If you are in the process of establishing your own clothing business, one thing you may not have considered yet, that is worth giving some serious thought to, is whether you are positioning your store as a boutique or a more general clothes shop. It may be, like many other people, that you didn’t realize there was actually a difference.

Perhaps you thought boutique was just a fancy name that some businesses use to defend their extremely high prices. Even if that were true, there is actually a distinct difference, normally, between what is considered a boutique store and a clothes shop. Therefore, it’s important you familiarise yourself with the difference and determine which matches up best with the kind of items you want to sell, as this will make marketing your business easier.

What is the Difference?

Essentially, the difference between the two terms and the type of retail outlets they relate to is:

Boutiques are smaller with a more focused range of products, whether it’s clothes or accessories. A shop that deals in just fancy lingerie could be considered a boutique, as could one that sells jewelry, bags, and shoes.

Whereas a run-of-the-mill clothes shop will just sell a wider range of items across a lot of different categories.

Why You Should Consider Running a Boutique Clothes Shop

There are some great benefits to establishing your women's clothing business as a boutique-style store. For one thing, with a boutique, rather than trying to appeal to a broader target market, you will most likely be focusing your attention on a specific type of customer. For instance, only brides to be and their relatives are likely to be interested in your wedding boutique. Even if you had visitors who were not in a position to get married and had no need for a wedding dress, they are unlikely to buy.

The same is true if you had a boutique that was aimed at twentysomethings…you are unlikely to have many older consumers visiting just to browse and leave without buying anything.

While it won’t make marketing any less of a challenge, it would simplify it somewhat, compared to if you run a more general clothes store.

Best Way to Get Inventory

If you decide to go down the route of having a more focused and streamlined boutique-style store, you may be wondering how best to fill your shelves or your online inventory. As it is a boutique with a very select clientele that you are obviously trying to target, you may think that the best way to source products would be to buy individuals in smaller volumes. However, there is a lot of benefits to investing in wholesale boutique clothing.

When you choose a company like Stylewise Direct, where there is no minimum order, you can buy stylish and fashionable items that will suit the specific tastes of your customers. It is not only more convenient but less expensive than it may be trying to scour through various different suppliers.