Wholesale Boutique: Everything You Need to Know
Posted on November 08 2020
Whether you’re finally opening the boutique of your dreams or are considering making a change to your existing business, you need to hear about wholesale clothes. Buying clothes wholesale is definitely the best way for boutiques to stock their shelves with high-quality garments that their customers will love without breaking the bank in the process.
However, for beginners, this process is far from straightforward. Thankfully, we are here to tell you everything you need to know about using wholesale clothing within your boutique to transform your business for the better!
What Are Wholesale Boutiques?
Wholesale boutiques are boutiques that smartly and strategically stock their shops with clothing bought from wholesalers rather than retail sources. But what is wholesale, and how does it work?
When you buy wholesale clothing, you are buying clothing items in bulk directly from a manufacturer. While you may think that this concept is similar to shopping at bulk warehouse stores like Costco or Sam’s Club, you cannot purchase directly from the manufacturer in these scenarios. Instead, the warehouse chain purchases from the manufacturer in bulk, does its markups, and then sells in bulk to cut costs.
Even though you can save money this way, buying wholesale clothing cuts out the middleman and the markups that come along with it. This translates to being able to buy amazing clothes for your boutique at the lowest possible prices so that you can maximize profits and grow your business.
Why Should Boutiques Shop Wholesale?
Many boutique owners are probably wondering why they should shop wholesale to stock their stores. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions out there surrounding wholesale products. Thankfully, we are here to help straighten out some of these and provide you with some great reasons why boutiques should shop wholesale:
1. More selection.
Boutiques should shop wholesale because many wholesalers offer one-stop shopping that’s superior to retail alternatives. Instead of buying one item from one supplier, another from a second one, and so on, you can get a wide variety of different items from a single source. Not only is this less complicated when it comes to keeping track of things, but it also can save you a ton in shipping costs!
2. Hottest styles.
Many people assume that wholesale clothing will be dull and outdated—but that’s definitely not the case. In fact, wholesale clothing has to keep up with the hottest trends in order to compete with other suppliers. It’s also a great way to keep ahead of the fashion curve and get trending styles quickly by cutting out the middleman of retail.
3. High quality.
Another benefit of high competition in the wholesale space is higher quality products. Many people assume that mass-produced goods must be of a lower quality than their retail counterparts. However, wholesalers prioritize quality because they know that no one will buy low-quality products! You’re also able to cut out a few steps along the manufacturing and shipping process to ensure that your clothing arrives as good as new and ready to sell.
4. Incredible prices.
The last and perhaps the best reason why boutiques should shop wholesale clothing is that they are able to offer the most competitive prices and really get you the most bang for your buck. Forget the markups and the extra steps along the way and go straight to the source with wholesale clothing! As a result, you will be able to make more profit off each sale that you can then reinvest into growing and expanding your business to accomplish all of your goals.
How Can Boutiques Find Great Wholesale Products?
Even though there are tons of benefits to shopping wholesale clothing, this is only true if you do it the right way. Not every wholesaler out there will be able to offer you these benefits, which is why you really need to take the time and effort into finding great wholesalers that offer amazing products that will be worth selling at your boutique.
Of course, this is easier said than done. But it doesn’t have to be a total hassle! Here are some steps that you can take to find the best wholesalers around:
- Use the internet to your advantage.
Wholesale shopping is mostly done on the internet—making it one of the best ways to locate and research different wholesale options. There’s no shortage of options out there, so do a quick Google search or check out specific review websites like Wholesale-Reviews.com.
- Use word of mouth.
This can be done both online and in-person. If you know other people in the industry (whether virtually or otherwise), try reaching out to see if they have any recommendations in terms of great wholesalers. Odds are that they can offer you companies to use as well as companies to avoid.
- Do your due diligence.
Once you have narrowed down your wholesaler options, you need to do a deep dive into these companies to determine if they’re worth buying from. Make sure to check out their shipping rates, return policies, sizing chart, customer support services, manufacturing locations, customer reviews, etc. All of these factors combined can find you a great wholesaler!
Some of the Hottest Trends for Wholesale Boutiques
As you now know, wholesale boutiques can offer some of the hottest trends. But what’s currently trending right now? The fashion world seemingly changes overnight, so here are some of the best trends to look out for right now:
- Tie-dye and dip-dye jackets, sweaters, and shirts
- Bold prints including animal print, florals, stripes, polka dots, plaid, and camo
- Athleisure products like sweatshirts, sweatpants, and track shorts
- Printed shirts and sweaters with phrases, flags, and other graphics
- Jewel-toned sweaters, cardigans, vests, etc. in preparation for fall
- Distressed denim with additional details like pearls, sparkles, frays, and bleaching
How to Get the Right Wholesale Products Into Your Boutique
Just because something is trending doesn’t necessarily mean that it would be a good fit in your boutique. So before you buy any products, you need to think about what the overall style of your boutique is and what your target customers would like to see.
For example, you wouldn’t really want to purchase trendy bohemian styles for a boutique that caters to the “Southern preppy” crowd. At the same time, if you are a bohemian brand located in a hip neighborhood, you may want to forego the riding boots, pleated skirts, and bright floral prints in favor of more brand-appropriate products.
Another thing that you need to think about when purchasing wholesale products for your boutique is the sizing. Since you’re buying in bulk, you aren’t really able to pick and choose which sizes you buy. While this might sound problematic, it doesn’t have to be.
In fact, wholesalers offer packages of products with specific ratios of sizes that they have found to be the most accurate. For example, you may see that a sweater set comes in a pack of six with a size ratio of “1-2-2-1.” This means that you will receive one small, two mediums, two larges, and one extra-large.
You know your customers the best, so make sure to keep sizing in mind when shopping wholesale so that you have an effective inventory for your boutique, and you aren’t left with items that won’t sell because they are in the wrong size.
Finally, the last thing that you need to think about when purchasing wholesale products is shipping. Many wholesalers will offer flat rate shipping—but pay attention to shipping times!
This is especially true if you’re going with an international wholesaler. This is why we recommend using a wholesaler that is based in the United States and manufactures here as well. That way, you can be assured that your products will come in a timely manner and that you will receive relevant and responsive customer service.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know everything about wholesale boutiques, it’s time to go out there and either start your own boutique or transform your current business into a wholesale boutique to better appeal to your customers. You’ll also end up saving money and maximizing profits at the same time.
Obviously, this sounds like an amazing idea, and now you know exactly how to go about it! Going with wholesale might require some time, effort, and research on the front end, but it will be well worth it in terms of money saved and customers served.
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