In this episode, Ali Dee breaks down how to stop getting stuck with inventory that won't sell and how to make better buying decisions.
Join us inside the TRENDSETTER membership here.
Work with me in The Sales Lab, DM me SALES on IG or TT for the deets
Follow the Retail Success Club on TikTok and Instagram @retailsuccessclub
In this episode, Ali Dee breaks down how to stop getting stuck with inventory that won't sell and how to make better buying decisions.
Join us inside the TRENDSETTER membership here.
Work with me in The Sales Lab, DM me SALES on IG or TT for the deets
Follow the Retail Success Club on TikTok and Instagram @retailsuccessclub
Welcome to Boutique Success Club. I'm Allie d, the founder of Boutique Success Club, your boutique bestie, and your chief cheerleader with over a decade of experience in the retail industry trenches. I'm here to help you skyrocket your store. Get ready to dive into insider strategies and educational resources that will transform your boutique business. No more guesswork. No more struggling alone. We'll be your partner in this journey, and together we will conquer all the obstacles. This is Boutique Success Club. Hey, Hey, boutique bestie. We are here with another episode of the boutique success club podcast. And I don't know about you, but I am like feeling the community right now of the boutique success club. You guys are like moving and shaking and doing things. And I know this because I am getting DMS from you all that are just amazing, like incredible transformations. You guys are taking what you're learning here on the podcast from my Tik TOK page, from my Instagram, from the boutique success club bundle the workbook. You guys. We are diving into all the resources actually using them. Making a difference and making a change for your store. So congratulations. I got really fun DMS this week. Like, um, one gal DMD me and she was so excited because she jumped in the bundle about 30 days ago. And, um, she went from like zero customers, obviously zero followers, zero sales. To launching her boutique and getting her first sale in 30 days. So this is a very, very powerful community that we have. And that's what I love really truly about our community is it's like all of you inside are like, go getters. You're not lolly gaggers, you're not just waiting for someone to hand you. All of the things that you need to do. Like you are proactive coming to me, telling me the issues, asking me what resources you need to solve the problems, but then. At the end of the day, you're the fricking ones doing the work I'm here supporting you. I'm here like as a shoulder to cry on or to cheer with, or to get you through something, if you're really stuck, but guys you're the ones doing the work. So I just want to, I'm giving you a round of applause. You can't see, but I'm clapping over here because I'm just so proud of each and every one of you. And today's going to be another great episode of the podcast. Today, we're going to talk about. What to do, if you are continually getting stuck with inventory, I do see this happen quite a bit, and it's usually just one simple fix. That's going to kind of get you through this problem. But getting stuck with inventory can be one of the most frustrating things, especially as a new boutique owner, seasoned boutique owners, they're kind of like, eh, you know, they get over it, they move on, they figure out how to move it. But when you're new and you're getting stuck with inventory over and over and over again, There's a simple tweak that you need to make in order to make sure that you're getting the right kind of inventory. So we're going to dive into all of that today. I dissect everything. And by the end of this episode, I want you to feel like you're going to go from someone who is maybe confused or unsure of what even inventory to buy. To becoming a buying and selling machine. That is my goal for you. I want you to feel so confident, so strong, and so. So happy with your decisions. Every single time you're buying inventory, because you know, you're doing the right thing. Getting stuck with inventory can often mean that you're making a mistake when you're buying that inventory. So I actually, I remember some of the mistakes that I made when I first started buying inventory and I look back and I'm like, girl, what the F were you thinking? Buying some of these pieces. And I, I mean, I can like actually see them very vividly in my mind. Like, especially this one dress in particular that I bought. And first of all, I should say to my fault, I am a sucker for a quote unquote deal. Okay. So I actually went shopping in this Harry Hines area of Dallas. So this is an area of the city of Dallas where you can go and buy merchandise wholesale. So there's a lot of wholesale vendors. It's pretty neat. If you haven't been, go check it out. And it's, um, got lots of different types of vendors, even little vendor malls. Vendors that are standalone. So, so tons of different places. Right? So anyways, I was kind of like doing my rounds there, stopping at the stores that I'd like to stop at and shop for my boutique. And when I went into this one store I'd been in there a couple of times before, and I would maybe find one or two things and I had some extra time. So I stopped in there and I saw these dresses. That were actually really nice quality. So I was shocked. Um, They were really nice velvet dresses, but they, and they were on sale. They obviously they weren't moving them. Right. But I'm a fricking sucker. And I was like, oh, and she's like, yeah, we'll give you a good deal on these blah, blah, blah, blah. And I heard the roar, the word deal and my ears perked up. And like, I was all in because I was a newbie and that was like my weakness. Right. And I feel like they could tell that they were like, Hmm, this girl, she's going to be a sucker for this. Like, we're, we're going to get her. I don't know, I guess it was just glaringly obvious. So anyways, They did get me for those dresses. I ended up buying all of them and, um, guys, I couldn't sell them for the life of me. They were so random. They didn't go with any of the inventory they had. They just kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. And it's, it almost was like, Embarrassing. Once I got them back and I realized, oh gosh, what have I done? Let me tell you that I sat on those dresses. It must've been a year. I may still have one or two somewhere. I think I ended up donating them all. But it's just one of those things that I'm like, this is not happening again. I'm going to figure out how to fix this problem that I have and why I make some random ass decisions when it comes to buying inventory. And why get stuck with inventory? So, what I learned is that there's really this one question that you need to ask yourself every single time you are going to be buying inventory. So I'm talking about whether you are online, whether you are in person at a wholesale market or you're down on Harry Hines. Like I was. You need to ask yourself this one question. Is this a good fit for my ideal customer? I had, I just stopped and taken a breath and not be blinded by the bright lights of the word deal. I would have known in two seconds that this was not for my ideal customer in any way, shape or form. However, I was just overcome by the fact that it was a deal and they got me and I ended up buying them and it was a big mistake that I made. And of course, like I said, that's what I learned from this was that a lot of times you're going to be distracted. There's so much going on when you're shopping online. And you're searching through FashionGo or wherever you're buying your inventory. And you're just thumbing through all of the things, or here's another thing that could happen. You're on fashion goat and you start being distracted, looking at like the best of best, which is an area that shows you the items that are selling the most are the hottest selling items. I mean, supposedly that's what the platform is telling us. And you see like, oh, this item, this is number one in the best of best of shoes. So you go ahead and you go all in and you get a full run of shoes. And, or maybe even too, because you're like, whoa, you're worried that they're going to sell out and you're missing out on this opportunity. And if it's selling for everybody, it must sell for me all of those types of things. So you end up buying like a pair of sneakers that your ideal customer would never in a million years were. But you got suckered in because it's supposedly a hot selling item and you want to make sure you're not missing out. However, at the end of the day, if it's not for your ideal customer, what's going to happen to those shoes. The same thing that happened to my fricking dress, they're gonna sit there on the shelf for months and months and months collecting dust. And you're going to end up having to blow them out and some kind of sale, or, you know, dump them on a de stash page on Facebook. It's just not going to match what you already have in your inventory. So when you're shopping online and I'll talk about in person shopping in a minute, but when you're shopping online, You have to have laser focus on who your ideal customer is. I mean, you should know so much about this person that it's going to make shopping online, super easy. And you're going to know immediately whether to buy that item and pull the trigger. Or whether you should just move on from it, even if it's something that you like or you think is super cute. If it's not going to work for your customer it's not going to work for you Real quick boutique bestie. I know you've been thinking about building and growing your own boutique. It's that beautiful dream that you have in your mind, but maybe you just need like a little push forward. That's why I created the boutique success bundle. If you are tired of the overwhelm, the guesswork, the confusion, then this all in one bundle is for you. I break down everything into modules. It's a step-by-step process where we are building the foundation, setting you up for success. It also has every single guide I have ever created right there and an easy to access dashboard plus Q and a with me, if you get stuck. So if you've been thinking about jumping in now is the time go to boutique success club.com and join us today in the boutique success bundle. And the same thing happens when you're shopping at in-person markets. There's a lot of bright lights. There's a lot of glitter. There's a lot of glitz and glam, a lot of really good fast-talking vendors. That can definitely. Intimidate you, when you are a new boutique shopping at a in-person wholesale market. It's one thing to swipe on by when you're online, but when you're in person and they're like, oh, this is a hot selling item or, oh, you have to have this or debt that, you know, they're giving you the whole pitch. It's up to you to know whether or not that's a good buying decision. And obviously the more you do this, the more you learn who your ideal customer is, the better you'll be at making these decisions, especially on such a quick basis. Like when you're at a wholesale market in person, you have to make decisions fast. There's a lot to get through a lot of product to see you have to be a mover and a shaker, and you got to get around fast. So the more you can really tap into who your ideal customer is. Obviously the better success and the better your outcome will be at your buying trips. So when you're in person, you're going to feel more confident, more comfortable. You're going to know when you see something, whether it's for you or not. And you're also not going to be blinded by a group of really like. Great looking boutique owners in one booth and like staring over there and going, I wonder what they're buying. Oh, I see. Okay. I see that's what's on their rack. I'm going to go over there when they're done and I'm going to buy the same thing. Like remember here is a huge issue that you're going to have to overcome as a new boutique owner. What works for somebody else? Isn't necessarily going to work for you. So you may scroll through, take talk, and you see boutiques selling a crap ton of a certain product. And you're like, okay, well, if they're selling a lot of it, I'm going to buy it and I'm going to try to sell a lot of it. The problem is, is they're selling a lot of it because it works for them. It works for their ideal customer. It works for their store, their boutique them as a boutique owner, relates to that product and can sell that product well. However, what happens when you're looking towards other people and what they're doing. You're really doing yourself a disservice because whatever somebody else is doing does not necessarily mean that it's going to work for you. And in fact, it most likely won't. So you're going to be wasting your time and money chasing down products. You see other people selling because you think it's going to be your ticket to more sales. The truth of the matter is you have to do the homework boutique bestie. You have to dive in. I figure out who your ideal customer is and spend the time getting to know them forwards and backwards, know everything about your ideal customer. We're not just talking about their age, where they're from, you know, um, Their occupation, the simple things. That's all, that's important, but we're also talking about going deeper. What types of product makes them move emotionally? Like gets them really happy and makes them feel like, yes, I need that. That's what you need to tap into. So is that something that's like a lot of color? Is that something that's neutral? Is that something that's cozy? Is it something that's sexy? Like you have to figure out all of those dynamics when it comes to your customer. You also should be knowing things like what type of denim do they like? Are they trendy? And they like the, you know, cargo denim that's really popular right now. The jogger look or are they more classic? And they just want a nice quality boot cut or do they want a skinny Jean? I mean, these are all the things that you need to figure out. So when you go to buy denim, you're not wasting your time in trendy, Lala land. When your customer doesn't want that, they want classic good fitting high quality. Quality denim. You're going to be in a different place buying for that person than you are. If you're a customer who is like a super trendy, you know, 25 year old is going to be a totally different type of buy. Right? So that's what I'm saying is getting deeper with your customer. Also knowing like, What type of neckline do they like, are they, you know, super into like a high neck, very conservative kind of look, or are they like. Lo VI as low as you can go. Like, you know, like they're going clubbing at night, they're in a different place in their life. So what kind of neckline, what kind of skirt length? Do they want short skirts, long skirts middies pencil a line. Like what type of cuts are they wearing? All of these things. You need to know when it comes to buying inventory. And I actually created an entire workbook about this, because like I said, if you remember my story, I would buy random ass crap all the time. Just like a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I didn't really have a rhythm. And that really, really affects the bottom line of any boutique business. If you don't know what you're doing when it comes to your buying, obviously at the end of the day, that's what it's all about buying the right inventory for your customer. So I sat down and I was like, okay. Allie, we gotta figure this out. What are we going to do? I knew about. A target audience at the time, I knew about finding your niche, but I didn't really understand the dynamics of what that meant. And I went researching, I dove into the internet. I Googled the life out of this, tried to figure something out. And I couldn't find any. Resources out there for anyone in the retail industry that needed help defining who their ideal customer is really getting down to the nitty gritty.'cause I think for some boutique owners, honestly, this is a little bit more of a natural thing. They kind of just like intuitively know the type of person that they're shopping for. But for some of us out there, it can be really complicated and really frustrating. And we feel like we just can't get it figured out. And at this point, if you've been listening to this podcast or following me at all, you know, that I am like preaching about ideal customer because it is woven through every single thing you do for your boutique. Every decision you make, whether it's buying, whether it's marketing, whatever it is. Knowing your ideal customer is such an important facet. And I understood this. So what I did when I couldn't find any resources is I just created my own, I got myself a little spiral bound notebook, and I was like, okay, I'm going to write down. Every fricking question I could think of. That's going to be important for me to answer in order to understand how to buy and what to buy. So I started listing them and guys, I went through, I've got 50 or more questions that I answered in this notebook about who I thought my ideal customer was. I'm talking about what movies they like, where they like to go to dinner. What their hobbies are. What type of music they like, what type of magazines are they reading? Like all of that stuff makes up a whole person. And it also helps you figure out what drives them to buy. What's important to them. Is it value? Is it quality? Is it budget? You figure out when you get down to the nitty gritty of defining your ideal customer. And I'm telling you, once you nail this down. Every decision you make will become more effortless, especially when it comes to your inventory. And this is how you don't get stuck with inventory. That doesn't move. It's truly from getting so personal and so clear on who your ideal customer is. So when you're making decisions and you have your blinders on and you're shopping for them because that's our job, right? At the end of the day, we're shopping for our customers. We're buying things that we think they will love, they will need, they will be excited about. They will want to, where they will want to gift to people. How that comes from our boutique. So it's our job. Uh, To make sure that every single time we're shopping we're browsing we are looking for new inventory that we're asking ourselves that important question is this a good fit for my ideal customer So knowing this, having experienced this. I created the ideal customer workbook for boutiques, because I felt like how is there nothing available out there right now for any boutique owner, anyone in the retail industry really who's trying to get their business off the ground, but can't figure out or nail down one of the most foundational pieces for the success of their store. I was just flabbergasted. So I put all the questions that I have asked myself into a nice little workbook. And it's a great tool for you to use. If you're stuck on this, if you can't figure out who your ideal customer is, I highly recommend you check it out. You can also watch a bunch of my videos on tech talk. I talk about this stuff all the time, but in the workbook, it's like all put together in one nice little package. So it makes it pretty easy and convenient for you. But of course, you're always more than welcome to watch my tech talks and learn from them as well. But what I like is you can print out the notebook. It has all the questions there and you could just go through them and start filling them out. And it may take you a week because I want you to really think about each question and. Not just rush through it and answer it just to answer it, but kind of go through each question one by one. And ask yourself. Okay. Let me really take a minute to figure out what, what the answer is to this question and not rush through it, because if you rush through it, it's like, what's the point of even doing it, you know? It's not doing it to just do it. You're doing a real exercise to help your business. It's not just like, okay, I just got to get this done. It's actually trying to make progress and build a successful boutique. That's going to grow and grow and grow month after month. You never want to be stuck in one place. Like you never want to be stuck with inventory. That's not moving. And this is one of the best ways to ensure that you will not be stuck with inventory that just sits on shelves and collects dust and becomes the bane of your existence. Like the fricking red velvet. Dresses that I bought do not let that happen to you. Okay. We're not doing it. That's why we're learning here in the boutique success club. Okay, boutique bestie. I really hope this episode was helpful to you. And please, I would love to hear from you. Thank you guys so much for sharing about the podcast for DM-ing me, for telling me what's going on in your life and your stores. I am so grateful to have such an amazing community of women that are just the best and strongest and top is go getters. You guys truly inspire me and I'm, I'm just continually amazed by. All of y'all's achievements in such a short amount of time. I mean, at the end of the day boutique owners, We're resourceful. We figure it out. And we go get them, right. So be sure you say hello on DMS. Preferably Instagram, because sometimes my take talk can get a little Cray Cray over there. So come say hi on Instagram. If you're listening to this podcast today, take a screenshot, share it on your stories. Let me know the more people hear about this podcast, the more boutique besties we can help. And that's what it's about. We're all in this together. Don't feel like you have to go it alone here because you certainly do not. And that's one of the best things about being in the boutique success club. Community is you are not alone. You have a bunch of sisters. That are going through the same things you are and we're here to figure it all out together have a great day guys Hey, thanks so much for listening to this episode of the boutique success club. Don't forget to subscribe and give us a five-star review. It really helps us grow and reach more boutique besties. have a great day and go get them.