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Top Social Trends for Small Boutiques

If there are top social trends for those who own small boutiques to know about, they would have to include the two following items:

• Retailers are now focusing on virtual and wholesale buying.
• Social Media is about brand awareness and store identity rather than sales.

In regards to that first issue, wholesale clothing has usually been sold in a few ways, primarily through trade shows and then via specific brand manufacturers. Because there is a growing trend in wholesale boutique apparel, the budgets for attendance at multiple trade shows each season have fallen off or disappeared altogether. The wholesale clothing industry recognizes this and is now offering larger and more comprehensive shows, as well as remote purchasing options through online showrooms and marketplaces. This enables buyers to find wholesale boutique apparel in addition to the broader "ready to wear" lines.

The Social Media of Fashion

With fashion and wholesale clothing becoming a fixture in the online world, it can seem daunting to a boutique owner to reach their target audience. After all, if buyers can go online, find fashions they like on their own, and then use a distributor's website to find their local sellers, it can quickly cut the boutique out of the loop.

This is why social media has become much more about brand awareness and your store's particular identity. Rather than flooding your Facebook audience's walls with offers of special deals or promotional options, it is far wiser to show off your ability to be a fashion forecaster, champion stylist, and leading provider of contemporary looks.

How? Rather than promoting sales, promote fashion. Use the visual component of your social media platforms to show off your upcoming product lines, but not in a sales-oriented way. In fact, by putting together some looks and asking for feedback, you can begin to really hone your store's identity and discover brands that your buyers want and may pursue elsewhere unless you offer them.

As a prime example of this, you might show some of the wholesale boutique apparel you have coming for the upcoming season, and then provide your audience with a chance to identify the brand of shoes or the type of jewelry they would pair with the look. You might even make a contest out of it by opening one board on Pinterest.

As a boutique owner, you rely on wholesale clothing to shape your image, but you don't emphasize one brand. Instead, it is your vision that is the brand. Using your social media options to develop brand awareness is the smartest and most effective method of benefiting from this modern marketing channel.

Should You Sell Via Social Media?

Another trend to consider with your wholesale boutique apparel business is the use of mobile commerce. While you don't want to use social media as a sales platform, you can allow your audience to purchase through some of these channels. Again, Pinterest is a great one for allowing sales, but you can also use other social media like Twitter or Facebook to use imagery as a means to sales.

Provide links to landing pages at your website and you should be able to easily promote sales without making your messages all about the sales.

Do keep in mind that one of the biggest mistakes that many boutique owners make with their social media is to ignore the "two-way" nature of communication. In other words, if you put information about the wholesale clothing you are soon to make available on a social media site, get loads of comments and feedback, but remain silent, you are making a huge mistake.

Social media is just that - social. You need to be responsive to everything and anything that is said to you on these platforms. However, they are always incredibly helpful to boutique owners simply because they each allow you to learn more about your buyers and really get to know their tastes and wishes.

Source

RetaileMinded.com. 5 Boutique Retail Trends for 2013. https://retailminded.com/5-boutique-trends-2013/

Top Tips for Marketing Your Boutique

Are you someone who recently started a boutique? If so, you already know that a lot of wholesale clothing suppliers don't really meet your needs. After all, many of them work with larger wholesale manufacturers and distributors, and don't really touch on the trendy and affordable fashions you want to sell. Fortunately, there are wholesale boutique apparel vendors like KatydidWholesale.com who can provide you with the looks you want.

Naturally, any wholesale clothing you find may be wrong for your boutique unless you already have a very clear vision or style sense for the shop. This is a huge issue and it is one that a lot of people in search of wholesale boutique apparel fail to recognize.

Just consider that your boutique is going to have to be looking around 18 months into the future. You are not just a boutique owner, but someone who has to present themselves as an effective fashion forecaster, and one with an eye for haute couture or boutique looks rather than the broader "ready to wear" styles.

Why should this matter? When you are shopping for wholesale clothing, you have to know that you are making arrangements to purchase lines and products that are in sync with your boutique's existing image. This ensures that any audience you already have will buy the looks you choose, and that your clientele will continue to expand as you show off your ability to recognize the hottest wholesale boutique apparel looks from the more average styles.

Get Started in Marketing

Now, once you have your style sense very clear and you are defining your shop's brand or image, you need to be sure you are also speaking to your audience wherever it is they are found. For example, many marketing experts talk about market segments, and that a, "Narrow target market is the key to success for clothing boutiques, whether they operate locally or online."(Chronicle.com)

This would mean marketing to your clients based on the demographic information that applies to them. Their ages, income level, geographic locations, interests, social life, and any other factors that you feel define their fashion choices. Only when you are clear on these issues can you choose wholesale clothing that will appeal to them, and then market it to them across platforms where you know they will be found. After all, fashion is a very personal matter and your choices won't always appeal to everyone.

For example, if you purchase wholesale boutique apparel for your shop in Miami, and your audience is made up of a lot of women over the age of 40, your marketing has to focus on media and locations you know they will discover your information. Don't overlook social media in addition to standard advertising - especially sites like Instagram and Pinterest that are image-based and perfect for the wholesale clothing seller.

Remember too that you will need to design a website and any promotional programs that speak directly to your market. This is no time to cut corners as the one tool your potential shoppers will use to find you is the Internet - so be sure you represent yourself accordingly.

Fortunately for you, as someone who is marketing wholesale boutique apparel you have a great deal of lead time prior to each season. You will have attended trade shows, made orders with wholesale clothing manufacturers and distributors, and found local resources months ahead of time. This allows you to develop your catalog descriptions, social media blasts, and even to do some styling and photo shoots with some of the products "coming soon".

All of these elements will greatly enhance your basic website or advertising schemes, and your patrons will quickly spread the word via these electronic marketing messages. Soon, your wholesale boutique apparel will catch the eye of more than just the initial target audience and your boutique will be a success.

Source

Chron.com. Marketing Plan for a Clothing Boutique. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/marketing-plan-clothing-boutique-11986.html

Welcome to KatydidWholesale.com - Your One Stop Shop for Women's Wholesale Clothing

We are so excited to announce and launch KatydidWholesale.com - your one stop shop for trendy wholesale women's clothing and accessories.  Established in 2004, our first online wholesale distributor was Shopforbags.com which helped build the company to a multi million dollar fashion brand in the Dallas Design District.  In 2015 we decided to launch a separate wholesale division, KatydidWholesale.com to help the company continue to grow and better serve our customers.

We hope you enjoy the new website developed specifically for our wonderful customers and their stores.