As a lover of all things numbers, BridalLive reports make our heart sing. I like to know everything from what my top sellers are and what dresses just aren't moving at all. Whether it's chasing sales goals or watching new collections take off..... numbers are my jam. Numbers are not biased, I can always count on them for cold hard facts, and they give absolutely zero opinion. Numbers tell the truth. Simple as that.
Monitoring best selling pieces, seeing which collections do the best as a whole, and even what sizes and colors are most purchased are all important facts when preparing for buying season. It can also give you a great indication as to what is most popular with the staff. Your sales team will push & sell things that they like. So what dresses are they excited about & why?
Let's say you have the industry average close rate in your store which is 50%.
So we are saying that half of the customers you work with are buying a dress from your store.
But let's look at this another way.
If 50% of your customers are buying from you that also means that 50% of your customers are not.
They are buying something that you don't have in your store.
So while it's important to look at your best sellers and buy off of those statistics, it's also important to figure out what you don't have that is selling elsewhere. Even more importantly, if you have less than a 50% close rate, it means that more brides are buying what you don't have than what you do have.
How crazy is that to think about?
So how do you figure out what to buy? ...... if you are running numbers off of the minority.
It's A LOT of work, but here is how to get a better idea.
1) Design reps from your competitors. Reach out to the design reps from your competitor's collections. Is the collection available? Are they looking to change accounts? Is the line doing well in the area or are they looking to work with a new store? Use them as an indicator.
2) Trunk Shows! Step outside your box. Bring in new collections to test out or pieces from your current collections that you would never buy at market. Did you buy right? What are your brides wanting to try on?
3) Ask your brides what they bought. There is nothing wrong with asking your brides to send you pictures of what they ended up saying yes to! The worst thing they can do is ignore you. Also, make sure to track & save these photos.
4) Ask your team what you are missing. Use your dream team to help you buy. They are the ones on the sales floor with the customer. They know the styles, fits, and designers that brides keep asking for. They know what's missing.
5) Pinterest Trends. If you type in "wedding dress" into your Pinterest tab and see all the tabs that pop up underneath? Those are the trending or top keywords searched from brides or soon-to-be brides! Write those down and take note of what's trending with brides!
6) Market Trends. If you have ever walked the showrooms of bridal market & noticed ALOT of similarities or crossover among designers, pay close attention... If you're seeing trends and similarities so are your brides. Invest in those pieces.