Are you looking to start an online boutique?

Good move! With over 79 percent of Americans shopping online, your business has a good chance of attracting customers. However, the fact that more people are buying stuff online alone isn’t enough to make your boutique a success. You must put effort into building a reputable store that can beat the competition.

Ready to learn how to start an online boutique and make it a success? Here is a complete guide.

Pick Your Niche

The first step to starting a boutique is to identify a niche in the fashion industry.

Sure, nothing stops you from starting a general boutique, but you have a better shot at succeeding when you target a specific market or sell specific items. For example, you could sell women’s clothes or focus on men’s shoes.

When picking a niche, consider the ease of acquiring the items you intend to sell, as well as the existing competition. Don’t get into a niche that has too many boutiques, or is overly dominated by a few large stores.

Build an E-Commerce Website

After settling on a niche, the next step is to build an online shop for your boutique.

Although there are plenty of DIY tutorials and free builder tools on the web, it’s not advisable to build your e-commerce website on your own – unless you’re a web development expert. You have less than 15 seconds to grab a website visitor’s attention, so there’s no room for error.

Hire an e-commerce web design and development professional or agency to craft your site. They will choose the ideal e-commerce platform for your boutique, help you choose the perfect domain name, take care of the hosting, customize product pages, and set up payment options.

Set Up Your Shipping Fees and Methods

The quality of your shipping practices can make or break your business.

Given that most online shoppers abandon a cart because of high shipping fees and 65 percent of online retailers are on pace to offer same-day delivery, you must get your shipping fees and methods right.

As a new small business, handling your shipping in-house might be too costly, so the best option is to hire a shipping services provider. Ensure your provider is reliable and cost-effective.

Grow Your Boutique’s Social Media presence

Social media is a powerful tool for enhancing your digital presence, generating site traffic and boosting search rankings.

As a new boutique, you might be tempted to sign up with as many social sites as possible to increase your reach, but that won’t be a smart thing to do. Focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Snapchat is also fast becoming an ideal platform for fashion brands.

In addition to sharing regular posts and engaging your followers, consider running ads on these platforms. Social ads are perfect for reaching your target market.

Grow Your Team

As your boutique grows, you’ll need to hire more people.

For instance, you’ll need an in-house web developer to keep improving your site. Sales and customer services reps will also be among your first hires.

Having employees means you’ve to stay on top of payroll taxes. Use a pay stub template to create accurate records of your workers’ salaries.

That’s How to Start an Online Boutique and Find Success

In the age of internet shopping, starting an online boutique is a prime opportunity to pursue your entrepreneurship dream and make a profit.

However, starting a profitable online shop requires some know-how. Lucky for you, we’ve just shared how to start an online boutique and make it a success.

Good luck and stay tuned to our blog for more business tips!