Straight to the point
An online clothing store can be a very lucrative business in 2024. While it can be hard to source products and get your store website set up, once it’s up and running it’s a fairly easy business to operate with proper management.
Here’s how you can start an online clothing store in 6 steps.
1. Perform market research and choose a niche
First things first, before deciding anything you’ll need to conduct market research. The global apparel market is a huge market worth an estimated 1.53 trillion dollars. While that means there’s fierce competition in the market, it also means there’s a lot of opportunity.
In your research, look for where the opportunities are within the apparel market while keeping in mind your expertise and interests.
Identify your audience
After performing your market research, decide, and make sure you understand who you want to sell to. Is your audience business professionals, fashion-savvy streetwear enthusiasts or young children? Or maybe you’re interested in selling toddler apparel, activewear, or outdoor performance gear.
Select your niche
Since the apparel market is a crowded space, choosing a niche is a good idea to help you stand out and specialize. For example, if you want to sell activewear, you’ll be competing against industry giants like Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas, so choosing a smaller and specific niche means you won’t face as much competition.
Instead of focusing on the entire activewear industry, for example, you might choose to sell to postpartum mothers who are getting back into the gym, or young digital nomads looking to stay active while traveling.
Once you’ve successfully captured a particular niche, you can always branch out and expand into other niches and segments.
2. Write a business plan and register your business
After identifying your target audience and niche, it’s time to start thinking about the business side of your online clothing store.
As with any business, you need to write a business plan that outlines your market research, your business goals, strategies, financial forecasts, and a plan for implementation. While this is certainly not the most exciting part of starting an online clothing store, it’s an essential step to keep you focused and keep your business on track. And if you’re going to be looking for investors for your business they’ll want to see a business plan.
Part of your business plan should highlight aspects related to your online clothing store’s brand. The unique aspects of different brands are often what draws customers to a particular company or makes them choose one brand over another.
Consider things like your brand name and logo, your brand values, your mission and vision, as well as how your brand communicates. Your market research will be important here to make sure that your brand resonates with your audience.
When naming your brand, make sure it’s something easy to remember and has an available domain and social media handles. After you’ve decided on a name, make sure to register your business.
Depending on your business needs, choose between the most common structures: limited liability companies (LLC) for partnerships or sole proprietorships for individual ownership. Sole proprietorships are simpler and suitable for new, single-owner businesses
3. Source your products
When it comes to sourcing products for your online clothing store, you essentially have two options: manufacturing your own clothing line or sourcing garments from wholesalers or vendors.
Manufacturing your own clothing offers complete control over design, quality, and brand identity, but it demands significant investment in production and design expertise.
On the other hand, sourcing from wholesalers can be cost-effective and less time-consuming, and allows access to a diverse range of styles and trends. Sourcing products, however, has the downside of limiting uniqueness and brand differentiation.
Regardless of the chosen method, make sure you perform regular quality checks on the clothing being sold in your online clothing store. Consistently delivering high-quality products not only builds customer trust but also establishes the reputation of your brand in the competitive online fashion market.
Establishing a robust system for quality control ensures that every product meets your standards and resonates with your target audience
4. Set up your online clothing store
After you’ve registered your business and sourced the clothing you’re going to sell, it’s time to actually set up your online store. To set up your online store, you’ll need to choose an e-commerce platform, create a website, and set up the necessary tools and options to offer a great user experience.
Choosing an E-commerce Platform
Choose an e-commerce platform that aligns with your business needs and goals. Popular options include Shopify and WooCommerce.
Shopify is renowned for its ease of use and comprehensive features, making it an ideal choice for beginners.
WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a plugin for WordPress websites and offers extensive customization options, which is perfect for those who want more control over their site’s design and functionality.
Website Design
Your online store should not only be visually appealing to attract customers but also user-friendly and easy to navigate. The design should resonate with your audience and make sense with the branding elements you decided on in step two.
A clean, uncluttered layout with high-quality images and detailed product descriptions can significantly enhance the shopping experience. It’s also critical that your website is optimized for mobile browsing since mobile internet traffic accounts for 58.5% of global internet traffic.
Size charts and size recommendation tools
Size charts and size recommendation tools are often overlooked by fashion e-commerce businesses, but they play an important role in increasing conversions, decreasing returns, and providing a better shopping experience for your buyers.
Size charts: Since sizing varies a lot between brands and different pieces are meant to fit differently, it’s important to include size charts for all the garments you’re going to sell in your online clothing store.
Size charts should list the garment measurements of each piece as well as the corresponding body measurements. The most common body measurements included are height, chest, waist, and hip.
If you’d like to learn more about size charts and their role in fashion e-commerce, make sure to check our ebook, Size Charts 101.
Size recommendation tools: Size charts can help a lot of people pick the right size, but for size charts to be effective users need to have access to a measuring tape – something many don’t have. Size recommendation tools provide a more user friendly option to help customers pick the right size.
Size recommendation tools ask users to input some basic information, like their height, weight, and age, and provide them with a size recommendation. They’re easy and fast to use, and are generally fairly easy to implement as well.
Ideally, your online clothing store should have size charts and a size recommendation tool. This ensures customers will have everything they need to make assertive shopping decisions.
Set Up Payment Processing
Your store should offer secure and reliable payment gateways to build trust with your customers. Choose payment processors that are widely recognized and used, such as PayPal, Stripe, or Square. These services not only provide a seamless checkout experience but also ensure the security of the transactional data.
Set Up Support Channels
Customer service is critical to the success of any brand or store, and online clothing stores are no different. Set up various support channels such as email, phone, or live chat to assist customers with their questions and concerns. This not only improves customer experience but also builds credibility and trust in your brand.
5. Set up shipping and logistics
The last thing to consider when starting an online clothing store is how you’re going to get your clothing to your customers. Look for a well-establishing shipping partner that can provide reliable shipping and handling as well as accurate tracking. On your end, you’ll need to implement good logistics management to ensure your orders are sent out for shipping quickly and efficiently.
Make sure to include a shipping policy on your website. This policy should include clear and transparent information on shipping costs, delivery times, and return procedures.
6. Market and promote your products
It doesn’t matter how great your products are, or how well designed your website is, if no one knows your brand exists, you’re not going to make any sales!
A strategic and well executed marketing plan will make sure the right people find out about your brand. Here are some common marketing strategies to consider:
SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making sure your website ranks well in search results. Integrating keywords in product descriptions improves search rankings so that customers can find your brand when searching for clothing online.
Social media marketing: Take advantage of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, to advertise your products. If social media marketing makes sense for your brand, you’ll need to commit to posting on a regular basis and delivering quality content.
Influencer marketing: Collaborating with influencers is a great way to promote your online clothing store. Influencers can increase the visibility of your brand and showcase your products in real-life scenarios. Make sure to look for influencers in your niche that have already captured the audience you’re looking to tap into.
Paid advertising: You can use platforms like Google Ads, Instagram Ads, and Facebook Ads to advertise your products.
Customer loyalty rewards: Customer loyalty rewards are a great way to generate repeated business from your customers. These can include things like a customer loyalty program, offering coupons for future purchases, and discounts for sharing your products on social media.
Scaling your business
If your store is properly managed, your customers are happy, and you provide great customer service, with time you’ll be able to expand your business and increase your brand’s reach.
If you’d like to learn more about fashion e-commerce, make sure to read about virtual fitting rooms and size recommendation tools.