Where Do Online Boutiques Get Their Inventories?
Of all of the questions that we have received regarding how to start an online boutique, the most common one is where do these businesses get their inventories. On this page, we are going to showcase a number of wholesalers and distributors that you can use to stock your business. We will also discuss the usage of drop shipping entities.
One of the first things that you are going to want to do prior to launching your boutique (online or brick-and-mortar) is to acquire the necessary state licensure so that you can acquire goods on a wholesale basis without incurring a sales tax expense. Your certified public accountant (CPA) can assist you in determining which state tax laws you will need to follow when acquiring wholesale inventories.
Clothing Wholesalers
LAShowroom.com – This business is one the largest wholesalers of apparel in the United States. They carry an immense number of popular brands and tens of thousands of pieces. They also carry products for any size figure.
Faire.com – This massive online market place provides a broad range of products including apparel. They provide access to 85,000 independent brands. Beyond apparel, they offer product categories including home décor, kitchen goods, beauty and wellness products, and jewelry. This business is highly regarded. It should be noted that if your online boutique also provides proprietary clothing, you can distribute your products through this platform as well.
StylePick.net – This website carries a broad range of apparel for women, men, and children. They also carry a number of accessory pieces. Popular brands that are carried specifically for women include 143store, Adora, And They Way, Davi & Dani, Hers & Mine, Glam Rack, and Madelyn.
OrangeShine.com – Much the above mentioned businesses, this platform provides retailers and online boutiques with access to women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing. They also showcase a broad range of accessories, handbags, shoes, beauty products, and complementary items. They update their website on a daily basis with new arrivals. A portion of their website is geared towards vendor promotions. Popular brands that are carried include Ariel USA, Mary Clan, 1Clique, and 7th Ray. They are an outstanding resource for smaller scale and independent clothing brands.
SugarLips.com – This business carries a broad range of collections that encompasses dresses, jumpsuits, rompers, tops, bottoms, and outwear. They categorize their inventories by occasion as well such as office chic, wedding guest, and weekend getaway styled clothing. Most of their garments are featured at a moderate pricing point.
FashionGo.net – This business provides both wholesale inventories for direct acquisition as well as dropshipping options for its partners. They carry a massive number of brands, and they also feature daily promotional discounts. This platform has a number of media drive features that make the buying experience as easy as possible. On FashionGo.net, you can acquire wholesale inventories of dresses, tops, pants, bags, footwear, and accessories. They have received very strong reviews from their retailing partners. They also carry a number of home décor items that compliments the apparel that they provide.
Joor.com – This platform is a global network of 13,300 brands operating among 385,000 retailers. They maintain a proprietary technology suite that allows you to connect with numerous suppliers among 159 countries. They have an extensive customer service apparatus that operates 24 hours per day. They maintain 12 global offices and they serve 144 countries. As part of their technology suite operations, they provide integrate showroom features that can be integrated into your online store. They have processed over 650 million product transactions which have totaled more than $65 billion of revenue.
TradeGala.com – This platform can be used by both apparel seller and buyers on a wholesale level. Similar to some of the businesses mentioned above, if you are offering proprietary apparel as part of your operations then you can use platforms like TradeGala.com to showcase your products to potential retailer partners. In regards to the brands that they carry, suppliers include Avinci, Bynelo, Danaya, Penti, Dusty Pink, Maison Caia, and Louluu. As with all of the platforms included in this list, they are well regarded and have been in business for a substantial period of time.
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As shown among the numerous profiles discussed above, there are a number of platforms that you can use when sourcing tens of thousands of brands that will meet your specific niche of products that you will be offering through your online boutique. Most importantly, you will be able to create highly curated collections of inventory that meet the styles and brands that are in demand among your targeted demographics. At this time, one of the best aspects of owning a unique boutique is that you can instantaneous access to hundreds of thousands of apparel, footwear, accessories, handbags, and home décor products that compliment the design, feel, and overall brand that you are striving to create.
The next section of this piece will showcase suppliers that operate on a dropshipping basis. Dropshipping allows you to showcase inventories that you have not yet purchased and will do so only once an order is made by a customer.
Trensi.com – This platform operates as a one-stop supply chain solution for people that are seeking to have apparel fulfillment for their boutique completed by a third party. They carry a number of different types of apparel for all sizes. They also continually provide discounted offered through their platform. They carry shoes, jeans, sweaters, jumpsuits, rompers, jewelry, as well as a line of home décor products. They also have products for pets as well. They are based in the United States.
BrandsGateway.com – This platform aggregates products from some of the world’s most renowned and popular brands. They have 100 globally recognized manufacturers and distributors that work with the business. They carry 9,000 products among 90 different product categories. Popular brands that are offered through this platform include Dolce & Gabana, Moschino, Coach, Tory Burch, and Gucci. They offer seamless integration with a Shopify store.
MyOnlineFashionStore.com – This platform provides a completely turnkey solution for providing a broad range of apparel through your online boutique. They also offer specialized tools that you can use when developing your website. As with the other websites discussed in this article, this company offers jeans, pants, outwear, dresses, tops, bottoms, jewelry, and related accessories for women of any size. They are well regarded as a drop shipping business.
Sycnee.com – This business provides a host of products for entities that sell products on a dropshipping basis. This includes thousands of different branded apparel products. They also have extensive ecommerce functionality that pairs seamlessly with existing ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Square. They have a unique manager that allows you to seamlessly see what products can be integrated into your online platform. They provide access to 12,000 brands on this platform.
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One of the best aspects of dropshipping is that you can test new products on your online boutique before committing to acquire inventories on a direct wholesale basis. If you notice that a specific product line remains in high-demand then you can work with the manufacturer to directly acquire inventories rather than having to pay a higher wholesale price. This is one of the reasons why it is imperative to continue to use state-of-the-art ecommerce integrations that can provide you with real-time data about which products are popular. These platforms also have metrics and analytics that you can review on the fly to which products are selling the quickest and which products are netting the most profit.
The above mentioned suppliers and dropshipping platforms represent a fraction of the companies that are available in the world for providing you with inventories for your online boutique. You can also reach out directly to smaller brands that may provide you with specialized terms for carrying their products within your boutique (retail or online). One of the nice things about developing a niche for your boutique (especially when you are stocking inventories with up and coming brands) is that you will be able to receive highly favorable terms when it comes to how long you can finance your purchases with your suppliers. We will go into this topic in much greater detail as we add more content to this platform.
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An additional way that you can create a specific niche for your online boutique is by sourcing inventories among local and regional apparel brands and among up-and-coming designers that provide their inventories on a limited basis. In fact, one of the ways that certain boutiques have become extremely successful is by establishing exclusive relationships with small scale apparel firms that will provide their inventories to your boutique for a short-term basis. Among boutiques that are seeking to create a strong differentiating factor, this can be a major driver of growth during the early years of operation. As time progresses, you can continue to sign labels to exclusive agreements or to acquire a majority of their inventories for sale through your platform (online and through brick-and-mortar operations).
By having access to a broad range of suppliers (among established, niche, and up-and-coming brands), you will be able to generate a diversity of revenue. Additionally, by fostering strong relationships with your suppliers – you will be in a better position to negotiate better wholesale pricing as well as receiving shipments quicker.