The first Ashgabat marketer is a catalog of articles.

Marina writes. Good afternoon, Alexander. I have a small store women's clothing 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 Temptations with discounts are no longer valid, maybe you can offer me something.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 there 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 another 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 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. State 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 bazaar, 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, which will indicate promotions with discounts, gift certificates, or information about the possibility of purchasing goods to order. 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!

P.S. If you think that this article will be of interest to one of your colleagues or friends and can help him in business, please send him a link to this page.

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 women's clothing store 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 high level 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 in the following 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 commerce 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.

A well-thought-out advertising strategy usually works, but the desired reaction to it does not always occur quickly enough. There is an opinion that “the point needs to be hit”, and temporary losses are quite natural. Nevertheless, there are technologies for “high-speed promotion” of a store within just a few days. There are few techniques, they are all quite effective, but when using them it is important to remember that the more consistently they are carried out, the higher the chance of success. The integrated use of all elements practically guarantees the fame of the store in the microdistrict and partly beyond its borders, even if it is located in a not very “passable” place. What measures do marketing specialists suggest?

"Locomotive goods"

Most often, sales are undertaken when a product that is not very popular is sitting in a warehouse and needs to be “drained”, even accepting losses. Such tactics are justified, but not at the stage of conquering the market. In this case, a so-called offer is vitally needed, that is, a certain product that constitutes the main highlight of the outlet. First of all, you should notify as many potential buyers as possible about its availability for sale. It is advisable that during promotion the offer was as attractive as possible. There is no need to sell a popular product at a loss, but a minimum profit in this short period, in general, is quite acceptable. Lost profits will be returned with interest. In addition, the offer will inevitably pull along with it, like a locomotive (hence the name of the technique), other products for which discounts are not necessary. The main thing is that people will learn about the new store, which means that traffic will increase sharply, and sales will follow.

Friends Kristina Vronskaya and Natalia Frolova managed to promote a brand of clothing and shoes made from natural materials using Instagram. They started in April and now have 20,000 subscribers.

We managed to turn a profit in the first month of work. Now their monthly turnover is 350,000 rubles. The girls are already looking for a way to expand production without losing quality.

Natalia FROLOVA

How it all began

Christina and I have been friends since school. Before we created Almost Antoinette , she worked on the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, and I was a freelance graphic designer and created embroidery designs for shoes of one brand. I liked doing this, the first couple came out, but problems started with the investor, and the project did not take off. I realized that Christina and I could do this on our own.

We immediately decided to make shoes in the style of Marie Antoinette. The famous Queen of France has long been our source of inspiration. We learned a lot about her, if not everything. No one used her image as a brand. We decided to start with embroidery on loafers - this is the closest possible type of shoe to what was actually worn in the time of Marie Antoinette. We weren’t chasing fashion, but we got into the trend: now many fashion houses have released similar collections.

For the concept of the brand, we took this sweet way of life - what everyone really wants. We give people the opportunity to feel the joy of life and allow themselves something pleasant.

First collection

In three days I made the embroidery, Christina began to look for production. It was very difficult to find a factory that would take on our batch with our budget. By some miracle we managed to come to an agreement with “ Workshop 55", and they took on our collection.

Photo our clothes appeared on home page Instagram,
and they immediately subscribed to us several thousand Human

The second difficulty was finding materials. We wanted to make suede loafers in bright candy colors. But she was nowhere to be found. I had to look for a replacement, and this also turned out to be difficult: not every material can be used for shoes. Then we decided to take a risk and try velvet on silk. So we created the only collection of loafers in Russia from this material. It turned out to be successful.

Our starting capital was 80,000 rubles. For this money we made a trial batch of 10 pairs. The loafers came in five colors, sizes - from 35 to 39, we distributed them according to our own feelings. But this played a cruel joke on us. We made soft turquoise ones, for example, in small sizes, but girls with foot size 39 were mainly interested in them.

Initially, we wanted to make shoes inexpensive, 3,000-4,000 per pair, but it turned out that this was impossible. One pair costs 9,700 rubles. But this did not frighten buyers: many are suspicious of cheap things, they prefer to pay the full amount for quality or buy at a discount, but do not take something that is initially cheap.

First buyers

As soon as we received the loafers, we did a photo shoot and created a profile on Instagram and other social networks. Then we developed a promotion plan.

We were lucky: we knew our audience by sight. In Moscow, everyone knows each other, but the fashion crowd is basically small. We knew many of them and knew what they liked, what was fashionable now, who they were friends with, what places they visited, what music they listened to, what lifestyle appealed to them and how they wanted to dress. We didn't have to do any monitoring or research, it's just personal experience.

We currently have 20,000 followers on Instagram. One day our photo appeared on the main page of the service, and several thousand people subscribed to us at once. In general, the market received us cordially: the first 10 couples went their separate ways in less than a month. Then it went even faster: a batch of our winter sheepskin loafers sold out in less than a week. We had about 200 customers throughout the entire period, and 20 of them were regulars. We know everyone by sight and remember them. Now our monthly turnover is 350,000 rubles.

Second collection

Initially, we focused on shoes, and created several clothing models specifically for the photo shoot. It immediately became clear that our customers were no less interested in clothes than in shoes. Then we developed a mini-collection and hired two seamstresses. By the way, it is very difficult to find a good seamstress on the market, and ours can no longer cope with the volume. But there is no other way out: you need to look for your own professional. There is no point in going to a studio: the item there will cost at least 4,000-5,000 rubles, not counting fabrics and accessories. We develop patterns ourselves and cut according to them. We only need a seamstress. Now our collections include dresses, skirts, coats, shorts, jackets, backpacks and other accessories.

Going offline

Fairs for young designers have greatly expanded our audience. Selling live is much easier and faster than online. These fairs made us understand that they really liked us, that the project was working and had every chance of success. Moreover, there are almost no shoes at such fairs. Renting a place usually costs from 8,000 to 16,000 rubles for two weekends.

We exhibit one model of each item, and it is beneficial for us that they do not buy it immediately, but make a pre-order. We guarantee to sew the model within a week a little cheaper than we sell it at the fair. This allows us to keep all models in stock throughout the day. Of course, there are those who want to buy here and now. For example, we had one yellow coat made of the most delicate cashmere, our bestseller, and the girl fell in love with it so much that she did not want to wait. She wasn’t bothered by the price difference; she wanted to wear it here and now. It seems to me that this is the whole essence of a beautiful woman - she is impatient and amorous.

We were delighted when representatives of Sunday Up Market contacted us; this is already a real success.

Plans

In the near future we plan to launch a website and open our own space. Although we cooperate with several Moscow showrooms, the idea of ​​​​creating our own small charming boutique does not leave us.

We are going to expand production to cover the entire volume of orders. Before this, we need to structure and optimize the production process. Let's take one more person to the team or even several. There are so many things I want to do, I have ideas, but I don’t have enough time and hands. For example, we really want to try to make fur coats and sheepskin coats, but this is a separate topic, we need to thoroughly prepare for this. The collection of home clothes also seems very appropriate to us.

But the fact that we will expand shoe production does not mean that we will put it on stream: exclusivity will remain part of our concept.