18 practical experiences of a women's clothing e-commerce boss on women's clothing selection

If you want to start a women's clothing business, you should read this article. This article will provide you with 18 practical experiences on women's clothing selection. You can take a look if you need it.

1. You don’t need a factory

When most people start a women's clothing business, what they need is not a factory but a stall.

Many of my friends also want to make women's clothing and asked me to recommend good factories to them.

I can recommend you a lot of factories, but what’s the point of having a bunch of factories? Can you place an order? Can you place a batch of 50-100 pieces? Do you know how to adjust the pattern? Do you know how to replace the fabric? Do you know how to check the price? Do you know how to follow up and optimize the quality?

If you don't understand these, you will be the lambs to be slaughtered in the factory.

Most people initially need a clothing stall, that is, a batch. Because the stall will save you the time, energy, and risk of connecting with the factory, and directly produce a batch of styles and goods of acceptable quality for you to choose.

At the same time, the stalls have the advantage of large scale and can obtain lower costs from the factories.

Therefore, the first choice of suppliers for ordinary people should be to look for high-quality stalls and high-quality wholesalers in the market.

2. Ordinary people do not have the ability to get goods offline

Most people do not have the ability to go to the market stalls to get goods and select styles in the early stages.

When an ordinary person first faces a stall market, he will be confused at first.

Because the market is so big and there are too many choices, with tens of thousands of stalls and hundreds of thousands of clothes suddenly piled in front of you, the problem many people face is not that they have no choice, but that they suddenly forget what they want in the face of a massive amount of choices.

In addition, the stalls are crowded with people, and it's hot and dry. You look at each stall one by one, and at first glance they all seem suitable for you, but upon closer inspection they are no longer suitable for you. Basically, after walking around for half a day, you feel exhausted.

Then you look green or you simply cannot purchase that many items and you don’t have the confidence. The stall owner knows at a glance that you are not a big customer and doesn’t bother to pay attention to you. He either charges you a very high price or tries hard to get you to take more items, asking you to take 5 or 10 items. As a result, after you take a bunch of goods back, you find that you don’t need that much at all and you can’t sell them, so you can only leave them there gathering dust.

Therefore, ordinary people need long-term training to become a high-quality buyer.

3. Stalls in different regions have different focuses

The focus of stall markets in different cities is different, and the channels and customer groups they face are also different.

My friend said he wanted to start an e-commerce business in women's clothing and he wanted to go to Nanyou to get the goods.

I said it’s useless for you to go to Nanyou. A silk shirt costs two or three hundred yuan. Can you sell it?

Relatively speaking, Nanyou mainly deals in high-end women's clothing. National market counters, offline women's clothing design stores, original design stores, etc. all purchase their goods from Nanyou.

Douyin and Tmall also source most of their high-end women's clothing priced at 500 yuan or even 1,000 yuan from Nanyou.

Generally speaking, the sources of goods for Tmall’s popular online stores are mainly from Hangzhou Sijiqing, Guangzhou Shisanhang, and Wanjia, which have light luxury, sweet, and celebrity styles, and the costs are slightly higher.

The lower-cost supply is mainly from Guangzhou Shahe Market. Basically, most of the popular models come from Guangzhou Shahe.

At the same time, some categories also have independent industrial belts, such as jeans in Zhongshan, sweaters in Puyuan, down jackets in Pinghu, and T-shirts in Jimo.

These places also have larger clothing wholesale stalls, and each building and each floor of each market has its own focus. It basically takes about a year to run around in a market to get a basic understanding of it.

4. You can choose the model online at the beginning

However, there are actually quite a lot of selection websites now, such as 1688, Soukuan.com, etc. These stalls will also open stores on these selection websites.

So there is really no need to select models offline. Ordinary people can start by selecting models online to get a feel for them little by little.

At least when choosing online, you can take your time to look around and choose, and you can also buy single items, which will save you a lot of time, energy, and money. After choosing, you can also add suppliers on WeChat, and suppliers will regularly update their styles on WeChat Moments.

So at the beginning there is really no need to go offline to select models.

5. Don’t do original design at the beginning

When ordinary people start a women's clothing business, they should not touch original works. Whoever touches original works will be doomed and will lose as much money as they have.

The general process of committing suicide is:

• On a whim, I started a women's clothing business.
• The market is rotten, and it is hard to catch the eye of the law
• All in originality, self-reliance of domestic products
• Self-entertainment elements, all piled up
• My aesthetics are impeccable
• Repeated adjustments, half a year of ink
• Factory made goods, first order 100,
• 10 models, hundreds of thousands of dollars are gone
• After going online, 3 pieces were sold
• The remaining inventory, a look of despair
• Low price disposal, serious damage to vitality
• I can only go back to the factory and work to pay off my debts.

6. Don’t be a niche style

Perhaps influenced by some business books and business lecturers, it is said that vertical segmentation is the only way to make a breakthrough in business.

The opposite is true in women's clothing.

In the field of women's clothing, the only way to make a breakthrough at the beginning is to create popular styles.

Because popular style means popular demand, means a wide audience, which means that as long as you do it a little better than others, you can attract a part of the customer base and sell a batch of goods.

If you want to create a niche style, the audience is small and the crowd is small, so it is difficult for you to capture this group of people. What's more, many niche styles are simply impossible for ordinary people to do.

You want to create a new Chinese style, but do you know how complicated the supply chain is? Do you know how difficult it is to get the fabrics? Do you have the experience in this area?

You want to be a heroine, do you have the ability to control the style and fabric?

So there is a big difference between what you want to do and what you can do.

7. You can create a niche style if your own conditions match

I think only when your own conditions are extremely consistent with the products you sell, is it suitable to create a truly niche style.

For example, I know a girl who has a very hot body. She specializes in hot girl clothes, which is a very niche market. This is because her own conditions and products are extremely well matched.

I also know a girl who used to work in an investment bank. After she left, she made high-end workplace suits with a unit price of thousands of yuan. Most people can't do this kind of business, but she can, because she exudes a strong white-collar elite aura; this includes women's clothing for petite women (under 155cm) and large-size women's clothing. In the big market, these are considered niche styles.

The person who can manage these product lines well must have a very good match between her own conditions and the products, because only in this way can she fully understand the user needs of these segmented groups.

If ordinary people don't have such conditions and insist on doing such products, how can they possibly do better than others?

8. Daily commuting is the most popular

Products for mass consumers may look ordinary, but the advantage is that once they hit the mark, it is easy to generate crowded purchasing potential, making it very easy to sell out.

If you are a niche market, there will be few people. Even if you work hard to sell dozens of pieces, it will be difficult to build up momentum in the future.

The needs of mass consumers can be divided into two main scenarios.

One is for daily commuting, and the other is for going out on weekends.

With 5 days of daily commuting and only 2 days for weekend fun, it's obvious which one to do.

Daily commuting is actually the easiest style for women, and it is also a style that is very suitable for beginners.

Under this broad category, you can break it down into:

Daily Korean commuting, daily European and American street style, daily sweet style, daily simplicity, Japanese commuting, and then each style of clothing can be integrated with each other, the boundaries are not obvious, the number of styles is relatively large, and there is a lot of room for choice. Then daily commuting and weekend scenes are also easier to cut. Consumers will want to wear good-looking clothes to work and shopping.

Some people start out with a very sweet, celebrity-like style that looks good. It does look good, and it looks great when you go out to take photos, but the problem is:

This kind of clothes cannot be worn at work and can only be worn on weekends. This greatly limits the usage scenarios, and limiting the usage scenarios means limiting sales.

9. Rationality and Emotionality

The top layer of this business (women's clothing business) is rationality, and the bottom layer is sensibility. The top layer rationally thinks about categories, sales cycles, pricing, product grouping, and supply chain, and mainly solves the problem of pushing the most suitable styles to consumers at the right time and at the right opportunity.

The underlying sensibility is mainly about whether it looks good, whether the style is OK, whether it is comfortable to wear, whether the color is versatile, whether there are highlights, and whether the matching is outstanding. The main purpose is to solve the problem of whether consumers will be dazzled and want to own it after seeing this style.

The advantage of women in this industry is that they are very emotional. If they have a good feeling, they can easily attract a group of women to buy. The disadvantage is that they are too rational and rarely consider the whole plate from a structural level. Without a structure, emotions will dry up and become unstable.

The disadvantage of men in this line of work is that they lack sensibility. It is difficult for them to tell whether a piece of clothing looks good or not, after all, they are all straight men. The advantage is that they can optimize some frameworks and processes from the architectural level, allowing sensibility to be output stably within the framework.

10. Focus on the top five categories in terms of market share

China's women's clothing e-commerce is an open battle. Every month and every quarter, consumers' category demand and growth demand are completely clear and can be seen through the system background.

As long as you find the advantageous categories of each month or each quarter and choose from them, at least you won’t go wrong in the general direction.

For example, woolen coats in October, fur sweaters in November, down jackets in December, shirts in March, and dresses in April. As long as you follow the right styles in each month, you will not miss out.

Secondly, you need to be saturated and concentrated, because ordinary people have limited resources at the beginning. Don’t try every category. Focus on two or three categories and work intensively. This will actually give you more hope.

When you start choosing styles, you pick up a few dresses, a few T-shirts, a few shirts, a few shorts, and a few skirts. If you pick up all kinds of items, it means that your power is dispersed.

11. Many categories are beyond the reach of ordinary people

However, many categories look great, but ordinary people can hardly do it.

For example, down jackets are a good category, responsible for sales and market share in winter.

However, this category becomes a battleground as soon as winter arrives. Vertical brands (Bosideng), internet celebrity brands, fast fashion brands, large stores, medium stores, and anchors all have to get involved. The competition is very fierce, and the fight for traffic is also fierce.

So an ordinary person, who has no money at the beginning, has no store, and no traffic, and starts selling down jackets with basically no traffic, how can he possibly sell them?

There are also T-shirts. Many people say that T-shirts are easy to sell. If you make T-shirts, you will basically be attacked by brands like Uniqlo first (T-shirts are the main product line), then by the T-shirt product lines of large stores and Internet celebrity stores (T-shirts are the auxiliary matching product lines of these stores), and finally by small stores and Pinduoduo's price war of 19.9 yuan and 29.9 yuan.

How many T-shirts can you sell?

Then after you sell them you realize, damn, there is no money to be made from selling T-shirts.

12. Some categories will encounter pitfalls in the early stages

There are also some categories, styles, and fabrics that ordinary people have no experience with and don’t know the pitfalls of making for the first time.

For example, leather jackets. Generally speaking, most consumers do not have enough coolness and feminine aura, so it is difficult for them to buy leather jackets. This category is a niche category and it is very difficult for consumers to discover it.

Another example is fur, which is another important product category in winter. It is good because it keeps you warm and looks beautiful. However, if it is not stored properly, it will grow hair and get moldy.

Another example is the contrasting color style, black and white, which is very beautiful and eye-catching, but if the craftsmanship and fabric are not good, the black and white will be stained together and the color will fade, which are all after-sales problems.

The jeans category is also pretty good, a popular style, but the minimum order is 100 pieces, so it’s hard to make small orders; the Tencel cotton fabric is very soft and comfortable to wear, which is especially good, but it will become wrinkled like street goods after wearing it once.

Some suit styles are well made and feel textured, but girls often rub their suits against their suits, which can easily cause pilling.

In short, many pitfalls basically emerge gradually after the sale, and it is a headache every time you encounter one.

Therefore, ordinary people can basically say goodbye to leather jackets and fur. Ordinary people should be cautious when buying suits, jeans and other items in the early stages.

13. Pants are a good category

Pants are a good category, including casual pants and fleece pants. If tops test aesthetics, then the aesthetic requirements for pants are greatly reduced.

And many consumers are willing to pay for a good pair of pants.

Good pants not only look beautiful, but also accommodate your body shape.

Tolerant to thick legs, short legs, wide hips, pear-shaped body, and big buttocks.

If you really can't find a good top or skirt, you can focus on pants.

There are many small shops that specialize in selling pants, and they sell out easily.

14. Universal Collocation Saturation Attack

The initial matching actually focused on two points, one is universality and the other is saturation.

What is universality? Spring, summer, and autumn: a top with a pair of pants, this is the most universal outfit.

It can be a white shirt + jeans/casual pants, sweater + knitted pants; in autumn and winter, jacket + inner wear + pants.

Customers can buy a set, wear it easily and go out easily. This is universal matching.

What does saturation mean? It means that I will use multiple sets to attack this combination, a saturation attack.

As long as the general direction is betted correctly, the probability of a hit product will be very high.

But at the beginning, most people's choices went against this principle. They bought two sets of tops and pants, and then picked up a few dresses and a few jackets and shorts, and the power was dispersed again.

15. Don’t be obsessed with layering

Don’t be obsessed with layering. The more complicated the layering, the higher the requirements for the consumer’s body shape.

First you have to be thin, and secondly you have to be tall, otherwise you will look like a ball when layered together.

Most consumers who see layered wear basically think:

What you are wearing looks great, but I don’t deserve it, so I won’t buy it.

16. Four time periods for selection

Most ordinary people have no concept of time period when they first choose a model.

But this is actually a very important in-depth consideration in the selection process.

There are a total of 4 time periods to think about simultaneously.

Cultivation time cycle, outbreak time cycle, entire sales life cycle, and supply chain production life cycle.

The cultivation time period means that after I select this model and put it on the shelves, whether there is enough time to cultivate it, increase sales, show buyers, increase weight, and release anchors; the second is when its outbreak time point is. After I cultivate it for a period of time, can I just hit that outbreak time point and successfully explode at the outbreak time point.

Then the question is whether it will have a long sales cycle after it becomes popular, and whether it can be sold for a long time, allowing me to continue to make money.

Finally, the question is whether my supply chain can continue to stock, produce quickly, and replenish stocks to ensure the continued supply of this model.

If you choose the right style at the right time, it can satisfy all four life cycles at the same time.

For example, a pair of thickened knitted trousers can be cultivated in October when the weather is not cold yet, so you can spend a month to cultivate it.

After one month of cultivation, it will have three explosive cycles, one Double 11, one Double 12, and one New Year’s Festival in January.

If this pair of pants is well-produced, it will explode in popularity and sell out at these three time points.

After the three outbreak time points are completed, the life cycle of this pair of pants will be very long, and they can be sold until March in spring, or even until April at the longest.

This type of pants is also easier to produce in the supply chain, restocking can be done quickly, and the fabric is also easier to find.

If these four time periods are not taken into account, various problems will arise.

Without a cultivation period, it is too late to launch the product. Without cultivation during the explosive period, the traffic will not be provided, and the explosive node will be wasted. The life cycle is too short, and the style will quickly fall out of favor as soon as it sells out, and too little money will be made.

The supply chain life cycle is short. The supply chain for this model is no longer available because the production capacity is insufficient, the season has changed, the goods cannot be replenished, and there are no goods to sell.

17. Don’t be too demanding on quality

It doesn’t mean that we don’t pay attention to the quality of the products we choose, but we should find a balance between quality and price.

Consumers need products of good quality, but they also need products with low prices and competitive prices.

Good quality must be matched with good production technology, good factories, and good fabrics, all of which will greatly increase your costs, and high costs will raise your selling price.

Your quality is good, but the price is also high, so consumers will definitely not be able to afford it.

If the quality of high-end brand clothing is 95 points, the quality of Uniqlo is 85 points, and the quality of Pinduoduo products is 50 points,

Then your product quality control should be between 70 and 75 points.

Consumers generally think the product is acceptable, and the price is not expensive, so it has a high cost-performance ratio, which is also a satisfactory consumer experience.

Improving quality also depends on the post-processing of the product. For example, better ironing of the products from the factory, cleaning of thread ends, flattening, and replacing them with textured packaging will greatly improve the quality of the products.

So don't pursue high quality blindly, but try to provide products with relatively good quality and profit margins within the price range acceptable to consumers.

18. Classic colors are a must for matching

Always choose classic colors at the beginning, you will never go wrong. Everyday black, white, gray, blue, apricot, and khaki are all classic colors.

Avoid niche colors in the early stages. Even if they look good, consumers may not necessarily accept them.

The matching also follows the classic color matching.

Blue and white, gray and white, black and white, blue and gray,

There is a fixed barrier to user perception. If you are not a fashion pioneer and cannot lead consumers,

Then match their choices within their inherent cognition. The extension of colors is gradual.

Many girls were fooled by the boss when they first chose the style and got 5 or 8 colors.

With so many colors, can you sell them?

Start by selling the basic colors first, then gradually add colors as the sales grow.

Author: Liu Weidong, WeChat public account: Liu Weidong’s Entrepreneurship Notes.