How To Start An Online Boutique

Modern commerce solutions like shopping cart software and online loans make it easier than ever to set up, fund, and operate an online boutique. However, online retail is a highly competitive space with many different brands selling similar products (or, in the case of dropshipping, often identical products).

If you’re a budding online retailer, it’s essential that you create a quality store by going through all the necessary steps to ensure you have found an unsaturated niche, reliable suppliers, and a winning marketing strategy.

Step 1: Decide What Your Online Boutique Sells

Before you can start bringing in money, you must first decide exactly what your boutique will sell. In other words, you need to find your niche. This decision should be based on market research of what potential customers are actually interested in and not just your own personal preferences.

Going overboard and carrying a little something for everyone may be tempting. However, especially in the early stages of starting an online boutique, it’s wise to start small and hone in on one particular area. If you focus on designer clothes, plan to carry only women’s or children’s clothing. Or maybe you want your boutique to feature custom jewelry and accessories. In that case, don’t muddy the waters with random sweaters and leggings.

Narrow Down Your Boutique Niche

Once you’ve got a broad overview of the customers you want to attract, it’s time to narrow down your niche further. For instance, do you want to offer affordable yet trendy styles for the 13-18 crowd, or would you rather sell high-end, classic pieces for professional women? Remember, you want to start small. Again, determining your niche should only come after careful consideration and market research.

Deciding what to sell will not only help you determine what inventory to keep on hand and what products to promote, but it will also help you determine your branding strategy, from the colors you use on your website to the design of your logo.

Step 2: Create A Business Plan

Whether you operate a traditional retail store or an online boutique, all businesses need a good business plan. Think of a business plan as a map for your business, outlining your goals and the steps you’ll take to reach those goals. A solid business plan is critical for new businesses seeking financing from investors or traditional lenders like banks and credit unions.

Your online boutique business plan should include:

• Executive Summary: A brief, 1,000-foot view of your business plan and what’s in it.
• Company Description: As you might have guessed, a short description of your company and what it does.
• Market Overview: Information about the industry you’re entering and competitive analysis.
• Sales & Marketing Strategy: How you plan on making money.
• Operating Plan: Your org structure, facilities and equipment needed, staff required, and how your day-to-day operations will look.
• Organization & Management Team: How will management be structured, and what will your management team bring to the table?
• Financials: An estimate of your starting and operating costs.

Step 3: Source Your Online Boutique Inventory

With your niche selected and your business plan in place, you’re getting closer to opening your boutique. However, before you launch your website and begin to make sales, you have to find out how to get inventory for your online store. There are a few ways to source inventory.

Sourcing From A Wholesaler

Through a wholesaler, you can purchase items in bulk at a reduced rate. Typically, the more you purchase, the more you save. Wholesale suppliers can easily be found in the U.S. and overseas with a quick online search.

One of the biggest benefits of purchasing from a wholesaler is that you will have more control over shipping your products to customers. You’ll be able to control how products are shipped, as well as the packaging that your customers receive. This offers a better opportunity for branding your business.

However, purchasing your inventory through a wholesaler also has its drawbacks. This option may be more expensive based on minimum purchasing requirements. Packaging and shipping your own items could add to your expenses. You may also incur additional overhead costs for the storage of your inventory.

Dropshipping Your Online Boutique Products

With dropshipping, a third-party supplier fulfills the orders of your customers. Your customer places an order, the order is manually or automatically sent to your supplier, and the supplier is responsible for packing and shipping the order to your customer.

There are a few drawbacks associated with dropshipping. The supplier or manufacturer handles packaging and shipping, so you won’t be able to personalize the packaging and branding of your shipped orders. You may also encounter some issues with inventory. If you house your inventory, you can better account for what’s in stock. A miscommunication with your dropshipping supplier could result in canceled orders or backorders, leading to unsatisfied customers.

Also, you have to consider that if something goes wrong, you are ultimately the face of your brand, and you will be liable. If the wrong item is sent or there’s another issue with an order, this reflects poorly on you, even if it’s the supplier’s fault.

Sourcing Inventory: Best Practices

No matter what route you take, it’s important to properly vet any supplier you’re using for your boutique. Request samples to check out the quality of products, find out if you’ll have a dedicated contact to reach when there is a problem, and work with reputable businesses with a history of success in their industry.

Step 4: Register Your Business

Before you start peddling boutique items, you’ll need to register your business. For an online boutique, the process isn’t too difficult.

Step 5: Choose An eCommerce Platform

To boost your odds of running a successful online boutique, it’s important to choose the right eCommerce platform. Your shopping cart software serves as a storefront for your customers while also providing you with the back-end tools you need to keep your business operating smoothly.

SaaS Platforms

Most entrepreneurs opt for a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. The main benefit of a SaaS platform is that you don’t have to download, host, or install anything on your own server. Instead, you pay a monthly subscription fee that covers hosting and software updates.

eCommerce Platforms

There are multiple eCommerce platforms to choose from, and you can narrow down your choices by considering what factors are most important to you, such as pricing, add-ons and features, ease of use, and design options. Popular options include Shopify or an online store with Square Online.

Step 6: Choose A Payment & Shopping Cart Solution

Before launching your online boutique, you need to set up your payment processor to allow customers to pay for the products in their online shopping carts. Many eCommerce platforms come equipped with tools for shipping and payments, including shipping calculators, built-in payment processors, and dropship integration.

Step 7: Build Your Online Boutique Website

What do you think when you walk into a brick-and-mortar store that’s cluttered and disorganized? Does it make you want to spend hours shopping there, or do you immediately run for the door? The same principle applies to your online boutique. No customer wants to browse a website that’s a complete mess. Here’s what to keep in mind when building your online boutique.

Choose The Right Website Builder Solution

The good news is you don’t have to be an experienced web designer to get a professional-looking website. There are plenty of great startup website builders available online.  You can even set up your store in just minutes with your eCommerce software.

Platforms like Shopify have tools that make it easy for anyone to build their online store, even if they have no design experience. With SaaS platforms, you can take advantage of features including drag-and-drop interfaces, mobile optimization, color and font customization, and your choice of store theme.

Best Practices For Creating A Website

When building your website, keep in mind your branding and your audience. You want your website to reflect the type of items you sell in your boutique. If you cater to the professional male, a pink floral theme will completely miss the mark.

Step 8: Establish Shipping Logistics

Before you unveil your online boutique, another critical step is to determine how you’ll ship your orders. Will you offer only domestic shipping, or will you ship internationally? Do you plan to offer a flat rate, or will you charge by weight? Will customers be able to choose from several shipping options (such as next day), or will you offer just one option? Look into costs, explore your options, and make your decision before taking on your first customer order.

And also, look into which is better for small businesses: UPS vs. FedEx vs. USPS.

Step 9: Advertise Your Store

Though this isn’t technically part of creating the actual online store itself, once your store is live, you will definitely need to advertise it. This is especially important if you don’t already have an established brand—for example, if you’re starting a new dropshipping company. Ideally, you will have fleshed out an advertising/marketing strategy in your business plan and set aside funds for an ad budget as well.

Most new retail businesses will advertise their new online store via a mix of social media marketing and email marketing solutions such as Square Marketing. Paid ads on search engines may be outside of the budget of most retail startups, but Instagram and Facebook ads are relatively affordable and easy to get started with.

How To Start An Online Boutique With No Money

Starting an online boutique is more cost-effective than opening a brick-and-mortar store, but it doesn’t come without its costs. Sure, you don’t have to lease commercial space or purchase a point-of-sale system, but your business will have startup and operational costs, including web hosting, online advertising, inventory costs, and more.

Unfortunately, as a new online business, you’re going to run into some obstacles when it comes to loans and other financial products. Traditional financing routes like bank loans will be unavailable to you because of time in business and annual revenue requirements. This doesn’t mean you’re stuck funding everything out-of-pocket, though. If you’re wondering how to start an online boutique with no money or how to access additional funds for your business, keep reading!

Funding Sources For Your Online Boutique

Explore our list of funding sources below to find the right match for your online boutique.

Successfully Starting An Online Boutique

With careful planning, strategic financing, and a little hard work, you can start and operate your own online boutique. Take the time to learn about local regulations, build your brand and website, and curate a collection of high-quality products, and you’ll soon be on the road to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

If you want to learn more about starting an online store, you can download our free ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Starting an Online Store.