foundation of your professional-looking store. You can edit the design and add products easily. The main work involves integrating a payment processor to accept money from customers’ credit or debit cards.

Take note of these things when creating your website:

Use high-quality product photos because they sell more.
Write clear and precise product descriptions.
Make it mobile-responsive.
Make the website friendly to search engines.
Include a blog to show your brand’s personality and provide information to customers.

6. Market Your Store

With products to sell and an online store fully set up, the final step is marketing your product to get customers. There are many ways, including

Advertise on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Buy search engine ads for relevant keywords.
Build an email list and marketing directly to leads.
Create an affiliate marketing program and pay people commissions for each sale they refer.
Word-of-mouth marketing.
Attend events and fashion shows to promote your brand.