Retail as an option of their own business has been and remains extremely popular, so all kinds of outlets are constantly appearing. Merchants try their hand in the competition for the buyer, testing in practice various types of trade and groups of goods. How to open a children's clothing store from scratch, is it worth it to deal with this particular group of goods, and what are the prospects for this business? Consider the issue from all sides, this will help determine the choice of assortment and the direction of work.
The specifics of a children's clothing store: why is it profitable?
Even at the decision-making stage, businessmen are interested in a completely legitimate question: is it profitable to open an online children's clothing store, will good sales really go? If we compare the need to purchase new clothes for children and adults, it turns out that the rate of turnover of goods in the children's category is several times higher. The reason is extremely simple: the kids actually grow very quickly, and it has long been not accepted to buy dresses and pants for growth in our society.
The child’s need for a practical wardrobe, where elegant and casual items are successfully combined - all this contributes to the fact that clothes for a child are bought more often than for an adult. Here, of course, it should be understood that this statement can only be considered as a kind of average result. There are families of different incomes, somewhere an advantage can go in favor of one or both parents, and families without children are not taken into account. However, on average the situation is just that, and the vast majority of parents admit that children's clothing and shoes are a significant expense item. That is why businessmen are interested in how to open a children's clothing store from scratch, what kind of profit it can bring and what is worth paying attention to first of all.
Action Plan for Opening a Children's Clothing Store
When opening any outlet there is a standard action plan, verified by many businessmen. So, you decided to open a children's clothing store. Where to begin?
The order of execution of the items may vary slightly, but the overall course of the process remains unchanged:
- selection of the area and premises for the store;
- consumer audience analysis;
- determination of the price category of goods;
- preliminary assortment formation;
- final budgeting;
- registration;
- store design and staff selection;
- opening.
Each of these points can be adjusted to the specifics of a city or district, but registration is standard everywhere. To do this, you need to contact the tax office of residence and register as an entrepreneur. When thinking about how to open a children's clothing store from scratch, first of all, you need to take into account the legality of your actions and include the costs of the corresponding design in the business plan.
You can draw up documents as an entrepreneur tax payer, either independently or by delegating all the efforts to professionals. Many companies specialize in handling formalities as quickly as possible.
Selection of premises and analysis of the area
For the success of your future business, it is worth considering the specifics of the area in which the store is planned to open. If this part of the city can already boast of several similar points, then it would be rash to engage in fierce competition, especially if other options can be chosen. In most cases, competition requires substantial financial investments, time and effort, and it is better to spend them on business development. Before pondering how to open a children's clothing store from scratch, it would be worthwhile to first understand exactly where it is most needed.
Children are a rather specific category of consumers, it’s not always convenient to go around stores with them, so proximity to customers is an advantage. The absence of a children's store where there are many children is a clear sign of a free niche. However, there is another way to cover almost all areas of the city, and maybe the country. Trading via the Internet has its own advantages and can be conducted simultaneously with the development of a regular store. Many people wonder how to open an online children's clothing store, what is needed for this and how does such a business differ from standard solutions. By and large, such trade is distinguished by a more friendly attitude towards customers and the ability to save on renting premises, utility bills and staffing.
How to determine the price category
Is it expensive or cheap? Children's clothes, like things for adults, can be affordable or cost a lot of money. It is worth thinking about this even at the stage of reflection on how to open a children's clothing store. The business plan should include an analysis of consumer demand, this will allow to predict the possible profit and development of a commercial enterprise. The profitability of the entire enterprise directly depends on the price of the product and the purchasing power of the bulk of visitors.
In a residential area populated by middle-income people, a store with luxurious clothes from promoted brands is unlikely to be appropriate. It is better to open such points in the city center or in large shopping centers, because their potential buyers are unlikely to walk. For a sleeping area, goods of an average price category and good quality are more suitable to maintain the reputation of the store.
Is it worth it to open a children's clothing store in the market, because there are by default a lot of buyers? The market is exactly the place where it is better to cover the lower price segment, from cheap things to average cost.
Assortment formation
What determines the profit of any retail store? This is best seen in the example of a standard supermarket, where you can buy everything you need from provisions, plus related products. In the same way, it is worth forming the assortment of your future store with children's goods. The ideal option is when customers can purchase everything that is necessary for the child on the spot, from underwear to a winter jacket, otherwise they will go to competitors.
Is it profitable to open a children's clothing store? If the assortment allows you to reliably keep the customer and encourages him to become a regular customer, then this is definitely beneficial. In retail, one-time customers are just a nice addition, and the main part of the revenue is made by regular customers who have evaluated your work and made a choice in favor of your company.
One of the best ways to create an assortment is to put yourself in the place of the buyer. You do not need to be limited to your own imagination; analysis of the work of other stores helps a lot. It is worth exploring what specifically other stores lack, what you can do better, how to satisfy customer demand. It is necessary to make the purchase of goods based on the research.
Store decoration
After you have decided on the area in which you will open your store, found a room and are almost ready to start working, you should pay attention to the design of the room. In addition to attractive design, there is another important aspect - practicality and forethought. It is no secret that children come to such stores, so you should think about the safety of goods. Restless kids will certainly try to put their own order on all the shelves that they can reach. Therefore, it is worth making sure that goods are placed on the lower shelves in such a way that there is nothing banging or very expensive. One may ask, what can be broken in a clothing store? If we recall the example of supermarkets, then related products can be toys or products for the care of newborns, but they can also be broken by accident.
It is much easier with the design development if you open a franchise for children's clothing store - usually the package design of the outlet is usually stipulated in the package of the contract, since it should correspond to the overall design of the chain of stores. For example, Chicco branded stores have design recommendations, and the quality of the goods is confirmed by many customers.
Staff recruitment
Another important point of store success is qualified staff. Work with children's goods has its own specifics. Sellers should be ready to give comprehensive information on any type of product, answer a lot of questions. Customers in these stores are particularly picky, and they can be understood, because we are talking about children. What do you need to open a children's clothing store? Sometimes they don’t even think about staff, and it is the seller who can directly affect the success of the work.
In addition to the ability to advise the buyer and sell him the necessary goods, sellers must have a high degree of stress tolerance, be able to handle other people's children, be able to quickly and effectively stop conflicts. At first glance, any person can work as a seller in such a store, but not so simple. It may even be necessary to organize special training, and this is already material investment in staff.
Children's clothing online store
Another business option that is often overlooked is to open an online children's clothing store from scratch or as a complement to an existing outlet. What is needed for a store on the Internet and how does it differ from the usual form of trading?
In most cases, the advantage of an online store is the absence of the need to rent or buy premises for trading floors, to hire sellers. This is not entirely true, the premises are still needed, although not retail pavilions, but rather warehouse areas where, in addition to storing goods, orders can be quickly and efficiently generated. You can’t do without personnel either - someone must take orders, conduct consultations online or by phone, pick up the ordered goods and deliver them to customers.
Moreover, the premises can be chosen inexpensively, on the outskirts of the city, there is no need to pay impressive amounts for advertising coverage and utilities, and a qualified online consultant is able to reach out to a much larger number of buyers than one seller on the trading floor. And yet, how to open an online children's clothing store?
In this case, the same procedure that has already been considered above, but with some amendments, remains true. If you do not need to arrange sales rooms, then you still have to spend money on website design and creating functionality that allows visitors to comfortably place an order directly on the site.
Thrift store selling children's things
Due to the fact that children really grow very fast, many parents are faced with a situation when they did not wear any pretty jacket or dress at all or managed to wear a couple of times. What to do in this case - throw it away, give it to someone or try to sell it? It’s a pity to throw away, there is no one to donate, and there is no time or talent to sell. The thrift store can be considered an excellent outlet, useful both for the seller and for future buyers who can buy an almost new item at a reduced price.
How to open a commission store for children's clothing and will it be profitable? By and large, the procedure for opening a commission store is no different from any other store, but there are certain advantages. Taking things on a commission, you do not spend money on the purchase of goods. The initial seller himself takes care of bringing the children's clothes in a salable condition, bringing them to the store. The profit in this case is the sum of the margin that the store takes for the provision of retail space and seller services.
You can combine the types of profit and open a commission department in a regular children's clothing store. At the same time, the store owner sets the rules for receiving goods on his own, for example, only things of a certain price category can be accepted for commission and only in perfect condition.
How to develop a business?
After the grand opening of the store, harsh everyday life begins, the flow of visitors gradually decreases. This is a natural decline after the hype, so you should think about how to support trade and grow further.
If you have correctly decided on the question of where to open a children's clothing store, and there are really many children around, there is a kindergarten and a school, then a steady flow of visitors is ensured. It is important to turn visitors into buyers, for this you need to constantly analyze customer demand. The attentive attitude of the staff towards visitors can help, because it is the seller who makes the initial survey and provides data on requests that the store could not satisfy.
If the store’s work is duplicated on the Internet, this gives an additional sales volume and expands the territorial coverage of the service. Given that the store has its own warehouse space, the costs of creating an online store will be relatively small.
A loyalty program for regular customers can help promote business - discounts and bonuses are well received by consumers. In addition to standard advertising, you can unobtrusively remind customers of themselves. For example, order special profiles for clients and send congratulatory messages on the child’s birthday, while mentioning the replenishment of the assortment.
At the same time, the assortment should be expanded, because even in the children's clothing store you can add toys, accessories, goods of impulse demand. In the price category, it is better to adhere to the chosen policy if it suits buyers, but it is good to have an assortment of an adjacent category. If in one store you can buy both an expensive thing and its more affordable analogue, this can do good for the business.