Inventory management for a bridal retailer is one of the biggest challenges we face. From getting caught up in the moment and overbuying, to selling off non-performing gowns, the whole area can make or break your business.
So how do you overcome these potential minefields and feel confident in the knowledge that your inventory is working hard for you?

Tip No. 1: BUYING

Don’t buy on the first day! It’s so easy to get caught up in the moment at a trade show when you’re being offered prosecco and nibbles and everything is looking so enticing: I am definitely guilty of this too! 
But in those circumstances you are rarely best placed to make the right buying decisions, and remember, these decisions will affect how successful your next season is in store, and so it’s vital that you make considered and confident selections, whilst in possession of all the facts.

Visit all your designers at the show, shortlist all your favourite dresses (I always give mine a score between 0 and 5) and photograph or video them where possible.

Then, when you are back at your store, go through each of your designers gowns, line sheet by line sheet, look at gowns you already have and look at what you’re planning to add to your rails. Eliminate the duplicates, unless the gown you’re replacing is likely to be discontinued or if it is a top seller, where it makes sense to have something similar.

At this point the pressure is off, as is the buzz you get from buying at the show. It means you will make more rational and informed decisions and it will help you to avoid over buying and you can make a decision with your team, which also may not have been an option at the event. NB Involving your team in buying decisions will result in increased buy in from them, and a more well rounded collection on your rails.

Tip No.2: SELLING THROUGHOUT THE SEASON

Don’t be a hoarder! At least monthly identify your best sellers. Talk them through with your team and find out where the trends are going. Have the top 5-10 dresses changed in the past month? Which new gowns are coming up the ranks and which older gowns are dropping out of the top 10?

Look at your idle stock, gowns that are not being pulled and are therefore not repeating. Go through them with your team. Are they not repeating because there is another dress that will always beat them, or are they not what brides are wanting right now?

If a previous best seller is slipping down the rankings give it another 6 weeks on your rails to make sure this is a trend and not a blip, and then give it a OTP (off the peg) price and make sure your team know you are ready to let it go.
Don’t be afraid to sell gowns off the peg throughout your season, remember knowledge is power so keep on top of dress performance and you can be ready to sell a dress OTP when the right bride walks through the door.

Tip No. 3: PRE DELIVERY SALE

Plan and pre-organise for a successful sale! You now know exactly what styles will be arriving and how long it will be before they are delivered. So at least 2 months beforehand, start to plan for your sale.

Any gowns that have not repeated for 6 months must go into the sale, any gowns that have not repeated for 3 months but have been on the rails for more than 6 months, should also be considered for the sale. Discuss these with your team and assess each one on a case by case basis, don’t be sentimental here! It may have been a best seller a year ago, but if sales have dropped off it will usually be for a reason, maybe a new dress has come in that stylists are pulling, maybe it’s just not a trending style that brides are looking for anymore, whatever it is, let it go!

Once you have you list of dresses, go ahead and make a decision on how much you a re prepared to reduced them by. Don’t be shy about pricing them to sell. If a gown is approaching 3 years old and not repeating, then you are in danger of it never selling, so anything you can achieve for that gown will be a bonus and money you can invest in new stock for next season. In contrast, if you know a gown is likely to sell well OTP then take off enough to make it appealing to more brides whilst still making you a good return.

Sample sales are definitely not as attractive to brides as they once were, and so it is up to you to build the excitement and drive the demand via your marketing. Drip feeding brides by email, sending teases that the sale is coming will start to get them interested, and then as you approach the event, (around 2-3 weeks beforehand) start posting images, video and prices (before and after) on your social media, in your email marketing. Add it as a Facebook event and an event on your My Business Google profile. Run polls on your stories, create a highlight on Instagram and basically keep talking about it to build awareness.

Think about how the event will run, how you will allocate appointments and whether there will be rules around the number of dresses that can be tried, the fact they must be paid for in full and taken away on the day etc. and make sure these are clear.

If you can add a banner to the homepage of your website, and create a page for all the dresses that will be going into the sale. In short, create as much visibility as you can and don’t worry about ‘over sharing’ as not all your brides will see all your marketing.

If you need any help or support with your inventory management or implementing anything in any of my articles, feel free to get in touch. I offer a FREE 15 minute strategy call to all Bridal Buyer readers, just visit my website here to get started.