How to quickly “promote” a new store.

Women's clothing is always in demand. All representatives of the fair half want to look stunning, so they update their wardrobe quite often. You can make good money from this natural desire of women to be seductive if you open a store women's clothing from scratch. But in theory, a simple idea in practice leads to a dead end with the question: “Where to start?”

Stages of creating your own business

You shouldn’t assume: “I’m the only one so smart, so the boutique will immediately begin to bring in good profits.” It must be remembered that if a women's clothing store is a profitable type of business, a newcomer here will have to face a high level of competition. But this is not an obstacle to starting your business from scratch and making it successful, ahead of your competitors. Why is it necessary:

1. Conduct a market analysis within the city, locality, district where it is planned to open a women's clothing boutique.
2. Based on the analysis, create an assortment (this must be done before opening the store).
3. Create a cost estimate, including an advertising campaign.
4. Find staff, premises, buy equipment.
5. Prepare documents, open an individual entrepreneur.

Now we need to consider each of the stages in more detail.

Qualitative analysis – 50% success

To the question: “Where to start a business?” an adequate answer would be: “From market analysis.” This is especially true if the business area involves a high level of competition, which will be the main feature of the women's clothing sales segment. Opening a store quickly without preparation means dooming yourself to losses. Opening a business is a serious step that requires maximum concentration, composure, and rationality.

The analysis should begin with determining the number, at least approximately, of retail outlets that sell women's clothing. It’s best to go through them yourself and familiarize yourself with the assortment and pricing policy. It is necessary to keep control and monitor the opening of new women's clothing stores. Adopt the creative techniques of future competitors. Please note that price tags and display cases must be removed extremely carefully, otherwise problems with staff and security may arise.

In fact, a deep analysis of the assortment will help attract women and girls and make them regular customers. Everything here is extremely simple - clothes that are not available or are scarce in other stores will be in demand.

Attention! The deeper the analysis is carried out, the higher its effectiveness. This is painstaking work, which will subsequently give good results if taken seriously.

Many women's clothing stores, especially large ones, are trying to create a universal assortment for all age categories. The result is that the clothes presented are of little interest to customers. The reason is that despite the overall impressive selection, individual segments contain very few models. The emphasis should be on diversity within a relatively narrow specialization, for example, opening a plus size clothing boutique.

You might also want to think about opening a second-hand store. This type of business is no less profitable with the right approach.

Formation of assortment - pitfalls

Before opening a women's clothing store, you should decide on the assortment. But what to do if all the niches are already occupied by competitors and new clothing collections are only relevant for the first week or two? Don’t despair, panic or do absurd things:

• try to order everything at once;
• try to stand out from the crowd of stores by ordering expensive, extravagant models that will narrow the female consumer audience as much as possible;
• work according to the template.

Attention! To open a women's clothing store from scratch and promote it, you need to look for your own individual style in your work. Everything is important here: knowledge of the laws of the market, psychology, ingenuity, ingenuity.

Knowing the pitfalls will be equally important. One of these is clothing aimed at youth, mainly styles: sport, street, underground. The problem is that the youth audience is not so numerous, there are much more middle-aged shoppers. In addition, it should be remembered that online trading is actively developing and a certain part of the youth audience prefers purchasing clothes through the Internet, which reduces the purchasing potential of the audience. Therefore, the boutique loses customers even with a theoretical calculation. That is why opening a women's clothing store requires in-depth analysis.

In order to be able to promote his clothing store, an entrepreneur needs to learn to satisfy both obvious and hidden needs for “clothing” among his potential clients. It is obvious that certain external characteristics clothes, together with their price attributes, allow them to lead to the fulfillment of obvious needs. But if you take two neighboring stores that sell the same clothes at the same prices, then the winner will be the store that satisfies more hidden needs of its visitor. In this article we will look at the ways and factors of predominantly meeting both types of needs.

“A scarlet flower catches the eye.” Folk saying

We must immediately admit that by dividing the needs of clothing buyers into obvious and hidden, we allow a (temporary) error in describing the mechanism of consumer behavior under consideration. The fact is that it is impossible to satisfy one part of the need and leave the other part unsatisfied. A person’s hidden consumer motives sleep until they are awakened by a clear, conscious need. Also, any thought identifying an overt need cannot physiologically be present without an individual (and usually latent) feeling caused by corresponding electrochemical activity in the brain. Based on this, when considering latent and explicit needs, it is important to take into account the fact that they are activated simultaneously and interconnected.

Product characteristics. As mentioned at the outset, product characteristics that a person can intellectually understand and evaluate appear to be potential solutions to his perceived needs. In most cases, the most striking differentiating (distinctive) attribute of a certain clothing item attracts attention and is considered by the visitor first.

Differentiation. A clothing store visitor scans the retail space according to its own algorithm, which distinguishes and identifies product properties that are important to him. The structure of this algorithm depends on what is on the visitor’s mind at that moment regarding his requirements (in this case) for individual clothing attributes. Our goal is to demonstrate clear differentiation of that key attribute or attributes from the rest. For example, a visitor may be looking for high-quality material, a special color combination, practicality or applicability for a specific purpose (utility), expensive appearance, rarity, a prestigious brand, compliance with a popular trend, similarity with the style of an idol, or any other characteristics advantageous for personal consumption .

In addition, the price indicator may also be a (temporary) priority for the visitor, as a result of which he will be more receptive, for example, to the corresponding symbols indicating the presence of a discount.

Price. Even if price is not a key requirement in a clothing store visitor's current search algorithm, it is nonetheless an important indicator. prospects satisfy one or another need.

Firstly, the price informs about the availability of this item of clothing. In this regard, our task is to ensure that our prices match the budgets of the target audience.

Secondly, if the price indicator is easily identified, then the price can serve as an indicator of membership in a particular social group. It follows from this that we should not sell goods whose price attribute may be associated with a lower social group in comparison with the associations of our consumer segment (which is actually the most profitable for us).

Thirdly, the price can tell a story about the quality of the clothing, its rarity or the prestige of its manufacturer. Our task here will be to identify and focus consumer attention on such possible relationships (which usually lead to the perception of increased consumer value of the product).

Thus, pricing policy, brought into line with current consumer sentiment, is a fairly powerful tool that satisfies the obvious needs of visitors.

Guarantees. Also an important attribute that satisfies the obvious needs of buyers is the presence of a guarantee of satisfaction with the purchase made. Some clothing items may be quite a significant investment for certain individuals, so that their purchasing decision may be intellectually fraught with either motivational conflicts or fears of post-sale regret. Having a guarantee can successfully address such concerns.

The most influential effect of the presence of a satisfaction guarantee is its direct relationship with the perception of high quality (thus guaranteed) of the product. If the duration of the guarantee of return, exchange or refund of an unsatisfactory purchase significantly exceeds the regulatory framework (for example, an unconditional return or exchange of clothing purchased in a store that has not lost its commercial appearance within a year), then the effect of consumer trust in the seller increases even more.

A large number of studies point to the fact that providing your customers with purchase satisfaction guarantees produces a disproportionately high return on such investments.

Consumer rating. Having analyzed product characteristics, we considered only one side of the coin. The downside is the peculiarities of consumer assessment of those characteristics. And if we assume that consumers evaluate the product in question in the same way as the seller, we will quickly mislead ourselves. First, the consumer often does not have all the product information available to the seller. Secondly, the consumer sometimes does not understand the information presented to him. Thirdly, there is always the issue of trust in information from a (not always objective) seller. Analysis and influence on cognitive (intellectual) consumer assessment seems highly appropriate for an entrepreneur determined to successfully develop his (clear) competitive advantage.

Attribute selection. For a visitor to our clothing store who intends to intellectually approach the issue of choosing the best option for his uniform (and may have already bypassed the neighboring stores of our competitors), knowledge of the specific attributes of the product is necessary. This allows him to carry out some comparative analysis. Since the process of acquiring any knowledge is usually labor-intensive and time-consuming, the consumer naturally makes some effort to avoid possibly unnecessary labor. In this regard, it is important for us to generate and present clearly useful (from the consumer’s point of view) information about product attributes and their usefulness in an extremely simple and concise form. Attribute choice prevails in situations when a visitor buys a product not for himself, but for others, for example, as a gift.

If the properties of our products are perceived without sufficient preference in some respects in comparison with the products of competitors, we can use four strategies:

1) We can try to change attitudes.. This means that a change in attitude towards one indicator is more likely to entail attitudes towards all related indicators in the same direction. It follows from this that bringing and focusing attention on the arguments and facts of the preferential position of a strong attribute will contribute to a more positive consumer attitude towards the entire set of attribute characteristics of that product.

2) Downplay the importance of the attribute. Consumers assume that some product features are more important than others. If our weak attribute is on our mental list of priority attributes, it would be appropriate for us to downplay the importance of that weak attribute. We can do this by creating a disproportionate emphasis on advantageous attributes.

3) Add a new attribute. Another successful strategy for improving consumer evaluation of our products could be the creation and introduction of an additional product characteristic into the evaluation range, in which we can surpass the current competitive offer. (Like “hair dye can’t be washed off even with kerosene”, only in a more serious sense)

4) Change the ideal. Almost always, the consumer mentally forms an ideal version for the product in question. Perhaps one of the components of that version is not sufficiently decorated with the corresponding attribute of our product. If we can restructure the individual consumer's perception of the ideal version, where our lame characteristic does not have a significant impact on the ideal, then as a result it will be easier for us to demonstrate the conformity of our product (thus reshaped) to perfection.

Often, many sellers, without thinking, list product characteristics for their visitors. The awareness of the benefit demonstrated in this way does not pose any cognitive obstacles for the sales specialist. However, . Obviously, we should better demonstrate direct consumer benefits rather than present any product properties that indirectly hint at the (not always realized) usefulness of the product.

Most consumers pay quite serious attention to the issue of their appearance, where certain characteristics of their clothing take precedence. The more motivated the consumer is to make a competent and optimal choice for himself, the greater the chances that he will resort to making a choice based on the assessment of attributes that are important to him.

Identification of explicit, intellectually realized needs allows us to develop and demonstrate such consumer value of the product range that will initially attract them to the store. However, as soon as a visitor crosses the threshold of our establishment, his hidden needs begin to be more actively actualized.

“The rider may be without a head, but not the horse.” Folk saying

People's hidden needs are based on feelings. That is, it is the (previously formed) feelings that initiate specific thoughts and determine the behavior of consumers in the process of making a purchase. Experts in the field of neurology argue that feeling is a request-demand of the human body for the supply of specific chemical elements (peptides), formed exclusively during the activation of brain cells and neurons. We know that our neurons communicate precisely when we have a thought. And, usually, thought shapes behavior. The next point that should be emphasized is the fact that the human body strives for stability and balance, for homeostasis. Therefore, if we have trained ourselves to think definitely (and thereby feel definitely), our body will require constancy in our physiological processes formed in this way. Related to this is the fact that dominant thoughts are extremely difficult to subordinate to subjective control. Let's take a closer look at this (potentially profitable for the seller) human addiction.

Consumer motives according to McGuire. William McGuire proposed the standardization of such dominant thoughts, which are the motivational basis for the behavior of a typical consumer. This system, which identifies 16 consumer motives, is widely popular in the marketing industry.

1) A person strives to be consistent with himself. A person’s life position (with such a motive) regarding any concept is more likely to extend to his behavioral aspects in the consumption of goods. If a consumer prioritizes marginal savings for all of his purchases, then no amount of superior quality of a more expensive product will persuade that person to change his purchasing habits to purchase the most cheap goods. Clothing products that are not necessarily highly utilitarian, but offered at the lowest possible price, will be in demand among a person with such a developed motive.

2) A person looks for reasons for something. If we do not provide enough information that offers convincing (and positively positioning us) reasons for, for example, our current 10% discount on the entire range, then our visitor will certainly fill in such “gaps”, but not necessarily in a positive way for us.

3) The person tries to organize everything into categories. Most people subconsciously consider a price of 9,995 rubles as belonging to one category (which, for example, is affordable on a budget), and 10,000 rubles as belonging to another (too expensive).

4) A person seeks an objective view in relation to something. Most of us have a very well developed so-called “herd” reflex. The assessment and reaction of the people around us are of high relevance to us. The success of achieving one's own goals often depends on a (more) objective public view. Therefore, the buyer will look (and in our store inclusive) for positive social proof for their purchasing choices in clothing.

5)A person tries to gain independence and individuality. If previously homo sapiens, in order to survive, tried to imitate the safest behavior in the group, in the current environment this strategy is no longer relevant. On the contrary, you can often notice that the most “profitable” behavior contains elements of extraordinaryness and independence. Buying rare, new, or unfamiliar clothing is more likely to highlight the individuality (and perhaps the potential for leadership) of such a buyer.

6) A person needs incentive/stimulation. A consumer with a highly developed stimulation addiction usually seeks variety and is more prone to impulsive (previously thoughtless) purchases. A completely new or different product that contains an element of pleasant “surprise” is more likely to satisfy this aspect of motivation.

7) A person strives to see the direction, the end result. The acquisition of a certain component of a personal wardrobe for an individual with such a dominant motive should clearly outline the end result expected by him, for example, the presence of an approving glance from representatives of his social circle.

8) A person tries to imagine a practical application for something. A consumer with such a prevailing motivation will certainly appreciate the practical application of one of the ideas identified by him, for example, from some visual “stimulus” of his attention.

9) A person needs to relieve tension or stress. The vast majority of people try to avoid cognitive (mental) load (usually causing stress or tension) whenever possible. In this regard, by offering an extremely easy (in cognitive terms) solution in the option of replenishing a set of clothes, we will satisfy this hidden need of our client.

10) A person strives for self-expression. In order to register in a certain way in the eyes of others, to attract their attention, or to give oneself extraordinary relevance, a person looks for ways to express himself. One such path may be to purchase clothing that is clearly shown to be extremely expensive, which is usually associated with the status of financial success that is important to such a person.

11) A person needs to protect his own ego. Often a person’s awareness of his “unsuccessful” appearance is equivalent to a declaration of war on his individual ego. To avoid the painful effect of the defenselessness of one’s own ego, a person will protect himself from possible error buying a popular outfit from a trusted brand rather than buying an unknown, untested, or radically new product.

12) The person is interested in reward or support. A shopper who frequently shops in a store will usually demand (either actively or passively) special discounts or other promotional activities that reward the consistency of such purchasing behavior. The same relationship can work in reverse: providing special “rewards” for frequent customers is more likely to transform a casual visitor into a regular customer.

13) A person strives to feel like a winner. The feeling that comes from the awareness of victory over something (or someone), demonstrating power, noticeable (and not so noticeable) achievements, receiving praise or honor, in a general sense, is an attractive attribute of life for many. If we create a purchasing situation in which the visitor suddenly feels like a winner (such as, for example, identifying an “erroneous” price tag or a “secret” discount), the satisfaction of this motivation is guaranteed.

14) A person needs satisfying relationships. All of us, who are actively (or passively) in search of opportunities to satisfy our own ego, also receive the satisfaction we need in pleasant relationships with people around us. For example, to bring pleasure to our neighbor (or even a stranger for highly gifted individuals), we will need resources, namely tools, materials, and technology (such as special gift wrapping), to initiate or maintain such a relationship.

15) A person strives for an identifying role. What clearly actualizes one’s own existence for an individual is the social role that identifies him. Anything that can emphasize or primarily highlight an individual life position will always be in demand. Wardrobe items are no exception. Most clothing brands have a fairly narrow focus on certain “bearers” of individual roles. Thus, to satisfy this motive, the positioning of our clothing store and the assortment we offer must correspond to the dominant identification in our consumer segment.

16) A person needs a role model. Historically, people who quickly imitated the (successful) behavior of other, more successful individuals, leaders, or authorities always reaped significant benefits from doing so. This explains the fact that many consumers take their clothing style cues from, for example, show business stars. To satisfy this motive, we must accompany our product range with popular social models (or any other confirmation of a social nature). In this way, we will be able to convince you of the validity of the purchasing solution we recommend.

Not all of the above motives are relevant for every person, and very rarely do they manifest themselves with the same intensity. The presence and intensity of consumer motivations depend primarily on the individual's past experiences, the current situation, and the effectiveness of surrounding stimulants or stimuli. One thing seems clear - by satisfying as many consumer motivations as possible, we create highly sought-after comfort for our visitors. It is indisputable that consumer behavior from which a person derives comfort will not only be repeated, but also spread contagiously.

Meta-goals according to Bettman. The concept of consumer meta-goals implies a certain finality that people are looking for when making their purchases. According to there are four such meta-goals:

1. Ensure maximum accuracy in the purchasing decision;

2. Minimize the cognitive load during the decision process;

3. Avoid negative emotions when making a decision;

4. Justify the decision made with maximum ease.

From the list above, it is clear that just showing a range of clothes is not enough to convince a visitor to make a purchase, and he will need targeted support in achieving his own subconscious goals (meta-goals).

1) Accuracy of solution. Our visitor requires such information from which he could gain confidence in the competent expediency of his purchase. It should be borne in mind that for many potential buyers the emotional component in information processing dominates.

3) Negative emotions. Any purchasing decision involves an exchange, or rather, the loss of one resource and the gain of another. Negative emotions from loss, however, are not always fully compensated by positive emotions from acquisition. In such situations, one can often encounter motivational conflicts, the essence of which can be divided into three categories:

i. A choice between two equally attractive alternatives. Such a conflict arises when a customer is faced with a dilemma where she likes two dresses but only needs (or budgets for) one. The seller can solve this dilemma, for example, by selling the second dress in installments (or with a personal incentive discount).

ii. Selecting an alternative with both attractive and harmful properties. Such a motivational conflict arises when, for example, a certain type of clothing is aesthetically attractive, but impedes blood circulation or mobility of certain parts of the body. The seller can try to smooth out this conflict by emphasizing the positive aspect and downplaying the negative.

iii. Forced choice of alternative in the absence of attractive properties. This conflict arises when, for example, a buyer is forced to purchase an (uncomfortable) warm headdress for a harsh winter, which (precisely) degrades an extremely “fragile” hairstyle. The seller can try to solve this problem by convincing him on an emotional level.

4) Justification for purchase. A person is bound (hand and foot) by various social norms of behavior in society. Any of his decisions, including his purchasing decision, implies the presence of a justification acceptable to society. Questions like: “How acceptable is this style in my environment? Is it wise to buy at such an expensive price? Wouldn’t it be a shame to wear discounted clothes from the season before last?” – are extremely relevant for many consumers. The seller needs to have a few “reasonable” justifications for such a confrontation between the established culture and the desired utilitarianism.

Previously, when considering the explicit needs of visitors, we analyzed the features of attribute choice, in which the buyer's intention was to intellectually approach the issue of determining the best option for his clothes. Next, we will reveal the features of the other two components of the consumer choice process, affective And positional.

Affective choice. A person's choice that is based primarily (or exclusively) on an idea of ​​how he will behave feel in one or another attire, indicates affective component of the consumer choice process. The visitor's imagination of this feeling occurs almost instantly, and the consumer's assessment is based solely on assumption.

Perhaps fortunately (for the seller), the affective component dominates the choice of clothing. Regarding the structure of consumption motives, affective choice is activated primarily by the desire to achieve what can be, rather than to preserve what is. Regarding the function of motives, stimulation of feelings occurs more often when a consumer function (one that rewards consumption) is used, as opposed to an instrumental one (which contributes to the achievement of a subsequent goal). .

Positional selection. When, during a choice, a person uses his own belief system, consisting of established personal relationships, heuristics (practical expertise), or vivid impressions, he activates positional component of the consumer choice process. When activating a positional component, there is virtually no attribute selection (which usually requires a more intelligent approach). Most often, positional choice is implemented when there is a lack of time, or when collecting relevant information is not possible.

The seller's extraction of advantages from the positional component involves preliminary influence on the formation and subsequent support of consumer experience that positively registers the store in the individual subconscious.

It is obvious that many consumer preferences are not realized by people directly on the spot and at the time of making a purchasing decision. However, visitors feel a lack of comfort associated with this, which actually leads them to doubt and postpone the purchase decision to a later date. By making up for the missing level of comfort by activating positive emotions, not even necessarily directly related to the “business,” we thus have the opportunity to overcome existing consumer doubts and stimulate purchasing decisions in our favor.

Factors influencing purchases in a clothing store

“Appetite is between the teeth.” Folk saying

People visiting a clothing store usually have well-formed needs and the intention to satisfy them. However, having specific needs and intentions does not always lead to the same results due to the presence of several factors influencing the purchasing process. These factors are determined market, consumer, situational characteristics, and are recorded solely through the subjective perception of store visitors.

Market characteristics. Market characteristics perceived as influential factors in purchasing behavior include:

The number of alternatives in the clothing category under consideration. A large set of equivalent alternatives requires a longer study of the proposed options. If this research seems tedious, then the visitor is more likely to postpone his purchase to a later date or even indefinitely. However, if most of the alternatives are present in one place, and the store atmosphere favors a long stay of visitors, then the likelihood of making a purchase increases accordingly. Another compensatory solution to this factor may be to reduce the assortment to a minimum level, but nevertheless allowing for the full fulfillment of a specific need.

Price range for the corresponding product category. The wider the perceived price range in the product category under consideration, the more likely the consumer is to seek, calculate and compare the maximum consumer value of products.

Number and distance to other stores selling clothing. The greater the number and the shorter the distance between similar clothing stores, the greater the likelihood of in-depth information search. In the absence of sufficiently visible competitive advantages, the seller will benefit from a product differentiation strategy combined with a low price guarantee.

Presence and features of information influencing the purchasing decision, including such sources as advertising, websites, authoritative opinions, store personnel, presentation structures. High quality and quantitative characteristics communication and information impact on the consumer are responsible for the characteristics of his individual attitude and propensity to purchase a product. In this regard, the entrepreneur (who constantly monitors the pulse of market trends) can resort to strategies for generalizing or differentiating his own positioning in relation to the actually dominant concepts of consumption.

Characteristics of the target audience. The characteristics of our potential customers influence their perception of the benefits they expect from a purchase and their awareness of the need to seek alternatives. The following characteristics have a special impact:

Individual level of knowledge and practical experience. It is important to note.

Purchasing orientation. Consumers form and generalize their own approaches or patterns for making purchasing decisions, which in turn determines their purchasing orientation.

Social status. Features of the assortment, acceptable price threshold, location, quality of service and atmosphere of the store must correspond to the level perceived as belonging to the social status of the target audience.

Age and marital status. Pronounced demographic characteristics, age and marital status, form requirements regarding such parameters as a tendency towards independent individuality or dependent affiliation, uncontrollable impulsiveness or prolonged waiting, frivolous daydreaming or responsibility for purchasing consequences.

Level of passion for clothing. High level involvement in the process of forming, maintaining or updating a personal wardrobe leads to a more extensive and intensive information search during the purchase process.

Perceived risk. Uncertainty about the validity of operational characteristics, including their symbolic and instrumental functions, entails the perception of a higher level of risk. The risk can be unpleasantly high:

Social value. For example, a purchased suit may not have the desired effect on others.

Financial value. A suit that is not spectacular enough is extremely expensive.

Time value. Receiving a refund or exchange of a suit will take a long time.

Cost of effort. Correcting the mistake of an ineffective suit will require “scarce” efforts.

Physical cost. Failure with the suit will “take away” part of your life.

Buying for yourself or others. Unlike buying clothes for yourself, buying (a gift of) clothes for someone else involves more of an attribute choice, in which the intellectual component dominates. Also, such a purchase is accompanied by a more in-depth information search.

Store atmosphere. A pleasant atmosphere in a store, including its physical and social dimensions, not only keeps the visitor in the store, but also fills possible emotional gaps in the process of assessing the usefulness of the proposed purchase.

Fatigue level. A high level of visitor fatigue negatively affects his ability to form positive images of the proposed purchase of a new set of clothes. Also, the negative effect is expressed in the inability to consider a larger number of acceptable alternatives.

Having a clear understanding of the sources, properties and level of influence of factors present in the purchasing process, the seller has the opportunity to identify the necessary areas in which his resource expenditures will bring the maximum return. An entrepreneur should also pay special attention to assortment positioning and its compliance with both conscious and subconscious requirements of the target audience.

Conclusion

“Without agricultural sciences, a collective farmer is without hands.” Folk saying

Due to the huge selection provided by clothing sellers today, a heavy burden has fallen on the shoulders of the buyer, measured by the weight of potential errors when purchasing a suboptimal product. Demonstration of clear advantages in the attribute characteristics of a product is often insufficient to fully satisfy the buyer, and can even be ignored due to its cognitive complexity. At the same time, the insufficiently controlled emotional component of consumer choice, usually hidden under the veneer of obvious needs, can serve as a source of doubt and cause many purchasing decisions to be postponed indefinitely. To avoid a negative consumer reaction, an entrepreneur should use techniques to positively influence both the intellectual assessment and the emotional level of the visitor. Next, it is necessary to take into account all the factors present that influence the purchasing process and calculate compensation measures that eliminate possible negative effects.

To summarize, a universal technique that satisfies many needs can be formulated in one sentence: no barriers will stop a person from purchasing a product that, through the efforts of the seller, he encountered in a place where he “fell in love” with himself again.

Marina writes. Good afternoon, Alexander. I have a small women's clothing store in Ashgabat. Temptations with discounts are no longer valid, maybe you can offer me something. Thanks in advance.

I asked Marina to answer these questions:

1. Who is the store intended for, who is your target audience?

A) women of such and such age

B) having presumably such and such income

B) leading an active lifestyle or housewives

1. Where is your store located?
2. Are there any competitors nearby and do you have the same products?
3. Do you think there is any difference between your store and competitors or vice versa?
4. Were any methods or measures used to attract customers, if so, which ones specifically?
5. What results were achieved (preferably using each method)?
6. Do you maintain a client base?
7. Are you the owner of your own store, and do you have a salesperson?
8. How often is the store's assortment updated?
9. What exactly do you want to get from my consultation?

And I received these answers:

Alexander, I answer your questions.

1. My main client is a girl no older than 35, of average income, and has both sports and classic clothes.

2. The store is located in a clothing market, where competitors are surrounded on all sides.

3. Products are sometimes the same.

4. The product is updated a couple of times per season.

5. I used an enticement with discounts, but often people think that if it’s cheaper it means it’s of poor quality.

6. I work in the store myself, that is, I am the owner.

7. From the consultation I expect ideas for attracting customers to my store, accordingly, increasing profits

Let's get started, I guess. So, what can we do to promote and prosper your small women's clothing store?

Last Saturday, November 6, I went to the clothing market, at the old fair, which people simply call “Houses”.

When I walked along the aisles and went into one tent and then into another, it seemed to me that I was entering and leaving the same store, only the sellers were changing. It felt like when I left one tent, things were quickly taken out of there and hung in another tent, which I entered. The assortment of clothes was absolutely the same.

I automatically remembered Marina’s question about promoting women’s clothing, and I thought if Marina worked here, then how could anyone promote something under such conditions (then I had not yet received Marina’s answers to my questions regarding her store, but as it turned out she works exactly in such conditions)? The same product, the same tents and almost the same prices!

What can be done in such conditions? Let's figure it out.

Let’s imagine that potential customers have already come to the market and are now thinking about which stall to go to. Here you need to ensure that customers choose your store. How, you ask, since they have the shops of their competing neighbors right under their noses? Most likely they will go where it is closer! Yes, they will come in if they see a row of identical, inconspicuous tents.

Therefore, first of all, you need to differentiate yourself from your competing neighbors . What does it mean? This means that it is very important for the store appearance and this fact is true even for a tent at a clothing market! First of all, to stand out from your neighbors you need to work on the design of the store inside and, which is very important, outside, as well as interior lighting. The client may still leave without buying anything from you or your neighbors, so let him at least come to you first. For example, you can make a tent something like a boutique, but exactly similar, and not imitative. Or you can make a gallery inside the tent from the most popular clothes or maybe even from piquant clothes (if you have any), there are no limits to your imagination.

And the most important thing you should know is that there is no place for embarrassment, there is no place for questions “what will they think of you”, there is only business here. Clients, like moths at night, will come to you if you are at least somewhat different from your faceless neighbors!

Give your store a name! Imagine what if you didn't have a name? What would be your name among similar girls - Hey girl, in the left row, third on the right side, can I ask you? Of course, this is no good, and none of the customers will remember in which store she bought this cute blouse. At most she will say - somewhere there, in the left rows, there is a blonde saleswoman!

Even the pieces of wood used to light a gas or make a fire have a name, so why not give your store a name? Here it is important not to overdo it and not choose some Bertolucci, Tonnel, and God forbid from Prada or Versace or some other famous brands.

For example, your name comes from the Latin word “marinus,” which means sea. Think and play with wordsMarea- sea , Marina’ s- maritime , Think, If you try, you can find good options. The main thing is that the name of the store is easy to remember.

We create a Unique Selling Proposition. USP.

What is a Unique Selling Proposition? This is some kind of difference between your business or product and your competitors, and the difference is attractive to the target audience. This may not necessarily be a different range of products, since competitors can easily repeat it, but something that they don’t have is either difficult to repeat, or they don’t know about it, but customers need it and that’s why they buy from you.

USP. Custom clothing

This may be an additional service. Which? For example, the product is updated a couple of times per season, right? Surely, where you purchase goods, there are some kind of clothing catalogs, bring them with you and inform your customers that you are now bringing clothes to order. Thus, your clients will become the owners of fashionable things that no one in Ashgabat or even Turkmenistan has, and is unlikely to appear in the near future.

Service development for you personally "Products to order" will be a huge benefit:

1. You know in advance what goods you will bring, that is, you plan your budget in advance
2. You will not have an overstock of the ordered goods, but even if for some reason the customer did not buy the goods, then selling it will not be difficult - no one has that!
3. You can charge a higher price for the ordered product and make a larger profit
4. You have created your USP, which means clients have more reasons to contact you

Picture the picture:

Two friends are talking.

Listen, let's go to the "houses", I need to look for some blouses

There’s nothing new there, everyone has the same thing!

No, there is one shop there, it’s so cute “ Marea " is called. There, the owner Marina brings things to order from the catalogue, there is always something new. Listen! I saw some cool jeans there, just the ones you wanted, let’s go and have a look and see if you order anything.

Another type of USP. We are increasing our sales area - opening an online store.

Yes, of course, creating and running an online store seems a little expensive, but not so much as to give up the benefits it provides:

1. You can sell your product 24 hours 7 days a week
2. Together with the “Goods to Order” service, you can inform many more customers and accept many more orders for the delivery of goods. Perhaps an online store and custom goods will become your main profitable business
3. You can run various promotions in your online store to attract customers to your real store.
4. You can inform your customers that the same products are available in your online store at discounted prices, that they can place an order without leaving home and it will be delivered within an hour.

The most powerful USP! Give us a GUARANTEE! No matter how many stores you create and no matter how many orders you accept, nothing attracts customers as much as collateral guarantees. Create conditions for returning goods if a defect is detected or for some other reason. Declare loudly that you will return the money if...

In America, one famous pizza supplier started his business by saying: “We will deliver your pizza in thirty minutes, if more, pick it up for free!” Who do you think half of the multimillion-dollar New Yorkers ordered pizza from?

Likewise, you will find something that you can guarantee or get your money back! And this USP will be honey for your customers, who, like bees, will come to you one after another.

WAYS TO PROMOTE THE PRODUCT

It's an advertisement for itself. Make it a habit to dress in what you sell, at least for the time you are standing behind the counter. Try to choose things that suit you, fit perfectly and flatter your figure. It would be good to use suitable jewelry to enhance the effect of perception. Become a model! Clients should see how beautiful you look, they will mentally try on your clothes and associate you with themselves. In other words, they will want to look as good as you!

An additional advantage will be that you will know your product not only by color, size and name, but also how it sits on the body, how convenient and comfortable it is. You can tell your clients all this by showing it to yourself. The client trusts the one who uses what he offers. To confirm my words, imagine the situation I saw there at the market, when a woman well over 35 offers a young girl jeans with the words: “Here, look at these good jeans, comfortable, stretch.” I doubt that a 27 year old girl will trust her.

Agree with other entrepreneurs who have the same target audience as you about cross-promotion. Let them distribute your business cards or booklets to their clients, or better yet, both, where promotions with discounts, gift certificates, or information about the possibility of purchasing goods to order will be indicated. It should also include the store address, telephone number and, if there is an online store address. By agreement, you can also distribute advertising products of those businesses with which you agree.

For example, a client looks at the product you are wearing, she likes it, but still she doubts whether to buy it or not, and you break her doubts with the offer: “By purchasing products from us, you will receive a gift coupon with a discount of ?? percent for the provision of services in such and such a beauty salon.” The client buys a product from you, and also receives a discount in the beauty salon for this, isn’t it bad?

What businesses can work with your target audience? I can name four main ones - these are beauty salons (or the salon masters themselves), perfume stores, jewelry stores, fitness clubs, but if you dig, you can find more.

Instead of an epilogue.This is the first part of the article “How to promote a product on the clothing market,” but if you start to apply the promotion methods described here, you can already achieve successful results in your business.

In the second part we will look at questions such as:

• Client base. What is it and why is it needed?
  
• How to have a constant profit from your customer base?
  
• Promotion methods: Touching the client.
  
• Promotion methods: Closed sales.

I look forward to your comments.

Write to me. Suggest your ideas. Share your experience. Ask questions. Tell us about yourself and your business. Write!

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