February 16, 2026 • 24 mins
If you're a boutique retailer limiting yourself to fashion, you're leaving money on the table.
Hi, I’m Clare Bailey, founder of Retail Champion.
In this episode of Retail Reckoning, I’m joined by Steph Briggs.
She's a former boutique owner turned e-commerce expert—to reveal how carefully curated homewares and fragrances can elevate basket size and boost profits without diluting your brand.
Discover:
• Why homewares remove the friction that fashion creates (no size, no fit issues)
• The "good, better, best" pricing strategy for impulse buys to premium treats
• How scent creates powerful brand memory (Steph's customers could smell her shop from 100 yards away!)
• Real case study: How stocking gin brought new customers through the door
• The secret to translating in-store magic to online sales
• Visual merchandising techniques that help customers imagine products in their homes
Whether you run a fashion boutique, homeware shop, or gift store, this episode delivers honest, commercial insights on extending your range strategically—not randomly. Learn how to test small, scale deliberately, and create a cohesive brand experience that makes your business stronger, more profitable, and more memorable.
Take a listen and let’s get your Retail Reckoning together.
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https://theretailchampion.co.uk
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
If you're a boutique retailer and you think you need to limit yourself to fashion,
you need to think again, because carefully curated homewares and
fragrances can really elevate your basket size and
boost your profits. Today
it's all about independent fashion boutique owners, and
they're out there and they're thinking, how do I grow my business without losing who
(00:21):
I am? And this is something linked to a column I recently wrote for
Boutique Magazine, and it's why boutiques need to actually think
beyond fashion. And of course, boutiques aren't just fashion clothing,
their fashion homewares, but they tend to be a higher price
point, something a little bit more luxury. It's in the name, isn't it?
Boutique. It stands for something that feels just a bit more sexy
(00:44):
than going down to Poundland. But the response has been
really interesting, and a lot of owners are saying, I am
struggling with working out how I can generate more
revenue, higher basket size, and higher margins.
The column was all about getting that message out there, but today's episode is
about making it practical and showing how it really works on the ground.
(01:06):
So to help with that, I've invited Steph back. You'll probably
remember her from earlier episodes, our e-commerce and search engine
guru. But before that, Steph owned and ran a beautiful boutique
homewares and gift shop and was both in-store and online.
So she's lived it. She's handled the cash flow, margin, suppliers, the
breakages, the postage costs, and the real reality of
(01:28):
independent retail in-store and online. So today we're going to look at
how Steph can give some advice to other boutique owners in that
sort of thoughtful, joined-up customer experience that makes people come
back again and again. So we're going to unpack what works,
what doesn't, how homewares, gifting, and fashion
are accessories to growing your business rather than
(01:51):
distracting from it. No fluff, honest and commercial
insights. Welcome back, Steph.
Hi, Clare. Thanks for inviting me back again. So your boutique isn't
just a clothes shop, let's say. It's a world, a mood, a point of view,
a place where customers come to feel special. And
they like to feel special because boutique says it's about
(02:13):
quality, taste, and curation. So
why would we limit that world to just fashion?
Well, exactly. People get very nervous thinking that if they move
into homewares and they're moving away from fashion, and then they're no longer
a fashion boutique, they're moving more into a lifestyle shop.
(02:34):
But homewares, once they match the aesthetic, the customer, and the
price point, it really feels cohesive. And it's, it's like an extension,
if you like, of that part of the story rather than an add-on.
And I think that obviously is the key, isn't it? It's knowing your customers,
knowing what they love and why they come to you.
And so you know that they already appreciate that
(02:56):
aesthetic, that experience, and the taste And
for example, extending into a fragrance line
to supplement, whether it be a room fragrance or a personal one,
or homewares, it's, if done right, it should feel natural and they
can trust that that product that you're curating
for them translates into commercial growth.
(03:19):
If we wanted to really put that under the microscope and
look at the commercial case for homewares in traditional fashion
and boutique retailing. What would you say was the
reality around that? So the reality is that
fashion is a really personal experience. So your fit, size, and
style is very obviously personal. So buying for someone else
(03:41):
can be really tricky, but homewares removes that friction.
£120 dress might make the customer really
hesitate, but if you're adding on a candle or a jewellery dish,
or a blanket, something else, suddenly that feels quite easy. And
actually they're almost not buying that for themselves. They're buying that for their
home. And therefore it's an easy add-on. Average
(04:05):
order value can lift without adding extra customers.
Gifting is really huge. Candles, trays,
throws, they're all quite thoughtful gifts and
still personal, but they're also low risk in the fact that you haven't got to
worry about fit, size, and style. And they just make nice things
that can make people feel really special. So people leave
(04:26):
happy because they've either found a gift that they can give that they're proud of,
or something that fits in their home in their own style, doing
the whole, I'm buying this for me. It's buying it for their home, so it's
slightly different. It's almost like buying a gift for the house, isn't
it really? And I think it's really important from a brand perspective
as well, because something like, you know, the lovely scented
(04:48):
candles or the reed diffusers, I was given one as
a gift and then the next gift the lady bought me was a refill
for it. And it sits there, pride of place on my
mantelpiece. And it also means that when I open the door to the
living room, it smells beautiful, but it
also smells like the shop that she got it from. So it actually
(05:10):
might help me and others who use such devices
keep front of mind and make me remember the shop more
than any sort of social media ad or pinned post on
Instagram ever could. Scent, I always say, is the
sixth element when you're in retail. For my
store, when I had it, I had my own line of diffusers and
(05:32):
scented candles, but also come Christmas, we used to supply
lots of orange and cinnamon decorations. And
people always used to comment when they, they said literally, they, as soon as they
got out of the car park, which was kind of 100 yards from, from the
door, They always said, oh, we could smell the shop. It's amazing.
Draws us in. Now, obviously that was quite a strong scent, but
(05:54):
yeah, it's, it's bringing that scent memory back is a really
powerful thing. And particularly if you can have your brand label on it as well,
it's a double win really. And when you come to extending
the range and making sure that there's products there that perhaps
add that incremental value to the customer, you have to get
your pricing right and you have to be able to mirror the
(06:15):
core range. So obviously, you know,
we use things like good, better, best, where you might— the
good might be impulse buys at a modest price
point that's easy for gifting. Better might be a little bit
more considered purchase, somebody a little closer. Best
might be more of a treat yourself, something that makes a statement,
(06:37):
makes you feel really good about yourself, or it might be for someone extremely special.
So I think it's really important to remember that when extending the range
in boutique retailing, things should also
still be accessible because if somebody is spending a couple of hundred pounds on
an outfit, let's say, they might not have the budget to go much
above £30 on an incremental addition to the basket at the
(07:01):
import point of sale, but they might go that
far. And I think the accessibility. Is really important
whilst also protecting the margin? Absolutely. So
like you said, it's the good, better, best. So your good, you want your till
point pickups. So your lip balms, your candles, the
soaps, the tiny little things that are sort of £10 to £25,
(07:22):
£30 that people don't mind spending that
as an impulse. Sort of moving up to your better range, you want
something that's sort of more your diffusers, your larger candles.
Throws, that sort of thing, which are probably your gifting
section. And then on top of that, obviously your premium best
section is a real kind of indulgent treat
(07:45):
yourself. That should feel extra special. So your statement cushions,
your premium fragrances, all those sort of extra special parts.
And would you say that that's really important as the add-on
for a boutique customer? Because obviously you don't shop boutique.
Unless you are expecting to spend a little more and get something a little more
luxurious. Do you think these are really important add-ons that actually
(08:09):
it's a fail if boutique retailers of any category are
missing out on? I think you are leaving money on the table
if you're not adding this in, because people already know, like, and trust
you. And it's again, adding
value almost to your customer base, you know, it's an extra
styling tip that extends beyond that outfit. You
(08:32):
know, come summer you might do sort of tablescaping and, and that sort of thing,
you know, with the candles, with the outdoor cushions, that sort of
vibe. So you already know the colours of the season, the trends that are
happening, where you're at in the look that you're creating.
So again, you can extend that slightly by making those
stylish add-ons for your home as well as your
(08:54):
yourself. There's an operational reality check here,
isn't there? Because homewares aren't going to be
easy money. Nothing is these days. Stock ties up cash, it takes
space, and there's other considerations.
Glass breaks, so you've got packaging costs,
returns if things get damaged. And in every part of retail,
(09:16):
suppliers often can let you down, and you have to turn the stock. I
mean, you don't want just cushions knocking around, gathering dust, or
throws over sofas. And also it's about
making sure that you're not just decorating
the store for the sake of it looking glamorous. It's dead
cash if that stock isn't moving. Alignment is everything.
(09:39):
So you've really got to have a curated, carefully
put together range. And as you've mentioned, particularly if you're
bricks and clicks, Posting out a jumper or a
coat is one thing, but posting out a glass
candle is a completely different ballgame, and you are going to have that
extra packaging and possibly extra courier costs as well. So that's something
(10:01):
to really consider. Also, obviously, returns— your returns will be
much less with homewares than they are with fashion.
Statistically, you know, it's about 20% less, I
think, but your minimum order quantities will still stand
with your suppliers. So again, it's stockroom space
is key as well, because again, cushions,
(10:23):
candles, glassware, etc., takes up a lot more space than
clothing. It does need to be a really carefully considered project.
It's not just a, we'll give it a go and see how it works out.
It's interesting you pick on returns there. Only this week
I hosted a panel at the Delivery Conference all about returns
as part of the customer experience.. And we talked about returns
(10:45):
where there's been a problem. So I've sent out a glass candle and it's coming
back because it's got smashed in the post versus the way that fashion
works. One of the panelists was from a major UK
fashion brand, and she commented that people often buy
2 or 3 different sizes in 2 or 3 different colors with the intention
of making significant returns. And they have to build that into the
(11:07):
cost. And of course, returns cost a lot of money. But returns
where it's damages causes attrition, whereas
returns where it's, I just ordered all this stuff so I could try it on
at home in my own natural lighting with all the garments I've got in my
wardrobe, is just the expectation.
So I suppose in that case, it's something that people really need to
(11:28):
bake into their profits and consider the cost of
returns for the different types of items that they're selling. But
then you've got the other argument about something you touched
on, brands versus white labeling as well.
So are people more inclined to buy brands
or are white labeled products actually
(11:51):
better from a profit alignment point of view? I
think it depends on where you're at in your brand journey. If you have a
strong brand and you're very well known. Even if it's
just within your local area, as opposed to nationally, I think white
labelling makes complete sense. You've got your advertising, your brand
name sat in their home, looking at them from the
(12:13):
candle or the room fragrance, etc.
And it also makes it a unique product. So therefore,
your margin is much better than buying in, but obviously your
initial outlay is obviously also much bigger. You can't really do a
trial run. It has to be something, again, that you are really
aligned with, you're really committed to, and you are willing to make that investment.
(12:35):
Yes, it's a balancing act, isn't it? Because the suppliers of own brand expect
you to make fairly significant minimum order quantities, whereas the
brands might be willing to be a bit more flexible, even sale or
return. I mean, we touched on
it earlier, and one of the things that I've been thinking about is in the
physical retail particularly, but also it does
(12:57):
translate to a point online because merchandising—
I mean, merchandising e-commerce is the category flows,
the navigation and so on, but merchandising in store is about that
massively visual engagement and often less is more,
but also the use of scent and customer experience. You talked about
the scent and the aroma, and when you walk into a really good boutique,
(13:21):
You feel a bit like a celebrity and you can
just look around. And if it's the, if you are their right customer,
then it feels like you're at home because the lighting, the
layout and everything is quite
emotionally engaging. Whereas I'm not gonna lie, I'm far
too old to be shopping in H&M. The lighting is too brash and the music's
(13:44):
too loud, but some places with subtlety and soft
furnishings and so on, I feel very at home. And I think that's really
important, isn't it? To understand the customer, the demographic, and tap
into them emotionally. Absolutely. When you can
talk to the customer about the scent that's in the shop
and say, you know, oh, actually this is one of our own range, you've
(14:06):
turned the whole ambience and feel of the shop into a product,
and you've cracked that magical experiential
retail that we're always banging on about these days. So yeah,
it reminds me actually, when many years ago in the
'90s, one of my first retail jobs, I don't think
I've ever told you this, Clare, was in a very high-end
(14:29):
men's boutique, fashion boutique. And
we used to, back in the day, again, I'm
talking '90s here, so bear with me. We used to retail
Armani jeans, which were quite rare in those days.
Yeah, so we used to sell these Armani jeans in
Peterborough for over £100 a pair.
(14:52):
But our boutique, our boutique, I was the Saturday girl.
The boutique used to burn
sandalwood incense. We also had a
random parrot that used to live behind the till. We had two parrots. That were
identical, and they used to take it in turns each day to do a different
shift. But that's a different story. But this
(15:13):
sandalwood incense, people
used to love it. And again, by the till, we
used to sell pretty much anyone that came in
went out with some sandalwood incense. And that was a men's
boutique in the '90s. Well, it's funny actually, you've triggered some memories
for me, not least that I was the person that couldn't walk past
(15:35):
The Body Shop back in the day because of the aroma. And I'm talking
late '80s now, you know, when a gang of girls go out shopping for the
day. And then it was later in my daughter's era,
it's probably Lush because the smell. And that reminds me of what you
said when they could smell your shop with the cinnamon and orange. And it is
something that sort of turns the head. It's that thing that they say, you know,
(15:57):
when you can smell fresh apples and cut grass and things that people get
emotionally attached to that. There's also the thing with boutiques, isn't there,
about zoning. So you have to create
the feeling that I can imagine this in my home.
So whether it be tables full of beautifully presented
gifts or lifestyle corners or
(16:20):
seasonal edits, if those visual cues help
customers understand the story, I guess they're more likely to buy and
particularly. In maybe independent
furniture as well, where you only maybe buy a sofa
once every 8 to 10 years or whatever, or when you move house,
but you might buy cushion covers, throws, and
(16:41):
accents seasonally to sort of update the look and feel of
your home. So they're all very valuable, aren't they?
Absolutely. It's about creating that lifestyle and
that vision, no different to If you're dressing a
mannequin, you accessorise. It's exactly the same with your
homewares. It's creating that story that people can really understand
(17:03):
and translate into their own home. So they might
not buy the entire look, but they might pick 2 or 3
things out of it that they absolutely love and will take
those. Yeah, I do find that's really helpful because my
imagination goes as far as an Excel spreadsheet. I can't
style myself for love of money. I need somebody to say to me, using the
(17:25):
mannequins, or people who bought this might like to buy that. I
need somebody to direct me to put an outfit together,
which is very sad but true. That
then takes me to that sort of whole hybrid of online and in-store,
because in-store somebody might be able to do personal shopping
for you or help you style or help you select things that go together.
(17:49):
Online, obviously you have the ability
to put together cross-sells, bundles, seasonal
things, gift suggestions, and it complements
fashion perfectly for particular events like Christmas, Mother's Day,
or whatever it might be, a seasonal refresh. But for
me, I find it difficult
(18:12):
to shop online unless it's for basics that I just,
I just know that leggings are leggings, for example. Whereas if I want to buy
something to wear to speak at a conference, that's much more
stressful. I'd rather go into a shop and have somebody talk to me and
give me some suggestions. So how do you, and
especially talking from the point of view of, uh, you know, the retail champion e-commerce
(18:34):
guru and all-round generalist greater
SEO person, how do you translate what
you can do in store to online sufficiently successfully
to deal with someone like me who's quite a nervous shopper, to be honest?
Again, it's creating that story and that lookbook, if you like. If
it's a homewares upsell that
(18:57):
you're looking for, again, it's maybe picking on a colour or a
theme or a season and doing that as an
add-on. Like you say, it might be a bundle, it might be a gift
edit. And again, it's creating or making sure
that that is taken across your website, so it's not just a
at the checkout, it's as part of your blogs. If it's,
(19:19):
if you're talking about outfits, your social media, it's adding it
in to a look, whether that's on a, on a
photograph or a reel. It's about
making sure it's a complete picture as
opposed to an afterthought. And I would say start small,
test, test, and test again. Speak to your customers as well, particularly if you've
(19:42):
got a a boutique store, that you have those repeat
customers coming back time and time again, they are going to tell you what they
want if you just ask and then listen. Their feedback is
invaluable, as I'm sure you know, for buying
next season's stock. It's no different with the homewares. Again,
finding out what they know, like, and trust, the other brands that they
(20:03):
aspire to, and go from there. And then scale really
deliberately and really plan it out as a
extension of your brand, not an add-on.
You talked about outfitting. Now that's something that came up in the
podcast I did with Francis about Pinterest and how
people can create pinboards of
(20:25):
all sorts of different bits and pieces from boutiques and
build whole outfits and then shop them in one place through
the integration that they've got through to tools like Shopify and so on.
So it's really interesting how all of these small and independent
retailers can knowingly or unknowingly collaborate with
each other to also create outfitting and to
(20:47):
recommend one another. And I think perhaps, and
our colleague Kim would attest as well, that the future
for small independent businesses across high streets is that ability to
collaborate and recommend one another and to help each other
sell. But certainly the impact of visual search
has become very interesting in terms of
(21:09):
driving traffic to e-commerce. And have you seen much of that with people you
work with? Well, you triggered a memory for me then. When I had my
homeware store, strangely, one of the things we stocked was
gin. And that was the fact that we had a
local gin maker and she was
starting out and I helped her design her store,
(21:32):
and we were chatting about her store. It was only
open as a bookable event space. It wasn't a
shop as such, and she was looking for a retail outlet in town. So I
said, well, I'll stock your gin. I like gin. So,
yeah, after a little while of paperwork for
licensing, et cetera, we started to stock her gin. And
(21:54):
the amount of people that came in the shop and said, and bearing in mind,
I had been going at this point my shop had been there, I think, for
about 6 or 7 years. The amount of people that came in to buy gin
that said, I've always driven past here, I've never been in.
But they made the special effort for the gin and they started coming back again
for other stuff. It was a very unusual
(22:15):
collaboration, but it worked really well for bringing that extra footfall in.
So I mean, in wrapping up, I guess everybody's already got
customers and footfall, and loyal customers, and as long as they collaborate
and have a strong brand, then things like in a fashion boutique,
for example, homewares and fragrance aren't a distraction. And in a
gifting and homeware boutique, gin isn't a distraction.
(22:38):
They're clearly a growth lever. So done deliberately,
they make your business stronger, more profitable, and more memorable.
Absolutely. It's what boutique retail is all about, isn't it? It's
about creating those experiences. That your customers love, and
they're really unique, so they absolutely remember them, and that's what
keeps them coming back. So I think the resounding message is
(23:01):
test in small batches, protect your positioning, make sure
everything is aligned to the brand, not to ever forget that
being deliberate in your strategy beats random
throw it at the wall and see what sticks every time.
Thank you so much for joining me again Steph Briggs,
one of the Retail Champion team's e-commerce and
(23:24):
SEO gurus, but with a background of running a successful independent
retail boutique business. This has been Claire Bailey, the
Retail Champion, and you've been listening to
Retail Reckoning.
(23:44):
Now Reckoning owns the floor.
If you're a boutique retailer and you think you need to limit yourself to fashion,
you need to think again, because carefully curated homewares and
fragrances can really elevate your basket size and
boost your profits. Today
it's all about independent fashion boutique owners, and
they're out there and they're thinking, how do I grow my business without losing who
(00:21):
I am? And this is something linked to a column I recently wrote for
Boutique Magazine, and it's why boutiques need to actually think
beyond fashion. And of course, boutiques aren't just fashion clothing,
their fashion homewares, but they tend to be a higher price
point, something a little bit more luxury. It's in the name, isn't it?
Boutique. It stands for something that feels just a bit more sexy
(00:44):
than going down to Poundland. But the response has been
really interesting, and a lot of owners are saying, I am
struggling with working out how I can generate more
revenue, higher basket size, and higher margins.
The column was all about getting that message out there, but today's episode is
about making it practical and showing how it really works on the ground.
(01:06):
So to help with that, I've invited Steph back. You'll probably
remember her from earlier episodes, our e-commerce and search engine
guru. But before that, Steph owned and ran a beautiful boutique
homewares and gift shop and was both in-store and online.
So she's lived it. She's handled the cash flow, margin, suppliers, the
breakages, the postage costs, and the real reality of
(01:28):
independent retail in-store and online. So today we're going to look at
how Steph can give some advice to other boutique owners in that
sort of thoughtful, joined-up customer experience that makes people come
back again and again. So we're going to unpack what works,
what doesn't, how homewares, gifting, and fashion
are accessories to growing your business rather than
(01:51):
distracting from it. No fluff, honest and commercial
insights. Welcome back, Steph.
Hi, Clare. Thanks for inviting me back again. So your boutique isn't
just a clothes shop, let's say. It's a world, a mood, a point of view,
a place where customers come to feel special. And
they like to feel special because boutique says it's about
(02:13):
quality, taste, and curation. So
why would we limit that world to just fashion?
Well, exactly. People get very nervous thinking that if they move
into homewares and they're moving away from fashion, and then they're no longer
a fashion boutique, they're moving more into a lifestyle shop.
(02:34):
But homewares, once they match the aesthetic, the customer, and the
price point, it really feels cohesive. And it's, it's like an extension,
if you like, of that part of the story rather than an add-on.
And I think that obviously is the key, isn't it? It's knowing your customers,
knowing what they love and why they come to you.
And so you know that they already appreciate that
(02:56):
aesthetic, that experience, and the taste And
for example, extending into a fragrance line
to supplement, whether it be a room fragrance or a personal one,
or homewares, it's, if done right, it should feel natural and they
can trust that that product that you're curating
for them translates into commercial growth.
(03:19):
If we wanted to really put that under the microscope and
look at the commercial case for homewares in traditional fashion
and boutique retailing. What would you say was the
reality around that? So the reality is that
fashion is a really personal experience. So your fit, size, and
style is very obviously personal. So buying for someone else
(03:41):
can be really tricky, but homewares removes that friction.
£120 dress might make the customer really
hesitate, but if you're adding on a candle or a jewellery dish,
or a blanket, something else, suddenly that feels quite easy. And
actually they're almost not buying that for themselves. They're buying that for their
home. And therefore it's an easy add-on. Average
(04:05):
order value can lift without adding extra customers.
Gifting is really huge. Candles, trays,
throws, they're all quite thoughtful gifts and
still personal, but they're also low risk in the fact that you haven't got to
worry about fit, size, and style. And they just make nice things
that can make people feel really special. So people leave
(04:26):
happy because they've either found a gift that they can give that they're proud of,
or something that fits in their home in their own style, doing
the whole, I'm buying this for me. It's buying it for their home, so it's
slightly different. It's almost like buying a gift for the house, isn't
it really? And I think it's really important from a brand perspective
as well, because something like, you know, the lovely scented
(04:48):
candles or the reed diffusers, I was given one as
a gift and then the next gift the lady bought me was a refill
for it. And it sits there, pride of place on my
mantelpiece. And it also means that when I open the door to the
living room, it smells beautiful, but it
also smells like the shop that she got it from. So it actually
(05:10):
might help me and others who use such devices
keep front of mind and make me remember the shop more
than any sort of social media ad or pinned post on
Instagram ever could. Scent, I always say, is the
sixth element when you're in retail. For my
store, when I had it, I had my own line of diffusers and
(05:32):
scented candles, but also come Christmas, we used to supply
lots of orange and cinnamon decorations. And
people always used to comment when they, they said literally, they, as soon as they
got out of the car park, which was kind of 100 yards from, from the
door, They always said, oh, we could smell the shop. It's amazing.
Draws us in. Now, obviously that was quite a strong scent, but
(05:54):
yeah, it's, it's bringing that scent memory back is a really
powerful thing. And particularly if you can have your brand label on it as well,
it's a double win really. And when you come to extending
the range and making sure that there's products there that perhaps
add that incremental value to the customer, you have to get
your pricing right and you have to be able to mirror the
(06:15):
core range. So obviously, you know,
we use things like good, better, best, where you might— the
good might be impulse buys at a modest price
point that's easy for gifting. Better might be a little bit
more considered purchase, somebody a little closer. Best
might be more of a treat yourself, something that makes a statement,
(06:37):
makes you feel really good about yourself, or it might be for someone extremely special.
So I think it's really important to remember that when extending the range
in boutique retailing, things should also
still be accessible because if somebody is spending a couple of hundred pounds on
an outfit, let's say, they might not have the budget to go much
above £30 on an incremental addition to the basket at the
(07:01):
import point of sale, but they might go that
far. And I think the accessibility. Is really important
whilst also protecting the margin? Absolutely. So
like you said, it's the good, better, best. So your good, you want your till
point pickups. So your lip balms, your candles, the
soaps, the tiny little things that are sort of £10 to £25,
(07:22):
£30 that people don't mind spending that
as an impulse. Sort of moving up to your better range, you want
something that's sort of more your diffusers, your larger candles.
Throws, that sort of thing, which are probably your gifting
section. And then on top of that, obviously your premium best
section is a real kind of indulgent treat
(07:45):
yourself. That should feel extra special. So your statement cushions,
your premium fragrances, all those sort of extra special parts.
And would you say that that's really important as the add-on
for a boutique customer? Because obviously you don't shop boutique.
Unless you are expecting to spend a little more and get something a little more
luxurious. Do you think these are really important add-ons that actually
(08:09):
it's a fail if boutique retailers of any category are
missing out on? I think you are leaving money on the table
if you're not adding this in, because people already know, like, and trust
you. And it's again, adding
value almost to your customer base, you know, it's an extra
styling tip that extends beyond that outfit. You
(08:32):
know, come summer you might do sort of tablescaping and, and that sort of thing,
you know, with the candles, with the outdoor cushions, that sort of
vibe. So you already know the colours of the season, the trends that are
happening, where you're at in the look that you're creating.
So again, you can extend that slightly by making those
stylish add-ons for your home as well as your
(08:54):
yourself. There's an operational reality check here,
isn't there? Because homewares aren't going to be
easy money. Nothing is these days. Stock ties up cash, it takes
space, and there's other considerations.
Glass breaks, so you've got packaging costs,
returns if things get damaged. And in every part of retail,
(09:16):
suppliers often can let you down, and you have to turn the stock. I
mean, you don't want just cushions knocking around, gathering dust, or
throws over sofas. And also it's about
making sure that you're not just decorating
the store for the sake of it looking glamorous. It's dead
cash if that stock isn't moving. Alignment is everything.
(09:39):
So you've really got to have a curated, carefully
put together range. And as you've mentioned, particularly if you're
bricks and clicks, Posting out a jumper or a
coat is one thing, but posting out a glass
candle is a completely different ballgame, and you are going to have that
extra packaging and possibly extra courier costs as well. So that's something
(10:01):
to really consider. Also, obviously, returns— your returns will be
much less with homewares than they are with fashion.
Statistically, you know, it's about 20% less, I
think, but your minimum order quantities will still stand
with your suppliers. So again, it's stockroom space
is key as well, because again, cushions,
(10:23):
candles, glassware, etc., takes up a lot more space than
clothing. It does need to be a really carefully considered project.
It's not just a, we'll give it a go and see how it works out.
It's interesting you pick on returns there. Only this week
I hosted a panel at the Delivery Conference all about returns
as part of the customer experience.. And we talked about returns
(10:45):
where there's been a problem. So I've sent out a glass candle and it's coming
back because it's got smashed in the post versus the way that fashion
works. One of the panelists was from a major UK
fashion brand, and she commented that people often buy
2 or 3 different sizes in 2 or 3 different colors with the intention
of making significant returns. And they have to build that into the
(11:07):
cost. And of course, returns cost a lot of money. But returns
where it's damages causes attrition, whereas
returns where it's, I just ordered all this stuff so I could try it on
at home in my own natural lighting with all the garments I've got in my
wardrobe, is just the expectation.
So I suppose in that case, it's something that people really need to
(11:28):
bake into their profits and consider the cost of
returns for the different types of items that they're selling. But
then you've got the other argument about something you touched
on, brands versus white labeling as well.
So are people more inclined to buy brands
or are white labeled products actually
(11:51):
better from a profit alignment point of view? I
think it depends on where you're at in your brand journey. If you have a
strong brand and you're very well known. Even if it's
just within your local area, as opposed to nationally, I think white
labelling makes complete sense. You've got your advertising, your brand
name sat in their home, looking at them from the
(12:13):
candle or the room fragrance, etc.
And it also makes it a unique product. So therefore,
your margin is much better than buying in, but obviously your
initial outlay is obviously also much bigger. You can't really do a
trial run. It has to be something, again, that you are really
aligned with, you're really committed to, and you are willing to make that investment.
(12:35):
Yes, it's a balancing act, isn't it? Because the suppliers of own brand expect
you to make fairly significant minimum order quantities, whereas the
brands might be willing to be a bit more flexible, even sale or
return. I mean, we touched on
it earlier, and one of the things that I've been thinking about is in the
physical retail particularly, but also it does
(12:57):
translate to a point online because merchandising—
I mean, merchandising e-commerce is the category flows,
the navigation and so on, but merchandising in store is about that
massively visual engagement and often less is more,
but also the use of scent and customer experience. You talked about
the scent and the aroma, and when you walk into a really good boutique,
(13:21):
You feel a bit like a celebrity and you can
just look around. And if it's the, if you are their right customer,
then it feels like you're at home because the lighting, the
layout and everything is quite
emotionally engaging. Whereas I'm not gonna lie, I'm far
too old to be shopping in H&M. The lighting is too brash and the music's
(13:44):
too loud, but some places with subtlety and soft
furnishings and so on, I feel very at home. And I think that's really
important, isn't it? To understand the customer, the demographic, and tap
into them emotionally. Absolutely. When you can
talk to the customer about the scent that's in the shop
and say, you know, oh, actually this is one of our own range, you've
(14:06):
turned the whole ambience and feel of the shop into a product,
and you've cracked that magical experiential
retail that we're always banging on about these days. So yeah,
it reminds me actually, when many years ago in the
'90s, one of my first retail jobs, I don't think
I've ever told you this, Clare, was in a very high-end
(14:29):
men's boutique, fashion boutique. And
we used to, back in the day, again, I'm
talking '90s here, so bear with me. We used to retail
Armani jeans, which were quite rare in those days.
Yeah, so we used to sell these Armani jeans in
Peterborough for over £100 a pair.
(14:52):
But our boutique, our boutique, I was the Saturday girl.
The boutique used to burn
sandalwood incense. We also had a
random parrot that used to live behind the till. We had two parrots. That were
identical, and they used to take it in turns each day to do a different
shift. But that's a different story. But this
(15:13):
sandalwood incense, people
used to love it. And again, by the till, we
used to sell pretty much anyone that came in
went out with some sandalwood incense. And that was a men's
boutique in the '90s. Well, it's funny actually, you've triggered some memories
for me, not least that I was the person that couldn't walk past
(15:35):
The Body Shop back in the day because of the aroma. And I'm talking
late '80s now, you know, when a gang of girls go out shopping for the
day. And then it was later in my daughter's era,
it's probably Lush because the smell. And that reminds me of what you
said when they could smell your shop with the cinnamon and orange. And it is
something that sort of turns the head. It's that thing that they say, you know,
(15:57):
when you can smell fresh apples and cut grass and things that people get
emotionally attached to that. There's also the thing with boutiques, isn't there,
about zoning. So you have to create
the feeling that I can imagine this in my home.
So whether it be tables full of beautifully presented
gifts or lifestyle corners or
(16:20):
seasonal edits, if those visual cues help
customers understand the story, I guess they're more likely to buy and
particularly. In maybe independent
furniture as well, where you only maybe buy a sofa
once every 8 to 10 years or whatever, or when you move house,
but you might buy cushion covers, throws, and
(16:41):
accents seasonally to sort of update the look and feel of
your home. So they're all very valuable, aren't they?
Absolutely. It's about creating that lifestyle and
that vision, no different to If you're dressing a
mannequin, you accessorise. It's exactly the same with your
homewares. It's creating that story that people can really understand
(17:03):
and translate into their own home. So they might
not buy the entire look, but they might pick 2 or 3
things out of it that they absolutely love and will take
those. Yeah, I do find that's really helpful because my
imagination goes as far as an Excel spreadsheet. I can't
style myself for love of money. I need somebody to say to me, using the
(17:25):
mannequins, or people who bought this might like to buy that. I
need somebody to direct me to put an outfit together,
which is very sad but true. That
then takes me to that sort of whole hybrid of online and in-store,
because in-store somebody might be able to do personal shopping
for you or help you style or help you select things that go together.
(17:49):
Online, obviously you have the ability
to put together cross-sells, bundles, seasonal
things, gift suggestions, and it complements
fashion perfectly for particular events like Christmas, Mother's Day,
or whatever it might be, a seasonal refresh. But for
me, I find it difficult
(18:12):
to shop online unless it's for basics that I just,
I just know that leggings are leggings, for example. Whereas if I want to buy
something to wear to speak at a conference, that's much more
stressful. I'd rather go into a shop and have somebody talk to me and
give me some suggestions. So how do you, and
especially talking from the point of view of, uh, you know, the retail champion e-commerce
(18:34):
guru and all-round generalist greater
SEO person, how do you translate what
you can do in store to online sufficiently successfully
to deal with someone like me who's quite a nervous shopper, to be honest?
Again, it's creating that story and that lookbook, if you like. If
it's a homewares upsell that
(18:57):
you're looking for, again, it's maybe picking on a colour or a
theme or a season and doing that as an
add-on. Like you say, it might be a bundle, it might be a gift
edit. And again, it's creating or making sure
that that is taken across your website, so it's not just a
at the checkout, it's as part of your blogs. If it's,
(19:19):
if you're talking about outfits, your social media, it's adding it
in to a look, whether that's on a, on a
photograph or a reel. It's about
making sure it's a complete picture as
opposed to an afterthought. And I would say start small,
test, test, and test again. Speak to your customers as well, particularly if you've
(19:42):
got a a boutique store, that you have those repeat
customers coming back time and time again, they are going to tell you what they
want if you just ask and then listen. Their feedback is
invaluable, as I'm sure you know, for buying
next season's stock. It's no different with the homewares. Again,
finding out what they know, like, and trust, the other brands that they
(20:03):
aspire to, and go from there. And then scale really
deliberately and really plan it out as a
extension of your brand, not an add-on.
You talked about outfitting. Now that's something that came up in the
podcast I did with Francis about Pinterest and how
people can create pinboards of
(20:25):
all sorts of different bits and pieces from boutiques and
build whole outfits and then shop them in one place through
the integration that they've got through to tools like Shopify and so on.
So it's really interesting how all of these small and independent
retailers can knowingly or unknowingly collaborate with
each other to also create outfitting and to
(20:47):
recommend one another. And I think perhaps, and
our colleague Kim would attest as well, that the future
for small independent businesses across high streets is that ability to
collaborate and recommend one another and to help each other
sell. But certainly the impact of visual search
has become very interesting in terms of
(21:09):
driving traffic to e-commerce. And have you seen much of that with people you
work with? Well, you triggered a memory for me then. When I had my
homeware store, strangely, one of the things we stocked was
gin. And that was the fact that we had a
local gin maker and she was
starting out and I helped her design her store,
(21:32):
and we were chatting about her store. It was only
open as a bookable event space. It wasn't a
shop as such, and she was looking for a retail outlet in town. So I
said, well, I'll stock your gin. I like gin. So,
yeah, after a little while of paperwork for
licensing, et cetera, we started to stock her gin. And
(21:54):
the amount of people that came in the shop and said, and bearing in mind,
I had been going at this point my shop had been there, I think, for
about 6 or 7 years. The amount of people that came in to buy gin
that said, I've always driven past here, I've never been in.
But they made the special effort for the gin and they started coming back again
for other stuff. It was a very unusual
(22:15):
collaboration, but it worked really well for bringing that extra footfall in.
So I mean, in wrapping up, I guess everybody's already got
customers and footfall, and loyal customers, and as long as they collaborate
and have a strong brand, then things like in a fashion boutique,
for example, homewares and fragrance aren't a distraction. And in a
gifting and homeware boutique, gin isn't a distraction.
(22:38):
They're clearly a growth lever. So done deliberately,
they make your business stronger, more profitable, and more memorable.
Absolutely. It's what boutique retail is all about, isn't it? It's
about creating those experiences. That your customers love, and
they're really unique, so they absolutely remember them, and that's what
keeps them coming back. So I think the resounding message is
(23:01):
test in small batches, protect your positioning, make sure
everything is aligned to the brand, not to ever forget that
being deliberate in your strategy beats random
throw it at the wall and see what sticks every time.
Thank you so much for joining me again Steph Briggs,
one of the Retail Champion team's e-commerce and
(23:24):
SEO gurus, but with a background of running a successful independent
retail boutique business. This has been Claire Bailey, the
Retail Champion, and you've been listening to
Retail Reckoning.
(23:44):
Now Reckoning owns the floor.
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