How to Start an Online Clothing Store: 2021 Step-by-Step Guide

So, you dream of starting your clothing line? Let 2021 be the year of taking your chances. According to Statista, the number of digital buyers from 2017 to 2024 is expected to hit 300 million in 2023. That is only in the United States! Now is the perfect time to make your move.

This guide will help you prepare thoroughly on how to start an online clothing store from scratch. If you think this will be hard because you have no coding experience, fear not. Thanks to the invention of eCommerce website builders, creating a beautiful and professional eCommerce website has never been easier. Let’s start!

1. Choose a platform to host your eCommerce business

A website builder is specifically engineered for those who have no coding experience. They have a user-friendly interface that gives you drag-and-drop functionality, as well as plenty of design themes to choose from. You can open up a shop without investing too much of your time, money, and effort. But not all eCommerce platforms are the same. To help you pick the right one, first, you must think about what you need.

Answer these questions:

1. All eCommerce platforms are user-friendly, but do they have the tools to boost your marketing?

2. How much is their hosting plan? How it will impact you in long term?

All these questions are covered by Zyro, a website building platform that delivers high-value services. It is both powerful and easy to use.

Zyro has all the essential tools for new entrepreneurs. Logo Maker and tagline generator for creating your online branding. AI-driven tools to improve your marketing performance (more on this later). The dashboard is straightforward and equipped with tabs to manage your sales, catalog, shipping, and more. They even have a Mobile App and a mobile editing mode.

Whether you sign up for the free or paid plan, Zyro’s smart hosting plan offers value for money:

• eCommerce ($8.99 per month, save 61%): Sell up to 100 products and all eCommerce features.
• eCommerce+ ($13.99 per month, save 53%). Sell up to 100 products and all eCommerce features + expand your sales via FB, IG, and Amazon.

So, let’s have a quick recap:

• Pros of Zyro: Beginner-friendly, affordable, beautiful designer templates, great eCommerce functionality, equipped with business and marketing tools.
• Cons of Zyro: There are only providing basic templates and no options to switch templates.

2. Choose a theme and customize your store’s design

Your website is the face of your business and the platform to tell your brand story. Here are some of the tips to design your website:

Be very clear with the type of website you are building. It is more important to use a template that is appropriate for your business, than using a stylish template that does nothing for your products. For example, Girlfriend’s product page perfectly serves its purpose as an activewear brand.

Choose SEO-friendly templates. Remember not all beautiful designs are SEO-friendly. Consider efficiency and readability when choosing templates to perform well in search rankings. Edu Read is a good example of combining visually attractive layouts with SEO practice.

Do not forget that your website will be viewed on various screens such as smartphones and tablets. Always use a mobile-first approach to your design. If you are using Zyro, you can edit your website on the go with mobile editing mode. 

3. Add the products to your online store

There are three basic steps to add a product, but it could be slightly different depending on which platform you use. In Zyro, it only takes 3 easy steps. First, go to Settings. Second, find the link to add new products. Third, add your images and write descriptions for each product. Click save when you are done. You can also add a lot of products into your store at once.

High-quality product images

A study shows that clear, high-quality photos are critical to driving engagements and purchases. The reason is simple, good images make a good first impression. Therefore, your product images are directly tied to your customer’s purchase decision.

Everlane does a good job in presenting its products. Their images are clear and the styling of the models does not outshine the clothes.

You should also show your products from multiple angles because it builds trust between you and your customers. Customers are more likely to purchase when they can see exactly what they are buying.

Pricing

The definition itself is simple enough - A pricing strategy is a model or method used to establish the best price for a product or service. However, there is a lot that goes into the process. Pricing is one of the most important business decisions you will ever make. We will cover the basics in this guide.

Pricing strategy falls into three main groups: cost-based pricing, competition-based pricing, and value-based pricing.

• For beginner entrepreneurs, cost-based pricing is the simplest option. Under this approach, the production cost is the main consideration in setting the price. You do not have to do in-depth research. As long as you can bring in sales according to your marketing budget, then you will be bringing in profit in every sale you land. The cons: This method is not focusing on how much money your customer wants to pay. It is only focusing on the business aspect. It is a safe option, but a short-lived one.
• Compare to cost-based pricing, competition-based pricing is a little more complex. You will have to analyze other similar brands to yours to find out the average price of your product in the market. Cover everything from big brands to more down-to-earth businesses. Then, set up a price that is fair to you and your customers. It is a fantastic strategy to make sure you are not selling too high or worse, too low. The cons: new businesses tend to slash their price at the lowest rate to compete with other brands. In return, it could give a bad image to your business.
• Now, for the best option. Value-based pricing uses a combination of cost-based and competition-based strategies. First, we need to set our baseline price, which includes the cost of our product, the shipping rate, and the cost of marketing. Next, we do some market research to analyze brands that sell similar products to yours. Then, we set a competitive price based on our research. If our baseline price is $20, and our competitive price is $40, you can sell your product between those numbers and know you will make a profit regardless. The key is to place your price on that scale based on the value your product brings. The cons: Ultimately, your value is determined by how much your customers are willing to pay.

There are also benefits if you choose to do product variation. You can improve the customer experience by selling one product in more than one option, such as color or fabric. Product variants bring a wider and more personalized offer.

Product Description

Product descriptions are as powerful as high-quality images in terms of conversions. This is where you get to influence your customers to click the ‘add to cart’ button. On the contrary, a bad product copy can be a problem that results in lost sales.

There are 8 basic rules to write an effective product description:

1. 1. Know Who Your Target Audience is
2. 2. Focus on the Product Benefits
3. 3. Tell the Full Story
4. 4. Use Natural Language and Tone
5. 5. Use Power Words That Sell
6. 6. Make it Easy to Scan
7. 7. Optimize for Search Engines
8. 8. Use Good Product Images

Let’s do a quick case study. LoveShackFancy develops its tone of voice around romance and femininity. This copy compares the product to a ‘love fest’, letting a customer feel what it is like wearing their design. More than describing a product, LoveShackFancy knows how to communicate to its target market. Furthermore, they combine still photography with video clips to support the beautiful description. The rest of the paragraph offers in-depth details of the product.

If you have a copywriter in your team, they can help you out with creating content as clever as LoveShackFancy. But if you don’t have one and you have no copywriting experience, then you will need help. Preferably something that doesn’t require you to spend time and money hiring someone.

One of the many advantages of using Zyro is that you will have the power of AI tools in your hands for free. AI – also known as artificial intelligence or machine intelligence – refers to a computer program that can perform human-like tasks. One of Zyro’s leading AI tools is AI Writer which can generate copy for your website. It is really helpful rather than developing your content from scratch.

Are you excited to launch your online clothing store?

We have shown you all the essential steps to create your website. From choosing the right platform that will benefit you in the long term to creating effective product copy without taking too much of your time or money.

If you are interested in using Zyro, you can start by trying the free plan first. Once you get comfortable with the platform, you can commit to the higher-level versions. Ready to live your dream? Start like a pro, join Zyro now.