Wholesale Buying Strategies and Trend Forecasting on Hubventory

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Business can be a lonely game. But it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and and I can't wait to chat. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. This week I have one of my favorite people on. I am so excited. If anyone has been to our showroom in Dallas, you've had the opportunity to meet Samantha Connor on our team. And of course, of all the other markets, Vegas, Atlanta, everywhere we go, you're everywhere. But you're such a bright light for our community and for our team and I'm so pumped to have this little chat with you today. Thanks for being here.

Yeah, thank you. I'm excited. I've listened to your podcast so many times, so I was really honored that I get to be on it for the first time. So this is going to be awesome.

You're going to do awesome. And if anyone has not had the opportunity to meet you yet, they better buckle up because I'm telling you, you guys, Samantha is one smart cookie. So she understands business both from a brand's perspective and from a boutiques perspective and just gives such a great view of the industry as a whole. So I'm really excited to dive into all those things today. But first, let's start here. We have a huge week coming up in the month of May that we definitely want to spend some time talking about today. Can you tell me what's coming in May?

Yes. Yeah. So we have fall market week, which is going to be on Hubventory. The dates of that are May 13th through the 17th. That's a Monday through Friday. It's an awesome time for you guys to take advantage of some great deals, discounts, free shipping, and get that product in to your store just in time for that holiday season.

I love that. Well, before we digest all of what fall market week has to entail, if anyone's listening and they don't yet know what Hub and Tori is because she still is so new in our industry. Let's go all the way back there. You've been around since Hub and Tori's birth. Talk to me like a proud mom. Tell me what Hubventory is and all the details.

I do feel like a proud mom. So Hub and Tori really came about from the need of our brands and our retailers saying there's got to be a different and a better way to do online wholesale buying. You know, Ashley and I are big believers in the market experience and going and touching and feeling clothing. But you know, we saw during COVID was after that not everybody has the opportunity to hit a market five times a year, may not be available to you because of travel constraints, budget, just having someone man your store, watch your kids. So talking to our members, they said, you know what if we could have this great place where we can meet online and do our buying and it's going to be our community. So it's going to be those trusted brands that we love. It's going to feel like the hub, but it's an online wholesale platform and that's what Hubventory really is. It's the boutique hub in the form of an online wholesale platform.

Yeah, I love that. And it's just to elaborate even more, I just feel like there, there was such a need for like a grassroots movement in what's good for brands and what's good for retailers and build that into a wholesale platform. We've seen so many wholesale platforms come and go and change and I just really wanted to make sure as you know, like we want to do as many listening sessions as we could about what really drives your business forward. What are the tools, what are the different strategies, what are the things that are smart for business that we can build into Hubventory? And I think that's the angle that we definitely took. How do you buy smarter every step along the way? Not just how do we get you as many sales out of your bank account as we possibly can. That's good for us, but not necessarily good for you or good for the brand. That's the big angle that we've taken. Tell us a little bit more about Hubventory. How else does it work?

Well, you know, it's so great about it is there's things that the brands love and things that the boutiques love. And what I like about that is that it's, it's an even playing field. Like you said, some things in the past have been slanted one side or the other. And the way that our industry works is that it's got to be good for everybody that's in the game. So our wholesale brands love it because it's a low flat rate commission. In order for them to provide you as a retailer the best pricing and the best products, it's got to be sustainable them long term. So they've Got to be able to turn a profit just like you do. And so Hubventory supports that. The payouts are immediate. So when an order is placed, it's shipped. The brand gets that money right away so they can invest that back in their business, make more things for you to buy and continue that cycle. We also have Shopify integration which makes it super easy to upload that product. We didn't want our brands to have to hire a whole new set of people to run their E commerce for Hubventory. We wanted to make it that it's just part of their business, just another channel. Omni Channel is so important. And then the boutiques, well, you guys have been loving it because one your favorite brands are on there. It's also got the Shopify integration for you. So once you create that order and place an order on Hubventory, pay for it, then it creates a draft in your Shopify. So those photos, those descriptions, those are it's a done for you solution. It's already loaded onto your E commerce Shopify platform. So that's been amazing. And then that relationship we have with brands, they've been so kind to offer discounts and free shipping and just some special perks for our hub members because of the relationship that we've built with them over the years. And that's something that you won't find anywhere else. You don't have to pay for it extra. It comes with your boutique hub membership. And it's just about that whole thing of we're in the business of doing business with relationships. We're not just doing transactions that can be done anywhere and that's not going to lead to long term success. So these brands have really dedicated themselves to partnering with you guys as retailers and seeing you through the long haul. And that's what I think really makes it stand out.

That's so true. Can you explain this a little bit further? I get asked this question a lot. I'm sure you do as well. But do you have to be a boutique hub member to shop wholesale on hubventory.com?

Yeah, that is a great question. So you do not at all. We do pride ourselves in the fact though that all of the boutiques that register and are approved to shop on Hubventory inventory are vetted. So we do need you to be in the business of wholesale. We don't want anyone just coming and buying some extra things and selling them at the carpool line at wholesale prices because that's not good for anybody. So just like when you go to a market you have to submit, you know, your tax id, your proof of business. Our team checks out as quickly as possible, verifies that you are a vetted retailer and then you're approved to shop. But for the brand side, we do require a membership for those brands and the reason why is we want them to come in and, and to be dedicated to our community. We want them to be here for the long haul. We find that it usually takes about a year to build that relationship and that trust, sometimes longer. But that year long membership that a boutique Hub brand has tells you as a retailer, okay, if I have a question about a product or if something goes maybe wrong or the wrong thing comes, are you going to be there when I come back to you? And the answer is yes. Yes, they will.

Yeah, that's so good. Especially when it comes to, you know, big issues like trademark infringement or brands that are just distributors that are actually just knocking off someone else's original design and, you know, making it appear kind of like Sheen and Temu do. You know, I've taken someone else's photo and made it appear as if I created this exact product. We try to weed all that out and no other platform's ever done that the way that Hub and Tory has. And so I think that's something to be really proud of as well.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. So the trust factor is there. And then we've also built in tools just to make doing business easier. So for our retailers, a question that I know Ashley and I hear a lot is maybe the delivery is gonna be late. I ordered those shorts and now they're showing up for me in November and I don't really need shorts in November. So what was so great when Ashley mentioned earlier you did about the listening and all those things that we did before Hub and Tori was born, all of the research that was one of the main things that came back was how can I track delivery dates and make sure my orders are gonna arrive on time so I have enough time to sell them, make a profit, reinvest. So we've got delivery calendars that are built in on Hubventory. So when you place those orders, you can see when those are gonn, you can set cancel dates. So if there's a date where you're like, absolutely, if this Halloween shirt shows up on November 1, it is a hard no that cancel dates already built in so you can make sure you got that product in time. And that's really helpful. And then of course, budgeting, we got to have a plan and you know, as far as an open to buy plan, this isn't a full open to buy plan. This is a really great. I'd say it's like a good list to get started with so you can set up categories. So if you're saying, okay, I know I'm going to need valentine shirts, looking for some jewelry categories, maybe I've got your collections. What am I going to have for game day? You can set a budget for each one of those. And then as you're purchasing products on Hubventory, just indicate which budget bucket that goes into, and then you can tell, okay, I have enough of that. I'm full there. That's plenty. And I'm not going to overspend. So I think that's really great too.

Yeah. How about the ROI calculator? That's something I hear a lot of feedback on. People love the ROI calculator as well.

Yes. Yeah. And I said, we even used it on our team for products that we carry in the showroom. Like if we're getting T shirts and things. Because here's the great thing, you look at the product and you're like, great, mark it up three times. I'm gonna make this money. And then you start looking, you're like, well, actually probably about a third of this I may have to mark down halfway through. And then there may be a little bit more that maybe I have to mark down again. And what, at the end of the day, how much am I really gonna make on, you know, these three packs of shirts or whatever the product is? And so that ROI calculator gives you a very easy. It's just a slider tool. And if you want to set it up of, okay, I'm going to sell this amount, full price, this amount and maybe a third off. And then this amount I'm going to have to reduce. At the end of the day, how much money am I really going to be getting back? And so it tells you that. And that's really the big thing, is if we know what our numbers are, we track them, we watch them, then it's not a big deal. But when we ignore them, that's the issue.

Yeah, absolutely. I've got to go back to something you were mentioning just a minute ago, because I feel like this is such a timely conversation for our industry. One of the biggest struggles I see from retailers of all types and sizes, especially, I'll say, on the apparel side of the industry is going to market or placing an order online, either one. And, you know, thinking, I'm going to get all these things shipped to me by such and such date.

Right.

And you alluded to all of this, but actually what happens is I get shipped broken packs or I get, I ordered a set and I get the top and I don't get the bottoms. My shipping is outrageous. I'm getting so, you know, Christmas socks in January. It's a really like tough time for me to track and manage all of my POS and understand where things are at. And again, this is happening all over the industry. I just have to double down on the fact this is why Hub in Tory exists is to solve problems like this. So when you said there is a built in cancel by date, that's really important for you to know if, if you're like, I don't have enough time to manage all this stuff, Ashley, well, let's automate it for you so that if I say I want shorts, but I do not want shorts shipped to me after July 1st, there's a set cancel by date. So you don't have to worry about that. It's all tracked on your delivery calendar. And then what I love even more, Samantha, is our integration with Faves. If you guys are using the Faves app for buying huge shout out to Oola, I think it's completely worth it. It will track all of your POS and all of your orders from any wholesale marketplace that exists, plus all of your in person buys at market. And it will also sync to Shopify, just like Hubventory will sync to Shopify. So there are ways around this to really automate this process for you to make your buying much more seamless and to ensure that you're going to get the products that you're ordering when you're ordering them.

That automation is essential because otherwise you will just be chasing your tail and it wears you out. It will not be able to sustain it long term.

Yeah, absolutely. So, all right, we talked about what Hub and Tory is. Now let's talk about our fall market week and what's coming up because we want to make sure again, that savings piece that you talked about, how do we make it, you know, easier for a small business owner to save some money in the wholesale buying process? Tell me about that specifically.

Yes. Yeah. So we wanted to do kind of is replicate that in person market experience, but online. And that's really what fall market week is. It gives you a chance to make a plan, get some great products and get them into your store in time for the busy holiday season, which is, we know, the super bowl of the retail world. So when we look at this, it's March or not March, it's May 13th through the 17th. And great things about this this specific week is you're going to be able to get free shipping from a lot of your favorite brands. They're excited about you guys coming in for our fall market week, so they wanted to offer something special for you. And so you're going to see a lot of free shipping offers. Something else you're going to see are special Hub member discounts. So if you've been on the platform or if you're a first time shopper, you may notice there's a little black circle on the top of a lot of the products and it says Hub. If you click or hover over it, then it pops out and shows you what the discount is. And so Discounts range from 5 to 10% off. Like we mentioned, free shipping, just other deals like that. So the idea is really that you can get in there and find some either great margin builders or just save on products and brands that you already love. So we're excited about that too.

Yeah. How about double points Day rewards are brand new for us on hubventory and that's going to be a huge opportunity as well.

Yes. Yeah, I love it because you're earning on things you're already buying. So you are already going to buy those cute Judy Blue shorts. Right. So might as well earn some money on them when you do. So the way the point system work is works is for every purchase that you make, you do get points and then those are held in there, you don't have to track them. We do that for you and then you can redeem them. And as any great point system, we will prompt you to redeem them. They'll show up in your cart and you can say, yeah, sure, I'd like to save $10 off this order. Or maybe you're a big shopper and you've earned hundreds of dollars of points, you can use that. But what's great during this fall market week is it's double points. So every purchase you make those points automatically double. So it's a great way to really rack those up quickly and then be able to redeem them right away too and use them for the purchases that you're making for that fall inventory.

Yeah, I love that. And really more than Hub and Tory being just a wholesale marketplace and a buying platform, we we really wanted to bake education into everything we do. So we again make sure you're buying smarter every single step of the way. So Talk to me about the Be a Better Buyer webinar that's also coming during that week.

Yes. Yeah. So wholesale products are only good if you have a plan to buy them. You know, that's it. Otherwise they're just sitting there. So Ashley and Sarah Burks are going to team up for a Better Buyer webinar. That will be the Monday of our fall market week. And so that is actually, that's the Tuesday. It's May 14th at, let's see, 10am Central. And so what's going to be so great about that is you guys are going to learn tips and tricks for really investing your inventory. So questions we hear a lot that Ashley and Sarah are going to answer are, how much trend product should I buy? How much of the basics should I buy? What should that, that assortment look like? How do I manage the things like Ashley talked about of when it comes in and building out those collections and how do I plan for that? What are products that I know are going to be like my bread and butter that I can continue to sell all the time and where can I really splurge on some things that maybe are higher price items but my customers can get really excited about? So we'll break all those things down and then also identify, this is the product right here. It's got the savings on it. So go ahead and jump in on it and talk about those, those really good principles of taking your inventory buying seriously. Not just, oh, is it cute? But we need to look at it as how much can I sell this for? How am I going to merchandise this in my store? And how is this going to lead to my overall buying plan?

Yeah, it's so critical. I'm so excited for this webinar because, you know, I constantly am getting asked this question, how do I set my business apart from the rest? And how ultimately do I make more money at the end of the day? Because it's not about what you sell, but it's about what you keep. And that conversation has to be baked into making a buying plan. So we will discuss all those strategies, pricing strategies. We'll probably talk about markdown strategies, and then we're going to talk about specifically some of the tools on Hubventory. Like we mentioned, the budget tool, the ROI calculator, how to use boards to plan collections and launches to build FOMO and excitement in your business. We'll definitely map out all those pieces together on the webinar, so that'll be super, super helpful. The other thing people get really excited about with the webinar and with the week as a whole, and this is something we've done for a couple of years at the Hub that really I think helps us to stand apart is our trend reports. So tell me about the trend report we're going to see launching during fall market week.

I am so excited. The trend report gets better every time. So if you were with us in the beginning, it was good. And then every season, like I just went again through the spring one from last year's just kind of see and I was like, I didn't even realize all this was in here. So the trend report is put together by our team. They do hours and hours and hours of research. They look at everything from, you know, this Paris fashion shows to what, you know, fashion snoops is pulling in with those magazines. The editorial pieces are coming out and saying this is going to be to look. And then they also look at what our wholesalers are offering and match those things up and say what is really going to be hitting the floor? What is going to be hitting the shelves of Hubventory, so to speak. And when you think about shopping, a market. I had someone told me this the other day. They said that's really the final exam. So you've got to do all your homework to be ready for that final exam. So before you come to Hub and Tory, that's going to be your test is what you're going to buy. But how are you going to study for that? How are you going to be prepared? And that's the trend report. And that's going to help you really get your mind set on what it is that you want to bring in, what your customer is going to be looking for and really help focus in and hone in on those products that you need to purchase. So just like we never go to the grocery store hungry, we don't want to show up without a plan. And that trend report is going to help with that. So things that it covers in the beginning is really like how much of things to buy. So what should be the percentage of trend versus your basics? Ashley always talks about bread and butter and so really bringing those things in your margin builders. And then it gets to the fun part, which is my favorite are all the trends.

Do you want to give us some sneak peeks?

So I pulled out like four collections that I think we're going to see over and over again. Of course there's many, but my favorite four, the first one is Ladies who lunch. And so a lot of the trends are going to come from tv, movies, that kind of thing. So I have not seen this show, but I've seen previews for it. Truman Capote versus the Swan. And it's very like 1960s. The Chanel, the pearls, the satin. So think about like really pairing that, like flowy satin skirt with a, you know, feminine blouse. Pearls. Kitten heels with the pointy toe. We're seeing again. So that look. Definitely. So think about ladies who lunch when you're planning your collections. The second I have probably over already used, but it's the mob boss wife.

Yes.

Yes. Ashley. I feel like we could be a mob boss wife. We didn't marry the right man, but we could still dress it right. Right.

You look rich today, Samantha.

You look rich. Thank you.

Very mob boss.

I love it. So, yeah, mob boss. What she's gonna be wearing is a lot of that fur. Faux fur is back. So I hope that you kept it because it's back. The leopard is back in big ways. We're gonna see a lot of patent leather, head to toe leather. So the typical mob boss wife, you're going to see her in some really skinny, tight leather pants. That bustier corset top is coming out again. And then a big chunky faux fur, whether it be leopard or a solid color. And then she is not picky about her metal. So she will mix gold and silver. She just can wear a lot of it. So you're going to see a lot of that. Heavy, heavy, heavy. And then our bags are going bigger. So she's going to be carrying a big purse. So before we had the little tiny clutch where you're looking at it and thinking, my iPhone won't even fit in that. No. Now we're going back to huge, oversized statement bags. So I'm excited about that look too.

I love these things. So these are apparel trends, but the trend report also has children's shoes, home and gift. What else is in there? There's all kinds.

Yes. Yeah. So we want to really build out that lifestyle brand too, and all the things that go with that. I know we have a lot of specialty retailers that are shopping on Hubventory and looking for those other things. And really, there's some great pieces for you guys. And stationary is going to be huge. And that goes back to that when you say you look rich and that customization. People love the stationery. It's been customized. Whether it's monogram or name anything with some kind of humor or satire. Ashley, I feel like this screams your name. All those memes, we want to see them on the mug the mousepad, the lunchbox, that's another cute item too to bring in. And then this never ends. But socks, our big cups, those tumblers. Yeah, and lunch boxes too. So we're going to see a lot of those coming in and those are great items. Not only that are super giftable, but they, they translate year round. Those are things that can be used all the time. So you can order deep on those and then bring them out or re merchandise them throughout the year for our kids. Super excited kids. As always, it wants to follow a little bit of women's, but of course we're not going to go full mouth, boss, wife on our two year old. But you're gonna see cute, cute fur vests again for our kids. The leopard's gonna come through and then that private school preppy look that's kind of really cute. Like I said, it can go either way. You know, you can see it on mom or you can see it on kid, but we'll see the return of plaids, the Mary Jane tights, colored tights. So for you or the kids, red is going to be the tight to have, which that's why I wore my red today, was to really give us that red inspiration. Hot pink is kind of getting set to the side and red is moving in, which is interesting to me.

Hey guys, one of the most important things you do in your business on a regular basis is source amazing wholesale products to stock in your store. So no matter what you sell, whether it's apparel or home and gift or children's or shoes or maybe just the right specialty and beauty products, I'm so excited, excited and I want to invite you to shop on hubventory.com Hubventory.com is our very own grassroots wholesale marketplace built at the Boutique Hub by boutique owners for boutique owners. Not only are you going to find only the most quality vetted and curated brands that we selected for you that we know love to work with retailers just like you. But you're going to find creative ways to buy your inventory from inventory planning boards. Think Pinterest helps you build collections and really see your entire inventory before you buy it. You're also going to find your budget calculators, ROI tools and of course anybody can buy on hubventory.com whether you're a member of the Boutique Hub or not. But if you are a member of the Boutique Hub, members can save 5 to 10% plus free shipping on many orders on the platform, all as a thank you from the many brands that are selected to be on Hubventory. As a thank you for supporting them directly on the platform. Because brands too love Hubventory for its low flat commission. That makes it easier for them to do business and to stay in business. Truly built by the industry for the industry. Hubventory also has Shopify integrations, both for the wholesale brand selling on the platform, but also for you as the retailer. So the second you make a purchase, your item can become a draft order, a draft product complete with photos from the vendor in your Shopify account, hopefully saving you time and energy to work smarter and not harder every single day. I hope you'll give it a try. Take a test run over@hubventory.com it's completely free to use and again, if you're a member of the boutique hub already, you're going to save on many of the orders. The brands are waiting for you and they're looking for you there. So shop now. Our very own wholesale marketplace built by our industry for our industry. Hubventory.com yeah. Oh, I love that. I get so nerdy about trend reports. I love that you share this. So you guys that are listening, just so you know this, the Fall Trend Report is going to launch with fall Market week. But if you do not yet have access to the Spring Trend report and the previous trend reports we've done at the Hub, if you're a Hub member, those are all linked up on your Hub member dashboard, so you can access them anytime. And they're also linked directly to products that are shoppable, which is really cool. So it's not just like here's this big idea and inspiration, but literally here's the wholesale brands producing these items and where you can snag them right now. So it takes a huge step out of the process. But I'm going to link up the Spring Trend report so if you guys are still buying into spring and summer, you can still take a look at what some of those immediate trends are right now. So I'll link that up for you guys in today's show Notes.

Yeah, and the great Hub and toy too though, is that we do have immediate. So it's either immediate or pre order. So I'm just looking, you know, at the, I said the search history for the past week. We're still seeing a lot of people that are buying for spring. They're looking for that baseball, Mother's Day, teacher appreciation. And we've got full products that are, like I said, immediate ships. They're going to come out in the next 14 days or less. And you'll be able to get those in store and get those moving. Yeah.

One thing we haven't talked about yet, Samantha, about Hubventory and just buying as a whole is just the opportunity to plan in collections and use the inventory planning boards on Hubventory. We always had this vision to make Hubventory like a wholesale platform meets Pinterest so that you could plan everything out. You could see all of your collections laid out, you could see your next new arrivals launch in one place, and then you could add it to your cart. Not just like when I'm shopping and I go to, you know, whatever website, I add 30 things to the cart and then I start to deduct from there. No, there's a much smarter way to buy and also see the dollars attached to what I'm going to buy. Tell me about the inventory planning boards.

Yeah, these are one of my favorite things. Like Ashley mentioned, I've done the full circle in the. In the apparel industry. And so I did work as a sales rep. And one of my favorite things was when we had a show and, you know, buyers would come in and we'd plan out their collections, but it was on the wall. And so we had these big frames and we put pieces up, and we would look and say, okay, I'm going to pull this from this line and this from this line, and look how these colors, merchandise together. Oh, and then we'll pull this in and we would say, these are going to be my drops. And a lot of our drops are based on different months, but we could also say, okay, this is going to be my black and white drop. And how's that collection going to look? And so in the very beginning, when I came on the team and Ashley and I were brainstorming and planning, and she was like, I'm going to these boards. And I was like, oh, my gosh, it'll be just like the wall and the drops at market. And so the thing about that is we're all so visual, and to be able to see it spread out as a whole that way, just really. One, it's fun because it's super creative, but two, it's smart because then you can start to see, where are my holes? Am I too heavy in my denim or too heavy in my blouses? And I forgot to get skirts. Am I missing dresses? Like, what are those pieces that my customer, she always wants to come in and get? Like the blouse that she can put with jeans, but then also with a skirt later and make sure that you have those. But it's A cohesive way to plan that. And the problem with the cart is if you just put it in the cart, you can't see it that way. And then you get the order and you're like, wow, I got a lot of stripes. I got a lot of stripes. And you don't have that. That visual. So those boards are fun. And, you know, to help you get going, if you're somebody that's like, I don't know what to put on my board, our team spends a lot of time curating boards for you. So there is. I will tell you, I already started a mob boss wife board. And then we do have a quiet luxury one that I've made as well, that it's our rich board. So that's a shout out to Sarah Burks there. But those have. Those have already been started for you. So you can either buy from those directly, or you could take items from our boards and repin them to your boards. Or if you know that you've got a specific look that you want to build, you can do that as well. But they're kind of addictive. I will mention that.

Yeah, I totally agree. I have several boards I've made on Hubventoria, and they are addictive. So get ready. All right. Speaking of that, you travel to markets all the time, all over the country, and so you have lots of conversations with retailers and with brands about what's working right now.

Yeah.

So I would love to pick your brain. And just out of the last several trips you've been on and the conversations you're having, what are you hearing that is working? Let's start with retailers first.

Yeah. Well, you know, and I would. I say this too. I feel like what we've seen is kind of the death of the mall. And if you live anywhere near a mall, I think you can say, yes, that is true. People aren't wanting to go do the big box shop. They don't want to mill around with a group of people and just fumble through racks of clothing. They're looking for an experience, and that is where our boutiques are winning and our small independent retailers are winning. So those of you I've seen recently, you know, at Market, I said, what's happening? What's going on in the store? And they said, I just had an event, and it was amazing. So events that are really hitting and doing well are things that it provides an experience. So those charm bars, we went from the hat bar to a trucker hat bar, which is a really fun activity, opportunity to create and build together Succulent bars. So this isn't just for apparel. Our specialty retailers, I know a lot of you are carrying like home and gift and garden idea gifts and items and so that gives you an opportunity to do that as well. But give a reason for that retail, that buyer to come into your retail space, make it exciting, make them feel like they're having a moment with you and with whoever they brought shopping with them.

Yeah, I love that. So true. How about for brands? What do you see working for them at the same time?

Yes. Yeah. So what brands are doing is they've gotten really smart too about building that relationship with the retailer and reaching out to them and saying one, are you having any events? If you're not, let me help you. These are some things I've seen that have done really, really well and I think it'd do great for you. How can I be a part of that? But just like that, continuing that education for the retailer. So brands, the way that I think Hubventory helps you and the boutique hub helps you is we're telling you, here's some struggles that retailers are having. How can you provide solutions? And those solutions definitely are coming through relationships and experiences and we continue to do that. I think that is building that, that long term sell through process which is really to repeats.

Yeah, that's so true. I think that there's. Let's just have like a bigger conversation, industry conversation for a second because I think something else that we're seeing, and I know you and I have talked about this is the shift from all of this immediate, all this ready to ship and the expectation that everything's ready to ship on the apparel side, this is not true on home and gift. Those markets are very different and we can maybe talk about the differences in a minute, but that is changing with the economy. I think there's maybe a lack of understanding about production and the investment that wholesale brands and manufacturers are putting in to create samples. And what is the purpose of a market season in relation to those samples in production? Can you talk about that process for a little bit? And maybe the wholesale apparel buyers who are listening what they need to know about the change and what is ready to ship and what's not.

Yes. Yeah. So the old way of doing things and what we're getting back to which is more sustainable in my opinion, and I think a lot of people's is that the brand creates a few samples, they're going to bring them to market. Retailer looks at them either, like I said, they bring them to market, they put Them on Hubventory, they look at them and they say, I need to order this many. And then you're going to wait six to eight weeks and then it will arrive. So they're going to produce based on the numbers that you're telling them. This was great because for those wholesale brands, they could plan their manufacturing, their production. They knew they were going to fulfill these orders. That's how many make. I'll cut a little bit over in case people want to do reorders or maybe there's some last minutes. But I'm not going to just create an excess and hope that somebody buys it. And so that was how it was done. And then during COVID obviously, things changed. We had a lot of shipping problems, shipping delays. Factories were shut down. The retailers felt like they couldn't get product. And so when everything became available again, I think there was some fear in buying. And retailers said, I don't want to buy months and months in advance because I'm not sure what it's going to look like three months from now. I don't have that certainty and confidence anymore, so I'll just buy what I need right now. And for the brands, that's hard because they weren't used to producing, to have it ready just sitting there where it was like, whatever you want, I can just go grab it and pull it. I'll just grab it and pull it and hopefully I've made enough. And so that's where I really got into a lot of those packs and just creating abundance and abundance and abundance with the hopes that a retailer would be able to buy it and that they would take it immediately. And then, you know, we saw two economies changed a little bit and the retailers, you guys, weren't able to take as much. And so now all these brands had all this product that was just sitting there and they said, I thought you would want it. I made it and it was ready for you, and you ended up not needing it. Now what am I going to do? And that's hard. Nobody wants to sit on inventory. As a retailer, you guys know that you do not want money on a hanger in your store. And so the shift that we're seeing really is that those wholesale brands are saying, I want to create for you. I want to bring you new product. That's exciting. I don't want you to see old. But in order to do that, I need you to let me know how much to make and you can let me know how much to make by placing pre orders. Yeah.

And that's the way that the industry typically has been. And if you're somebody again, home and gift already does this. This is how that industry operates. This is not new. Yeah, but if you're somebody who is shopping a lot of times with a better brand, like a higher price point brand, like I'm going to say like a Liverpool or a showroom brand, you're used to that as well. You're used to going in February and placing fall orders. That's how it's commonly been done. But if you think about, like you mentioned, you don't want things hanging on your sale rack. You don't want, you know, half your pack left over. Imagine being an apparel brand and you don't have just six items left over, you have 600 items left over. And then what do you do with those things that are left over? Because you cut them all thinking everyone would buy them, it's ready to ship and then they don't. Well, that's why you see these brands then offloading to TJ Maxx and to Marshalls and they're on Amazon. But then as an industry then we start screaming and saying, but we don't want you on TJ Maxx and Marshalls and Amazon.

We hate that. We're not going to buy with you now anyway.

And so it's like these brands are kind of stuck. You're kind of like, what do I do? I can't produce the right amount at the beginning and I can't offload what I'm stuck with. And so now what? And so you are seeing so many of the brands going back to here's my sample and you are going to place the pre order. You order it now and then you'll get it when it's gone through production. And I can better manage my money and my investment. And I don't blame them for that. Are there any other lessons you think we should learn as buyers in that process of, of how to, you know, better plan, but more importantly, how to better work with our brands?

Yes. Yeah. I mean it's so important. Like you said, it's a relationship. And so really when you go to market, I know we've talked about this before and I will bring it up every time because I believe it. If you write an order, that is your promise that you're going to take those, those goods. You can put a cancel by date, you can set up the parameters, but you're telling them, I want to buy this. So just be like if someone came into your store and told you they were gonna Buy things and you're like, okay, I'm gonna get them all ready for you. And then you would not want them to say, nevermind, I changed my mind. And you had to go put everything back or you had to remake things or you know, undo things that you had done. So it's really that relationship of that's your promise to purchase when you're at market. So follow through with that. These wholesale brands, a lot of them, I'd say actually I can't think that many that aren't are small businesses just like you. So a lot of them is a generational business. Their parents had done it or someone in their family and they've taken it on or this is, and this is their heart and soul and this was their dream too. And when they come to market, they're investing a lot of time and money and effort to bring you the very best. And so when you show up to work with them, they want to serve you, they want to get you that best fit product. And so when you write that order, that expectation is you're going to take the order and you're going to pay for it when it's ready. And so there's ways, like we said, you know, put a cancel by date if that's something that makes you nervous. But write that order at market. Write that order at market would be my thing that I'd say there.

Yeah, right, the order at market or buy it on Hub and Tory, where you have an automatic cancel date. Either one. But all of that to say. I completely agree with all of that. However, when there are brands who are shipping you Christmas socks in January or there's brands that are padding shipping costs, right. Or you know, like when you have issues like that, it's okay to say, okay, this brand is no longer for me. There are so many good brands out there that if there's ones that are repeatedly doing these things to you, it's okay to cancel them as a brand because there's, there's good ones that are waiting to be your partner and to build a relationship with you. And same like there's good and bad on all sides. We could so go into the weeds on this. But communication and relationships absolutely are key when it comes to yes.

Yeah, so that's one of those things too. If the brand, then it says, okay, this shipment's gonna be late, then they owe you a phone call to say, hey, it's gonna be late. Do you still want it? And then that's your choice to communicate and say yes, no Maybe so however that works out. But that is the big thing that Ashley's going back to is the communication. And so something that does make that easier because I know sometimes in marketing it's like, well, I don't know who it is, the person I'm supposed to be communicating with. We do boil it down pretty easy on Hubventory. There is a messaging option back and forth on there, so you can have that conversation. I know that we've had a lot of brands that will message the boutiques and say, hey, I've got this part of the order ready to ship and not this. Are you okay with me sending part of the order and then the retailer can choose? So it should be communication, it should be back and forth. Something really cool that I'm proud of about Hubtory is after that order is placed, it's kind of like Uber. You can leave a review both ways so a retailer can say, yes, this brand was great to work with and leave a nice review. If it wasn't so great, you can share that information as well. But then for our brands, like we said, because this is an even Steven relationship, they can say the same thing. Great tailor to work with, happy to partner with them, or if there was some drama or some issues that can also be shared. So it's full transparency on both ends.

Yeah, that's so helpful. I love that. I think, I think that's where the industry needs to get right. It's just more open communication, more relationships, more opportunity to collaborate on both sides.

Yeah. Yeah.

All right, last thing. I cannot believe we've been chatting this long, but so many good conversations. I just want to ask you this because you work both on home and gift and you work on apparel, you see both sides. What do you think home and gift retailers and brands can learn from the apparel industry? And what can the apparel industry learn from home and gift? How can we find better opportunity for collaboration among both?

Yes. Yeah. Well, one thing that I do like that I think that that Home and Gift, that specialty retailer brand, what they do in that sector is that pre ordering, I think they are really great at planning. One thing that I always think is so interesting is January market in Dallas is the home and gift show. And when you walk in and it's usually that first week in January, everybody, it's full blown Christmas all over again. Like it just started and I'm like, oh, my gosh, by then you're, you know, almost feeling like a little bit tired of Christmas, but that's how early they plan it is like Santa Claus, December 26th, they're rolling all the way to get those orders in and to make the plan. Make the plan. So I think that's something they do really well as they plan those drops far out so that you know what's becoming in. They know how much to manufacture in home and gift you and that specialty retail segment. And you get a lot of great imagery. You get catalogs and things like that. Because that planning is so far in advance, they can provide you with all those things. So that's something I really like about that sector. Something that they have to work on, I think, is the community aspect. They are not used to doing what we're doing when we do things like share our favorite brands or what's working in my store. Typically in the past they've been a little bit more private. You're going to see more zip code protection, more uncertainty in the idea that a community will make you stronger because they just never experienced it. And so that's where I'm really excited about some of the partnerships that we've got coming up this year is that the idea of, like I think where you said, where there are two businesses meet and that makes a shopping destination. And so that really is what we're going to see more of as we bring that idea to them and get them online more, build up that social media and E commerce. I think that's an area that they really are looking to lean into. And so our apparel people, you guys shine at ecommerce. I think you're so great about sharing brands and what's working for you. But I would like to see more on that apparel side is the planning, the preorders and just that trust with the manufacturer.