How to Start a Fashion Showroom

Would you like to run your own business, be your own boss? Owning a successful business is a dream for many, and in recent years the number of SMEs has seen a dramatic increase in popularity. While traditional high street retail is down, etail is on the up and there has never been a better time to start your own fashion showroom!

This might not seem a simple task, however it surely has a great deal of potential. With the global smart fashion market growing at a brisk pace of 117% (CAGR) during 2016-22, the fashion industry is not facing a recession soon.

Along with being a part of a cyclic uptrend in the business cycle, having a fashion showroom can give you wide access to a network of designers and clients as well!

If you have some entrepreneurial spirit within you, then 2021 could be the time to start your fashion showroom venture.

Understanding the business model of the fashion showrooms

For any designer to select your showroom for product display, it is important that their products get maximum exposure. Thus, it depends on the customer base, location of the showroom, online exposure and the competing brands available in your showroom.

There are two models that can be used for generating the income for your fashion showroom:

• Commission based program: For every sale of a particular designer made, the owner charges a commission on the selling value. Though this seems like a profitable revenue model, but, to be successful, footfall plays a major role! Commissions range from 8-15% on the sales value.
• Charging a contribution fee: Showrooms also charge a certain contribution fee for displaying the products. If your showroom has started up new and is really willing to cash in on some deep discounts, this might be a great way to gain visibility for the attire.
  

Easy Steps to Start a Fashion Showroom

Let us divide the steps to start the fashion showroom into 5 sub-parts, namely:

• Research
• Funding
• Human resource
• Creating awareness
• Sales and post sales support

Research: Conducting research before setting up the store plays a vital role. It includes the following:

• Accessing the target markets.
• Knowing the target consumers.
• Researching the key competitors of the market and product distribution.
• Identifying the right location for setting up the store.
• Identifying the unique selling proposition at your showroom.

Funding: Generating the funds can often be the toughest. Convincing lenders and investors about the potential of your business might need you to show the potential of your stores as well.

• Applying for a business loan and using it to leverage the business.
• Crowdfunding to start the business.
• Creating a proper pitch deck and seek for credit approval from financial institutions.
• Separating the personal and business funds by creating a separate business entity identifier.

Human Resource

• Hiring the right set of people to look after the business across numerous verticals is an art.
• Communicating with the suppliers of the products and creating a distribution channel for the products.
• Hiring seasonal employees is often the best solution if the demand is irregular.

Creating the Awareness

• Awareness to be created by having a grand opening of the business. Make sure to invite the press and a locally renowned personality to create a buzz. Make sure to start a website for your business, as online presence is just as important today.
• Being active on social media handles and involving the social media influencers help in boosting up sales. As per a recent survey, the top 15 businesses are getting an ROI of more than 13% through social media influencers!
• Meme Marketing is the future of marketing. Ramping up the meme marketing, top businesses have scored a 10X increase in their organic traffic, compared to traditional channels.
• Offer the coolest discounts and even the best offers to increase the footfall.
• Use the technology to your advantage. With the help of digital marketing, create awareness along with geo-tagging. Moreover, increase the sales, by re-targeting the audience.

Sales and Post Sales support

• Having the first sale is always an ecstatic experience. Generating consistent sales leads should be your target. Through reward and referral programs, generating consistent revenue should not be difficult.
• Having great customer support is essential. Customer support and grievance redressal have proven to be the backbone for successful customer experiences. With the recent survey stating that more than 70% of consumer shifting firms due to poor customer service, it is imperative to have effective customer service officials. 

Top Fashion Showrooms to Take Inspiration From

Showrooms like Mint Showroom, spanning across three cities and their defined niche of brands and products, is just one of many examples to gain insight and inspiration from.

Looking to catch up with the latest trends? The Confessional Showroom is the right option for you! With the coolest accessories and the dankest fashion outfits, these have become a craze with the youth!

New York is slowly blooming to be the perfect place for fashion showrooms. With the growing popularity of trendy fashion opening a fashion showroom in New York could potentially be a nice bet. With more than 40% people lying in the young to mid adult age group, New York has the perfect demographic to start a fashion showroom NYC venture in 2021.

3 Key takeaways for guaranteed success of your Fashion Showroom

For any business to be successful consistently, we need three constants which must never change! No matter how lean your operations become, you must not compromise on the following:

● Ambiance: An ambiance sets the tone of the showroom. With a friendly ambiance and cordial interaction it all helps in making the guests feel comfortable and relaxed.

● CX: Consumer experience is the key to long term success for any organisation. As consumers prefer to have the best of both worlds – quality and price, it is evident that a personalised consumer experience helps in retaining customers!

● Target Consumer: The target market and the target consumer will keep on changing over time. Thus, for the showroom to be successful, a clear notion about the target consumer is necessary. Updating consistently along with market trends will help keep the business evergreen!