How to Start an Online Retail Clothing Business: Down to the Basics First - YourRetailCoach Dubai

Starting an online clothing retail business in the MENA region, including UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt, is highly competitive.

PUNE, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA, May 20, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Starting an online retail clothing business in one of the Middle East or MENA countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt has become extremely challenging amidst rising competition from and among local, domestic, and international apparel brands catering to an extensive range of price brackets with diversified product mixes. In this communiqué, retail and eCommerce consulting firm, Your Retail Coach (YRC) shares insights on some of the fundamentals of starting an online retail clothing business in the region.

Get advise for E-commerce retail business : http://www.yourretailcoach.ae/contact-us/

𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Sometimes business concepts sound alluring with the surface assessments but when tested through a terrain of tough conditions and questions, such concepts reveal the loopholes in them. Before starting to work on the execution of a business concept, it is logical and practical to first test the assumptions behind the business concept. Therefore, one of the prerequisites is to critically examine the concept on all relevant grounds. These questions may look:

· Why choose online retail clothing business? Is there any domain-level experience, expertise, or presence in such value chains?
· Does the concept cover any market gap?
· Does the concept cover any unfulfilled voids in the customer and user journey?
· Are there any unique value propositions? Can they help create brand distinction?
· How to define the target segments?
· How will the intended value propositions be created and delivered?
· What is the level of ease of doing business? How is the regulatory environment?

These answers also help shed light on many previously undermined or unrealised merits and demerits associated with the business concept and market and industry conditions.

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Validating business concepts on paper or with thought experiments is the first step but not a complete one to show how the business concept will work.

Validation may shed light on many broad-level insights but lending maturity to a business concept calls for a more definite formatting.

In business model development, a business concept gets mapped and described as a framework of the essential elements required to create and deliver the intended value propositions. The nine key elements to be gauged in a business model are:

· Value propositions (UVP)
· Key activities
· Internal and external capability and resource requirements
· Customer segments
· Customer Relationship Management
· Key value chain partners
· Costing
· Revenue streams
· Channel and distribution strategy

Business models provide a pilot-eye view of how the proposed enterprise is going to create and deliver the envisioned value propositions. Given the state of intense competition in the eCommerce fashion sector in cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Muscat, Doha, Kuwait City, and Cairo, not having a strong set of value propositions and strategies for brand positioning can make things extremely challenging for online retail clothing businesses.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

The significance of numbers and calculations begins from the early stages of business conceptualisation. While some financial and commercial considerations may emerge during the early stages of business conceptualisation and validation other considerations appear later with the progress of business model development and the rest of the business planning process. Some of the vital areas of financial and commercial assessments involved in an online retail clothing business plan are:

· Capital expenditure requirements
· OPEX outlays
· Costing and Revenue projections
· Inventory purchase plan and schedule
· Pricing and margin analysis
· Financial ratios
· Break-even analysis
· Return on Investment (ROI)

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

As experienced omnichannel consultants, YRC emphasises that it is expected of online brands and businesses to be more proficient with their operational capabilities, especially in comparison to their store-based counterparts. One reason customers have such expectations is the high quality of services and operations delivered and maintained by some of the major online marketplace platforms and individual brands.

If startups and existing online businesses want to create and maintain superior standards of service and operations at par with any renowned eCommerce player, they must put in serious efforts into their operations planning. SOPs have a big role to play here as it lends process orientation and adherence to established workflows and operational standards.

𝐄𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦

ECommerce platform is the framework of digital and technological infrastructure via which the core eCommerce operations are executed. It primarily encompasses the back-end and front-end software and hardware technologies like website/app creation and maintenance, servers, cloud-based services, tools for analytics and UX, CMS, etc. The eCommerce platform defines the online or digital capabilities for executing the key eCommerce operations. The selection of the right platform strategy involves defining the business-digital technological requirements first. Two major routes to make a decision are – building in-house capabilities (On-Premises) and hiring external services (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS).

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡:

Your Retail Coach ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/ ) is a retail and eCommerce consulting enterprise with over 10 years of experience in delivering customised business startup and management solutions. With a scaling international footprint, YRC has served more than 500 clients in over 25+ verticals. In online retail clothing business consulting, YRC offers planning and implementation services and solutions for business setup and growth and expansion projects.

Get advise for E-commerce retail business : http://www.yourretailcoach.ae/contact-us/

Dr Rupal K Shah
Mind-A-Mend Consultancy Private Limited
+91 9860-426-700
consult@mindamend.net
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How to Start a Clothing Store | Start Fashion Brand