TRUNK SHOW SERIES: Planning Guide from the Greats

Searching for a Starting Point

Simon Sinek, English-American author and inspirational speaker, once said, “The hardest part is starting. Once you get that out of the way, you’ll find the rest of the journey much easier”. How many times have you simply put off a task entirely because you’re hesitant to open its door? Whether our hesitation is from fear of failure or waiting for the “right” time to start, it always seems easier to choose a barrier to block us from ever beginning. 

However, we can also all agree ‘starting’ is much more appealing if there is a solid plan in place. Once you have a solid idea with a purpose, plan your steps for execution before jumping in. This always sounds easier than it is, but we’re here to help you! In our previous blog, Trunk Shows 101, we broke down the basics of trunk shows and identified their purpose. Step one is done which means it’s time to plan your execution!

When should you host a trunk show?

In the bridal industry, there is a lot of emphasis on timing. The term ‘when’ can seem daunting when there’s so much to consider: season, month, frequency, designer collection releases, estimated shipping, etc. The reality is our entire industry is based on the timing surrounding an individual event: a bride’s wedding day. 

Over the years, the term ‘bridal busy season’ has increased in popularity, correlating to the months of January, February, and March. Holidays are wrapped up, there’s a turn of the calendar, and rings are placed on fingers, making this a high traffic season for bridal boutiques across the country. You may be asking yourself if a trunk show would thrive in this season due to an influx of appointments and thus sales; however, there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer. 

Trunk show decisions must be made independently based on your store, inventory, past sales patterns, and the designer you will be featuring. On one hand, a trunk show at the beginning of the year enables you to capitalize on your predicted, consistent traffic. You will have an immediate promotional talking point, and it may feel like more of a safe bet especially to trial a new designer or line of dresses. If you are unsure as to how your brides will respond to a particular trunk show, host it during a lively time!

On the other hand, if you feel confident in a specific designer, it can be something to boost a slow season/slow month. It can serve as a marketing incentive to promote the booking of appointments. This is where you have to evaluate your past sales patterns and your clientele. Just like a ‘busy season’, there is a national trending ‘slow season’ that directly follows. If you have an established line in your store that brides consistently respond well to, hosting during a leisure time may help give you the appointment boost you are looking for!

When it comes to trunk show frequency, proceed with caution and strategy. We’ve all heard the unwritten rule of marketing where you should constantly have an offer; however, keep in mind that the offer doesn’t always have to be a trunk show. In fact, having a trunk show every month can add confusion to your marketing strategy and lead your customers into more analysis paralysis. Brides may hold off on committing and purchasing due the curiosity of seeing next month’s trunk show. The possibility of there being something better out there is often what derails sales efforts. 

If you do feel driven to have a trunk show every month, our suggestion would be to position those trunk shows as being very different in styling from one another to avoid the bridal objection mentioned above. This way, you are targeting different brides on those visits. 

Trunk shows are an exceptional way to freshen up your ads and social media, but don’t forget to sprinkle in your traditional in-store promotions and recent bridal spotlights. 

Preliminary Designer Selection

We’ve covered the ‘when’, now let’s talk about the ‘who’. As you might recall, it’s imperative to pick the right designer at the right time. Partnering with an established designer might be most beneficial in a slower period while testing an up and coming designer might be worth a trial in a busier season. Remember: a trunk show is a collaboration between you and a designer. You both are in this together and aiming for mutual success. Designers are able to showcase their lines, obtain retrospective feedback, and create valuable relationships with stores and customers. Stores are able to trial new styles through a low-cost event, temporarily expand their in-store selection, gain fundamental opinions, and strengthen relationships with designers. It’s a Win-Win all around! Ask yourself which designer you’d like to grow with and begin researching! The key word here is researching. More in depth selection tips to come later on in the series!

Get the Ball Rolling

You may be thinking I know when I want to have my trunk show and who I want to have it with, I’ve got this!

Love the confidence, but let’s take a moment and ask ourselves: Do we skip reading the directions before attempting to put together new furniture?  Perhaps you skim it instead and move forward with confidence only to have a single, extra part leftover. When we get ahead of ourselves and cut corners with planning, we rarely are satisfied with the end result. For this series’ sake, let’s be the people that read all of the directions before putting together the proverbial trunk shows furniture. We’ve done the hard work of starting, so let’s not skip over planning and go straight to execution.

6 steps you can take now to get the ball rolling:

1. Consider the space where you will house your trunk show.

• Where in your store would you like to showcase the dresses?
• If you are not a closed stock store, what shifts in display need to happen?

2. Map out your ideal trunk show calendar.

• How many trunk shows would you like to have this year?
• When will those trunk shows take place?

3. Begin researching your designers and/or new designers you’re interested in carrying.

• Preview their websites and social media to see how they promote trunk shows.
• Get in touch with someone who can tell you what types of trunk shows that designer offers and when.
• You may begin the financial conversation to get an idea of what costs will be involved for comparison amongst designers.

4. Assign your marketing team to begin conducting research on trunk show promotion.

• What needs to happen before, during, and after the trunk show?
• What are some of the common trends from other bridal boutiques? 

5. Consider your staffing for the event/events.

• Are all of your staff educated on trunk show basics?
• Do they need additional training prior to the event?

6. Establish goals with your staff for trunk show appointment counts, sales, dresses by that designer sold, etc.

• What can you do to motivate and support them in achieving these goals?

Poppy Suggestion:

Create specific appointment types and fitting rooms to accommodate each of your events and their schedules. Poppy reporting will then allow you to see the appointment types, times, curated styles and sale closures from each trunk show or event.

If you made it to the end of this blog, that means at the very least overcome the challenge of starting. Congratulations!

Check out the next blog in this series – Trunk Shows: Boost Your Boutique without Breaking the Bank.