Online Clothing Business And Its Inventory Are Affected by These 5 Factors

Having an online clothing business is now a must for every fashion entrepreneur. With the world being a global village, most people go online to search for items they need and you don’t want to risk not having them see you. The best way to be easily visible and have a wider reach with your clothing store is to take it online.

This week, we reviewed a video by Desola of Daisy’s Wardrobe on how much inventory you need to start an online clothing business. In it, she shares factors that you, as a fashion entrepreneur, need to consider to decide how much inventory you need to start an online clothing business. The video aims to help fashion entrepreneurs to decide how much inventory they need to successfully start an online clothing business.

This video review will cover;

• useful points fashion designers can learn from,
• the relevance of the information provided to fashion designers,
• important points missed out.

Online Clothing Business Review: Useful Points

Not being sure of how much inventory you will need to start your online clothing store might have been a hindrance to you so far. Although there are no hard and fast rules on how much inventory different fashion entrepreneurs will need, there are factors that can help you decide the right volume to start with. We will explore them shortly.

Factors To Consider When Starting an Online Clothing Business

1. Type of clothing product you sell

Every fashion entrepreneur has a product they sell. Before you start your online clothing store, you need to consider the type of product you sell. The amount of inventory a t-shirt seller will stock will differ from the amount an ankara dresses store will stock. This is because t-shirts are more readily available in the market than ready-to-wear outfits.

2. The existing audience for your online clothing business

While some fashion entrepreneurs want to launch into the fashion space for the first time with an online store, others already have a business and an existing audience. Whichever category you fall into determines largely how much inventory you can keep.

If you already have an existing audience on social media or other places and you want to introduce them to your online business, you have probably already been in business for a while. This means that you need a lot more inventory than someone that is just starting. So, the size of your audience and their preferences should guide how much inventory you stock.

For example, if you are starting an online ready-to-wear clothing line that will involve cutting and sewing, you have to think of your target market. You need to understand who they are and what types of clothing they are after. This then boils down to the niche you are after.

3. The Sales Forecast for your online clothing business

Even if you already have an existing audience, you do not want to have too much inventory. Since you cannot forecast how sales will be, you don’t want to end up with too much inventory at any given time. Start with a few products and as you see how sales go, you can gradually increase your inventory.

On the flip side, if you are selling clothes that aren’t cut-and-sew like t-shirts, you will need more inventory than someone who does ready-to-wear. Since your products are easily available, it will be advisable to have more products than someone who is selling ready-to-wear.

After you have done your online business for a while, you can then know which are your best products and which are your not-so-good sellers. This will lead you to know which products to increase stock on and which to reduce or keep as is. It is not advisable to have high stock on all your inventory. Your inventory number is heavily dependent on the number of sales you make on your website in a timeframe.

Important Points Missed Out

4. The budget for your online clothing store

Before even launching into the online fashion space, you need to have a budget. Alongside a budget, you also need a way to track your spending. You can do these using apps or the conventional way by creating a spreadsheet that includes the cost of each product, the styles they come in and how well each item sells normally.

This will help you determine what you can afford and the amount of profit you will make on each item. Never get too excited that you fail to calculate how much your business can afford to invest in an online store. Also, do your research and find out what your customers like so you know what items to invest the bulk of your budget in.

5. Available Storage Space

Also, before starting an online fashion store, you need to decide where to store your inventory, especially if you do not have a physical space yet. If you cannot fit them all into your home or a rent-free space, you also need to factor in the cost of renting a storage space. You have to also consider expenses like hangers, rolling racks, and whatever else you might need to hit the ground running.

If you have a large existing market already and you are considering stocking clothing items in bulk, you will need a large enough space for them. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the number of items you have that you lose track of your stock so be vigilant.

Check Out: Worried About Leftover Stock? Here Are 7 Ways You Can Manage Them In Your Fashion Business

The Usefulness of the Information to Fashion Designers

This video helps to give fashion entrepreneurs an idea of how much inventory to have at the start of their online clothing store. It provides solid points that might easily have been overlooked otherwise and gives easily practicable steps.

Overall, the information provided in this video proves useful for fashion entrepreneurs looking to start an online clothing store. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily reduce the amount of leftover stock you will have from your online clothing store.