A short YouTube video (Boutique Hub) in which Sarah answers the question: how many vendors should a boutique owner buy from? She recommends buying from fewer, well-tested vendors to maintain consistent inventory (fit, color, trend), build stronger vendor relationships, gain purchasing power, reduce returns/administrative work, and turn inventory into cash faster. She acknowledges shopping around is useful but urges focusing buying to the vendors that perform well for your brand.
Chapters
Hey guys, it's Sarah with the Boutique Hub. And I'm back today to answer one of our frequently asked questions and that's about vendors. How many vendors should I be buying from? I'm asked this on the daily guys, the biggest mistake I find with boutique owners going to market is often they get overwhelmed and they see a vendor here and they buy a little bit from them and then they go around the corner and they buy a little bit from that vendor. Then they keep walking around, they start buying a little bit here and there to the point where they get confused and they're not sure what all they've bought. And then when UPS or FedEx delivers the packages, the majority of their items start to look the same. Too much of the same trend, too much of the same color, the same cut. Why? Well, because if it's on trend and it's popular, the majority of these vendors are going to be selling pretty much the same thing. So my tip to you on this, especially if you're just getting started, keep it simple. Less is more, right? Buy from less vendors. Try these vendors out. Find out what's really working for you in the price points, the quality, the delivery dates, and build those good quality vendor relationships. Why? Because if they're working for you and you have a good relationship going with them, when you need something, they're going to answer the call. If you've bought one pre pack from them and one pre pack from somebody else and another pre pack from somebody down the road, your brand loyalty is pretty low, right? Well, their loyalty back to you is also going to be pretty low. Build those relationships, find what works for you and try to live there. Really test the waters there. I'm not saying you can't shop around. I'm a big believer in shopping around. However, you have to know your inventory and know those spending dollars. The faster you turn that inventory into cash, the faster you make money and you can reinvest that back into more inventory to continue to make more money. But what happens is when a lot of boutique owners invest a little bit here and a little bit there and a little bit there, they end up sitting on their inventory because one, their offering is not very consistent. The fit and the function and the quality a lot of times varies. That's confusing to your customer. What happens when your customers are confused? Less sales. So keep it simple. That's my recommendation to you. With that, you, you combine all that vendor quality information, all that kind of stuff into one contact. If you have a problem that needs some returns among that entire order, you know the vendor to call. You have purchasing power because you're buying deeper from a vendor. They know who you are. They're willing to work with you. If you need to break up packs or you need to switch out delivery dates, they are going to feel like you're loyal to them, and they're going to be more up to work with you. But, guys, less phone calls to less vendors, less deals with returns, less deals with credits or. Or bill payment. All these kind of things take up time. If you have a hundred vendors you're working with, think how much time that takes you to manage all of those vendor relationships and all of those little bitty orders. So, yes, keep it simple. Especially if you're just getting started, right? I know it's enticing, and I know it's exciting to shop around and think, oh, maybe this is better. Maybe this is better. But, guys, keep it simple. Make sure you're testing the waters, seeing what works, seeing what doesn't work. As soon as you see it starting to not work, that's a great opportunity to try something else. Not too early. All right, guys, that is my tip for you today. How many vendors should you be working with? Work with the ones that are really treating you right and that serve your purpose. Less is more. Keep it simple. All right, if you have other questions, please let us know. We at the boutique cover all about education and building each other up. Community over competition. So we're all here to help each other survive. All right, guys, until next time. Good luck.
