July 18, 2025 • 13 mins
If you're wondering how to boost sales in summer for your boutique, or sales have been slow this summer in your boutique and you want a boost to get you through the rest of the summer before the fall season hits... this episode is for you! If you want to clear old boutique inventory that's still sitting around from spring and make the J months in your boutique the most profitable it can be, you need to have a strong boutique summer sale strategy! Should I run a semi-annual sale? Should I do some deep discounts? How can I make more sales when nobody seems to be shopping? This episode will answer these questions and more. Surviving summer as a boutique owner is possible. The slow months don't have to be a struggle - let's get you set up for profit!
This episode is Part 1 in our 3 Part series: Summer to Fall Profit Strategy. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on the next 2 episodes in the series!
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Emilyboutique?sub_confirmation=1
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Website: https://www.boutiquetrainingacademy.com
Questions?
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Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored video. Some links are affiliate links. Thank you for watching!
#EmilyBenson #BoutiqueBusiness
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
June was a bad month in your store and you're freaking out a little bit.
You're like, May was really good and like, what the heck is going on with June?
I am also absolutely sure you've been in a Facebook group with boutique owners that aresaying, J months are so bad.
Newsflash, they're not bad, they're just.
transition month.
So let's talk about it.
(00:20):
I'm Emily Benson.
If we haven't met yet, I'm the founder of Boutique Training Academy.
I'm a retail strategist and I've helped over 15,000 retail stores and boutiques just likeyours have profitable months every single month.
I love a good series and this series we're calling summer to fall profit strategy in thisthree part series.
(00:44):
I want to show you how to maximize sales.
clean out all of that old inventory and start fall off so strong, you'll forget about thisJ-month myth anyway.
In this very first video, I'm gonna debunk the myth of J-months are bad and explain to youwhy they're not bad, but you have to be really strategic in how we navigate through them.
(01:06):
Because while you see Prime Day and semi-annual sales popping up everywhere, I want togive you the strategy you can use.
to be a part of the mix, but again, be profitable still.
So J-months, we gotta talk about them because this seems to be one of those times of theyear where people in retail and in boutique world are like, I'm doing so bad, like summer
(01:29):
is so slow, everyone's on vacation.
All of those can be true, but from a retail calendar perspective, we have to take a zoomout at the full calendar year and remember that June,
July and January are transitional months.
The way that we buy in retail, especially if you work in anything that's seasonal, like awomen's boutique, a children's boutique, a men's boutique, a gift boutique, okay?
(01:56):
It's all seasonal.
Be serious, all right?
So spring and summer, February to May, kind of into June, depends on the climate you'rein.
Then we need to transition to fall for August, September, October through the end of theyear.
What happens?
we have to get rid of what we didn't sell.
So of course we're going to do semi-annual sales.
Of course we're going to markdown.
(02:17):
Of course we're going to use this time to really clear out the racks so that we can fillthem back up and make a really big impact for fall.
The problem is, that because it's transitional and the sales are happening, this is whatmakes people think it's bad.
The truth of the matter is, that May and October are generally the biggest months inretail.
(02:38):
If you didn't know that, I'm sharing that with you now.
If you can benchmark your May and October, then June and July.
should also be benchmarked with January.
Each month represents a small slice of the year, but those slices of the pie are notequal.
So a lot of people will just throw themselves into the mindset issue of like, this is sobad, this is so bad, when actually it can be emotionally difficult.
(03:00):
And I think you have to have a strong mindset always, but this is just data.
This is how business goes.
It's never straightforward.
It's always up and down.
And in retail, we know this like,
You now know this, maybe you didn't before you came to this video, but you now knowJanuary, July, and June are always going to be a smaller percentage of your year.
(03:22):
So if you have a hundred thousand dollar year, four percent of it is January, it's fourthousand dollars for that month.
If you have six percent in June, July, six thousand dollars.
Okay, this also might mean again that you have a fifteen percent
May, this $15,000.
The variations can be really wide, especially if you're new and especially if you're notmanaging your inventory.
(03:45):
uh
Boutis that are actively planning their inventory and managing it month by month based onsales from last year or just general sales growth month to month.
They are the ones that right now are not freaking out.
They're like, okay, June was fine.
And now I really need to clear things out.
Like I have so many stores that are running semi annual sales every week a different saleChristmas in July, like you name it.
(04:07):
And I have clients that are trying it testing it executing.
And so let's talk about what I'm
giving them advice around for these sales?
What kind of parameters do we need to put on it?
And how do we think about it?
Because the last thing that I ever, ever, ever in your boutique career want you to do isgo 50 % off the whole store, 60 % off the whole store.
(04:28):
If I saw a store that was 70 % off the whole store, I would know that you were going outof business.
Okay, so we have to be so careful with our discounts, our sales.
Let's get into that part now.
You might have even found this video because you looked up like
How do I do Prime Day for my boutique?
Or should I be doing a semi-annual sale for my boutique?
If that's you, yes and let's talk through it.
(04:49):
Because what we've seen is Prime Day for Amazon has become this always July thing.
I want you to think about it like Black Friday in November.
That's all it is.
It's them evening out their year.
They're having a big day in the summer.
They're having a big day in the winter.
And it helps the year.
We also forever and ever before prime, if you're an old Victoria's Secret shopper, youknow that July was the huge semi annual sales where they would set up the big tables,
(05:18):
everything would be by size and you would dig through to get like the styles you wanted inyour size.
And it was always just like super deep discounts.
My biggest advice to you is don't think you can copy them.
Don't
Aspire to copy them.
Don't compare yourself to big retailers.
You are an independent retailer, so you need to independently decide what works for yourbusiness and your life.
(05:39):
Now, if you're going to take vacation in July and shut down the store, or I have a lot ofclients doing cosmetic work during the summer because they know it's going to be a bit
slower traffic, this is a great time to do that kind of stuff.
especially as we gear up into fall.
Let's just like zoom out for a little bit of a retail basic moment here.
I want to discuss the idea of sale and markdown.
(06:01):
Now we always use the term sale when we talk about sales revenue.
So the money we've made off of the items that we've sold, right?
Okay.
Now what's really confusing is that it also is a sale.
We use it as a noun.
And so I think we can get confused because we think, they're running sales, they'rerunning sales.
So what we're talking about here when I talk about sales versus markdowns is the nounsales.
(06:24):
So like this weekend, we're doing 20 % off dresses.
That's a sale, right?
You're running a sale.
I find far less people are utilizing what we call markdowns.
Markdowns are just discounts in place.
So we're not like sweeping the store with like saying this department is on sale.
We're going over to the item, going on the price tag, crossing out the price and writingthe new price with a red marker.
(06:47):
That's a markdown.
Okay, you literally are marking it down the price.
That's the easiest way to remember it.
If you haven't been doing markdowns in your store, huge missed opportunity.
And right now is a time where you could try to test it.
Let's say that you have some summer styles that like people could really still wear forthe next two months.
You might not run a sale on those.
You might choose to start off by doing a markdown.
(07:08):
and saying I'm going to walk through my store, especially if a brick and mortar, I'm goingto walk through my store.
I'm going to see what I have onesies, twosies, like not really selling well, and I'm goingto take a markdown on them.
I want to encourage you to give people the price, though.
I think we forget that like people aren't great at math and doing math in their head andlike you just don't know who's coming in your store.
So help them out.
Don't just say 20 % off.
(07:29):
Tell them the actual real price that they're going to pay when they check out.
Now, markdowns should be being done like all the time and a sale is a uh
specific set time that creates more urgency.
So because it creates more urgency, you can go deeper.
in your discount or you can do more discounted things.
Let's say you really didn't sell dress as well or had a bunch of dresses that like they'rejust still leftover.
(07:53):
You may say my whole dress category is 40 % off for the next four days.
It gives people that sense of urgency.
You can plan your marketing around it.
Like you can send the emails the text do the app notifications.
You want to make a big deal about it.
You want to talk about it a lot.
You want to be like this is a sale we're going it's a promotion.
It's a short time.
There's only so much left.
(08:14):
a sale is great.
On the other hand, a markdown is more silent.
It's like we took new markdowns in the store or we got new items in so we mark down someitems.
You may not even have to tell people.
With some of my clients that have more high-end premium boutiques, I won't even say likepromote the markdowns.
I'll say just do it and let it be a treat for your customer.
So to wrap this part up about sales versus markdowns, you can start with markdowns.
(08:38):
You can run sales for a short amount of time.
And think about the progression of how you want to get rid of things.
So do you want to start off at a high discount, like go 50 % off at the beginning of July,and then by the end, you don't have much left?
Or do you want to do the opposite?
Do you want to start off July with a smaller discount, like 30%, and then by the end ofJuly, you're running 50 % off things?
This is something you want to think about based on how much inventory you have in whatcategories and really what the access that you have to be able to promote or bring people
(09:06):
into the store.
So July is all about the markdowns or running sales.
I want you to plan it out based on the inventory you have.
So please only feel like you need to discount or markdown things that are very, veryseasonal from spring and summer.
Also things that are really broken in sizes or colors and really just those things that ifthey were still in your store in September, you'd be so annoyed having to look at them.
(09:29):
Once you go through the series of sales and markdowns, then you can talk about what youwant to donate or give away or use as mystery bags.
My hope is that in July, your markdowns go really, really well.
and you kind of start off August with a nice amount of cash in the bank so you can go andreally start to invest in those fall styles.
Don't forget too, just because people are on vacation does not mean that they don't wantto see your email, they don't want to get a text from you, they're not online shopping,
(09:55):
they're not gonna email you and say, hey, can I use some of your invoice for this?
So many people think that when things get slow,
They have no control over it and they start to spiral.
I've literally seen women put themselves out of business because they spiral so deep, sohard, just not believing that there is a path for them, not believing that that day that
(10:16):
has no sales is going to be backed up by a day that's the best sales they've ever had.
You have to believe in your boutique because let me tell you something, no one else isdoing it for you.
The summer can be so hard and I do not want to.
sugar coated at all.
But I'm here trying to give you strategies, new mindsets.
(10:38):
And really in this series, my hope is that I'm baby stepping you towards fall where like,we're fine.
Like fall in boutique land is like the best time ever between September and December.
You're making it rain.
Okay.
The end goal with all of this is to set you up for fall in the best possible way.
So let me help you.
We have two more parts of this series coming out where I'm going to talk you through howto uh
(11:02):
start planning what you want to buy for fall and then how to actually transition it instore online.
We're going to get into those nitty-gritty details because I think the next couple ofmonths can either creep up on you and like all of a sudden this fall or you just feel like
it's going so slow and you need a little bit of a pick me up in strategies to get youthrough it.
So don't forget if you loved this, if you've been watching my work.
(11:25):
I would love it if you liked and subscribe to the channel.
If you want more tangible concrete like step by step video training of how to buy yourassortment for fall, I have a paid digital course that walks you through that in great
depth.
I give you Google Sheets.
It's a very low price.
It's very powerful.
And I think at the end of the day, if you're a boutique owner that's never used a buyingplan, never analyze your sales, you've got to start doing it.
(11:49):
Math is not hard.
Money is important and freedom for you.
for your family, for your business, all of it is really important to me.
And so I am over here creating legacy retail businesses that set people up for their wholelife or for the next couple of years.
Even if you stay in boutique land for a short time.
I really want it to be a good time.
(12:09):
Part of it being a good time is that you make money.
You're profitable.
Like so many people think they're not successful because they really don't make money.
If that's you stop it.
Like let's make money.
You deserve to have a salary.
You deserve to get paid.
And I want to challenge all of you who haven't yet to really start doing that September1st.
Like from September 1st to December you should be able to pay yourself.
(12:30):
If you want that fall plan comment fall below.
We'll send you the link.
And if you want to get alerted for when the next two videos come out.
Make sure to subscribe to my channel, hit that bell button, you'll get the notification inyour email.
And thank you so much for being here.
Here's to making lots of friends, making lots of money.
I'll see you on the next one.
June was a bad month in your store and you're freaking out a little bit.
You're like, May was really good and like, what the heck is going on with June?
I am also absolutely sure you've been in a Facebook group with boutique owners that aresaying, J months are so bad.
Newsflash, they're not bad, they're just.
transition month.
So let's talk about it.
(00:20):
I'm Emily Benson.
If we haven't met yet, I'm the founder of Boutique Training Academy.
I'm a retail strategist and I've helped over 15,000 retail stores and boutiques just likeyours have profitable months every single month.
I love a good series and this series we're calling summer to fall profit strategy in thisthree part series.
(00:44):
I want to show you how to maximize sales.
clean out all of that old inventory and start fall off so strong, you'll forget about thisJ-month myth anyway.
In this very first video, I'm gonna debunk the myth of J-months are bad and explain to youwhy they're not bad, but you have to be really strategic in how we navigate through them.
(01:06):
Because while you see Prime Day and semi-annual sales popping up everywhere, I want togive you the strategy you can use.
to be a part of the mix, but again, be profitable still.
So J-months, we gotta talk about them because this seems to be one of those times of theyear where people in retail and in boutique world are like, I'm doing so bad, like summer
(01:29):
is so slow, everyone's on vacation.
All of those can be true, but from a retail calendar perspective, we have to take a zoomout at the full calendar year and remember that June,
July and January are transitional months.
The way that we buy in retail, especially if you work in anything that's seasonal, like awomen's boutique, a children's boutique, a men's boutique, a gift boutique, okay?
(01:56):
It's all seasonal.
Be serious, all right?
So spring and summer, February to May, kind of into June, depends on the climate you'rein.
Then we need to transition to fall for August, September, October through the end of theyear.
What happens?
we have to get rid of what we didn't sell.
So of course we're going to do semi-annual sales.
Of course we're going to markdown.
(02:17):
Of course we're going to use this time to really clear out the racks so that we can fillthem back up and make a really big impact for fall.
The problem is, that because it's transitional and the sales are happening, this is whatmakes people think it's bad.
The truth of the matter is, that May and October are generally the biggest months inretail.
(02:38):
If you didn't know that, I'm sharing that with you now.
If you can benchmark your May and October, then June and July.
should also be benchmarked with January.
Each month represents a small slice of the year, but those slices of the pie are notequal.
So a lot of people will just throw themselves into the mindset issue of like, this is sobad, this is so bad, when actually it can be emotionally difficult.
(03:00):
And I think you have to have a strong mindset always, but this is just data.
This is how business goes.
It's never straightforward.
It's always up and down.
And in retail, we know this like,
You now know this, maybe you didn't before you came to this video, but you now knowJanuary, July, and June are always going to be a smaller percentage of your year.
(03:22):
So if you have a hundred thousand dollar year, four percent of it is January, it's fourthousand dollars for that month.
If you have six percent in June, July, six thousand dollars.
Okay, this also might mean again that you have a fifteen percent
May, this $15,000.
The variations can be really wide, especially if you're new and especially if you're notmanaging your inventory.
(03:45):
uh
Boutis that are actively planning their inventory and managing it month by month based onsales from last year or just general sales growth month to month.
They are the ones that right now are not freaking out.
They're like, okay, June was fine.
And now I really need to clear things out.
Like I have so many stores that are running semi annual sales every week a different saleChristmas in July, like you name it.
(04:07):
And I have clients that are trying it testing it executing.
And so let's talk about what I'm
giving them advice around for these sales?
What kind of parameters do we need to put on it?
And how do we think about it?
Because the last thing that I ever, ever, ever in your boutique career want you to do isgo 50 % off the whole store, 60 % off the whole store.
(04:28):
If I saw a store that was 70 % off the whole store, I would know that you were going outof business.
Okay, so we have to be so careful with our discounts, our sales.
Let's get into that part now.
You might have even found this video because you looked up like
How do I do Prime Day for my boutique?
Or should I be doing a semi-annual sale for my boutique?
If that's you, yes and let's talk through it.
(04:49):
Because what we've seen is Prime Day for Amazon has become this always July thing.
I want you to think about it like Black Friday in November.
That's all it is.
It's them evening out their year.
They're having a big day in the summer.
They're having a big day in the winter.
And it helps the year.
We also forever and ever before prime, if you're an old Victoria's Secret shopper, youknow that July was the huge semi annual sales where they would set up the big tables,
(05:18):
everything would be by size and you would dig through to get like the styles you wanted inyour size.
And it was always just like super deep discounts.
My biggest advice to you is don't think you can copy them.
Don't
Aspire to copy them.
Don't compare yourself to big retailers.
You are an independent retailer, so you need to independently decide what works for yourbusiness and your life.
(05:39):
Now, if you're going to take vacation in July and shut down the store, or I have a lot ofclients doing cosmetic work during the summer because they know it's going to be a bit
slower traffic, this is a great time to do that kind of stuff.
especially as we gear up into fall.
Let's just like zoom out for a little bit of a retail basic moment here.
I want to discuss the idea of sale and markdown.
(06:01):
Now we always use the term sale when we talk about sales revenue.
So the money we've made off of the items that we've sold, right?
Okay.
Now what's really confusing is that it also is a sale.
We use it as a noun.
And so I think we can get confused because we think, they're running sales, they'rerunning sales.
So what we're talking about here when I talk about sales versus markdowns is the nounsales.
(06:24):
So like this weekend, we're doing 20 % off dresses.
That's a sale, right?
You're running a sale.
I find far less people are utilizing what we call markdowns.
Markdowns are just discounts in place.
So we're not like sweeping the store with like saying this department is on sale.
We're going over to the item, going on the price tag, crossing out the price and writingthe new price with a red marker.
(06:47):
That's a markdown.
Okay, you literally are marking it down the price.
That's the easiest way to remember it.
If you haven't been doing markdowns in your store, huge missed opportunity.
And right now is a time where you could try to test it.
Let's say that you have some summer styles that like people could really still wear forthe next two months.
You might not run a sale on those.
You might choose to start off by doing a markdown.
(07:08):
and saying I'm going to walk through my store, especially if a brick and mortar, I'm goingto walk through my store.
I'm going to see what I have onesies, twosies, like not really selling well, and I'm goingto take a markdown on them.
I want to encourage you to give people the price, though.
I think we forget that like people aren't great at math and doing math in their head andlike you just don't know who's coming in your store.
So help them out.
Don't just say 20 % off.
(07:29):
Tell them the actual real price that they're going to pay when they check out.
Now, markdowns should be being done like all the time and a sale is a uh
specific set time that creates more urgency.
So because it creates more urgency, you can go deeper.
in your discount or you can do more discounted things.
Let's say you really didn't sell dress as well or had a bunch of dresses that like they'rejust still leftover.
(07:53):
You may say my whole dress category is 40 % off for the next four days.
It gives people that sense of urgency.
You can plan your marketing around it.
Like you can send the emails the text do the app notifications.
You want to make a big deal about it.
You want to talk about it a lot.
You want to be like this is a sale we're going it's a promotion.
It's a short time.
There's only so much left.
(08:14):
a sale is great.
On the other hand, a markdown is more silent.
It's like we took new markdowns in the store or we got new items in so we mark down someitems.
You may not even have to tell people.
With some of my clients that have more high-end premium boutiques, I won't even say likepromote the markdowns.
I'll say just do it and let it be a treat for your customer.
So to wrap this part up about sales versus markdowns, you can start with markdowns.
(08:38):
You can run sales for a short amount of time.
And think about the progression of how you want to get rid of things.
So do you want to start off at a high discount, like go 50 % off at the beginning of July,and then by the end, you don't have much left?
Or do you want to do the opposite?
Do you want to start off July with a smaller discount, like 30%, and then by the end ofJuly, you're running 50 % off things?
This is something you want to think about based on how much inventory you have in whatcategories and really what the access that you have to be able to promote or bring people
(09:06):
into the store.
So July is all about the markdowns or running sales.
I want you to plan it out based on the inventory you have.
So please only feel like you need to discount or markdown things that are very, veryseasonal from spring and summer.
Also things that are really broken in sizes or colors and really just those things that ifthey were still in your store in September, you'd be so annoyed having to look at them.
(09:29):
Once you go through the series of sales and markdowns, then you can talk about what youwant to donate or give away or use as mystery bags.
My hope is that in July, your markdowns go really, really well.
and you kind of start off August with a nice amount of cash in the bank so you can go andreally start to invest in those fall styles.
Don't forget too, just because people are on vacation does not mean that they don't wantto see your email, they don't want to get a text from you, they're not online shopping,
(09:55):
they're not gonna email you and say, hey, can I use some of your invoice for this?
So many people think that when things get slow,
They have no control over it and they start to spiral.
I've literally seen women put themselves out of business because they spiral so deep, sohard, just not believing that there is a path for them, not believing that that day that
(10:16):
has no sales is going to be backed up by a day that's the best sales they've ever had.
You have to believe in your boutique because let me tell you something, no one else isdoing it for you.
The summer can be so hard and I do not want to.
sugar coated at all.
But I'm here trying to give you strategies, new mindsets.
(10:38):
And really in this series, my hope is that I'm baby stepping you towards fall where like,we're fine.
Like fall in boutique land is like the best time ever between September and December.
You're making it rain.
Okay.
The end goal with all of this is to set you up for fall in the best possible way.
So let me help you.
We have two more parts of this series coming out where I'm going to talk you through howto uh
(11:02):
start planning what you want to buy for fall and then how to actually transition it instore online.
We're going to get into those nitty-gritty details because I think the next couple ofmonths can either creep up on you and like all of a sudden this fall or you just feel like
it's going so slow and you need a little bit of a pick me up in strategies to get youthrough it.
So don't forget if you loved this, if you've been watching my work.
(11:25):
I would love it if you liked and subscribe to the channel.
If you want more tangible concrete like step by step video training of how to buy yourassortment for fall, I have a paid digital course that walks you through that in great
depth.
I give you Google Sheets.
It's a very low price.
It's very powerful.
And I think at the end of the day, if you're a boutique owner that's never used a buyingplan, never analyze your sales, you've got to start doing it.
(11:49):
Math is not hard.
Money is important and freedom for you.
for your family, for your business, all of it is really important to me.
And so I am over here creating legacy retail businesses that set people up for their wholelife or for the next couple of years.
Even if you stay in boutique land for a short time.
I really want it to be a good time.
(12:09):
Part of it being a good time is that you make money.
You're profitable.
Like so many people think they're not successful because they really don't make money.
If that's you stop it.
Like let's make money.
You deserve to have a salary.
You deserve to get paid.
And I want to challenge all of you who haven't yet to really start doing that September1st.
Like from September 1st to December you should be able to pay yourself.
(12:30):
If you want that fall plan comment fall below.
We'll send you the link.
And if you want to get alerted for when the next two videos come out.
Make sure to subscribe to my channel, hit that bell button, you'll get the notification inyour email.
And thank you so much for being here.
Here's to making lots of friends, making lots of money.
I'll see you on the next one.
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UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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