TRUNK SHOW SERIES: Boost Your Boutique without Breaking the Bank

Reality Check
From the outside looking in, the bridal industry seems like a utopia of sunshine and rainbows, no challenges, all fun. While there is some truth to this, the reality is your bridal boutique is a business, and a business needs sales to survive, sustain, thrive and evolve. But we didn’t need to tell you that. It can be enticing to keep a pair of rose colored sunglasses, but let’s start addressing those lingering questions in the back of your mind: How much is a trunk show going to cost me? How will hosting a trunk show benefit me financially?
Designing a Budget
In our previous blog in this series, Planning Guide from the Greats, we suggested and encouraged doing your research and goal setting. If you’re following along with us, you have an idea of what you would like your trunk show to look like in terms of location, timeframe, and staffing. Now it’s time to look at budgeting from your already made plans.
When done right, creating and following a budget should feel empowering, not restricting.
Get that boss babe level of empowerment, let’s start by answering a few questions:
- Which staff members will you need during your event?
- Will your current crew be able to service all of your customers or do you need additional help?
- Consider those staff member’s pay rates and add your final number to your budget.
- How do you plan to promote your trunk show?
- Work with your marketing team to map out a full marketing plan (more on this to come later in the series)! Consider boosting social media posts, ads, posters, website additions, blogs, mass texts/emails, etc. Set an individual marketing budget.
- Will you provide snacks or drinks to your customers during the event?
- This is not a necessity of course, but it is something that can be easily forgotten. For example, if you traditionally provide water, you may have an influx of appointments and would benefit from having some available on reserve.
- Does the designer you’re working with charge any fees (hosting, shipping, etc)?
- Not all do. Again, this is very subjective to each designer but should be factored into your budget from the get go.
Traditionally, a trunk show is a fairly lost cost event on your end; however, we suggest working backwards by setting individual budgets for each category then use those anticipated amounts to create your overall budget. Also, a little cushion never hurt!
Profit? You got this!
Throughout this series, we’ve emphasized the importance of knowing your customers and sales history. You are the expert! Consider how your brides typically respond to different styles, designers, weekend events, and social media posts. Also, consider what is going to motivate your staffs’ performance. Next, create goals for the following:
- Individual Staff Goals – Base these off of past performance and desired growth. Carve out one on one time for goal setting with each staff member.
- Team Goal – Together we can! This is your overall store goal. What incentive can you offer to get everyone on board?
Here’s the tea on how it generally works:
- The designer is going to tell you what price you can sell a dress at – up to X% off of MSRP from the designer.
- Instead of percentages, some will offer a total dollar amount off vs. a percentage off. Compare and contrast both options. You can do this by taking a look at your most expensive dress, then your least expensive, and coming up with a discount that works for both.
- Some designers won’t offer a dollar amount off, but you could do a free value add. Find a value add that can differentiate you. For example, you can negotiate with the designer and send the bride a sketch of the dress from the designer for purchasing the dress. Uplevel in a way that benefits you, the designer, and your brides!
- Whether dollar amount off or percentage, if you price above MSRP, you can leverage discounts to benefit your store in the greatest capacity possible.
- It’s standard for trunk show hosts to market a discount of their own to encourage brides to purchase a dress by that designer.
Don’t forget to subtract your anticipated event spendings, and remember, you are setting profit goals based on your store alone. Be realistic and maintain the theme of empowerment!
Benefits for Your Boutique – More Than Just Financial!
Although cost can be a primary concern, it shouldn’t be your sole focus. Trunk shows open doors for additional gains, some of which are priceless.
Let’s start with the obvious: you have the potential to secure more social exposure for your business. We’re talking about marketing outreach on both your bridal store and designer. This exposure leads to more traffic in your store, a rise in your appointment count, and ideally, a positive impact on your sales.
Let’s talk about another bonus of hosting a trunk show.
A specific trunk show may be what brings a bride through your door, but you don’t have to limit them to that designer. In fact, they may fall in love with another dress in your inventory. Although the purpose of a trunk show is to highlight and collaborate with a single designer, if you have the perfect dress in mind for that bride, it’s worth the pivot. Don’t limit yourself or your staff, everything you already have is still an option. Encourage your brides to keep an open mind and help them find their dream dress regardless!
The more effort you put into designing your budget, the more you will get out of it. Remember: Your budget should empower, not restrict you. Now, take a deep breath, the money conversation is over. You know what you need to do and how you need to do it.
Did you make it to the end? Yes? Great! Check out the next blog in this series: Trunk Shows: Finding the Right Designer.
Categories: