Oh, Baby! Current Trends and Top Marketing Tips for Selling Baby Apparel

By Corrie Pelc

While baby apparel may be known for its adorably small-sized clothing, shoes, and accessories, the size of its product market is quite another story. The global baby apparel market totaled more than $62 billion in 2019 and experts expect it to reach $82.54 billion by 2027.

With customers obviously clamoring for baby apparel, what can boutiques and stores do to increase their sales? Successful baby boutique sellers said it comes down to knowing what your customers want and being smart in marketing what you offer.

A Focus on Fabrics and Colors

Soft fabrics are a necessity when it comes to baby apparel. However, today's new parents also want baby clothing made from eco-friendly and sustainable fabrics they can feel good about purchasing.

Margaret White , owner and buyer at the 1,700-squarefoot Polliwogs Children's Boutique in Greensboro, N.C., said Millennial moms are very conscientious of what type of fabric is in their babies' clothing and where it's made.

"It's been nice because we're finding new up-and-coming brands that really are just focusing on that, while we also have our tried-and-true brands that are pulling that into their line," White explained. "When we have a grandmother coming in to shop for the new baby, it's a win-win for both because grandmother can get the brand that she's so familiar with and then the daughter is happy because it is eco-friendly and organic fabric."

And when it comes to color, baby apparel selling experts say there are two genres of customers to please – Millennial new parents who want more neutral tones, and Baby who want more traditional pinks for girls and blues for boys.

Katie Hyde , owner and COO at Indigo Baby in Santa Fe, N.M., said in her area everyone wants mod tones. "It was black and white for years, and now it's those mod colors, so like those burnt oranges and burnt yellows and lighter browns," she said. "And so a lot of our clothes are like that, (but) not all of them because some grandparents still want the bright fun colors."

Smart Marketing

What's the best way to let potential customers know about the baby apparel you carry?

Colleen Whitaker , owner and buyer of Pitter Patter, Inc. in Bath, Maine, uses both Facebook and Instagram to promote the baby offerings in her roughly 1,000-square-foot store. She also takes the time to send out personalized emails. "I have a customer client list of emails, it's about 2,000 to 3,000 people, and I'll send out emails about specials or if I'm featuring a certain item or brand," she explained.

Lan Le , CEO of Pink & Brown Boutique in Alexandria, Va., said she uses events to bring people into her store. "Just last weekend we bought in a princess to do story time," she detailed. "(We use) lots of events and then lots of word-of-mouth because people love the quality of our products and they will tell their friends and so on."

And word-of-mouth is also a powerful marketing tool for Polliwogs Children's Boutique. "We try to post a lot on Instagram and occasionally email, (but) mainly ours is word of mouth," White said. "When it comes to baby (apparel), I feel like it really just markets itself. People are excited and they want to buy for babies because it's such a happy time. We really don’t have to spend a lot of marketing focus for that portion of the store. Baby items really sell themselves - our goal is to help the customer feel as if it is truly a special shopping experience."

Sell More with Displays

Once you get a potential customer through the doors of a boutique, baby apparel selling experts all agree great product displays are key.

"Displays is a huge part of it – I always tell my employees that 90% of selling is presentation and enthusiasm," said Hyde from Indigo Baby, who has about 2,000 square feet of retail space. "(In) my store, I'm very meticulous about the way everything looks and making sure it's neat and it's not cluttered. It's all about presentation, so the way that it's displayed, putting colors together, making sure everything looks great and organized and clean, putting age groups together."

At Keedo Clothes in Oklahoma City, Okla., Owner Kelly Smith has her employees work together to build displays for her 2,700-squarefoot store. “I have one girl that helps me do all the buying for apparel and she displays all the apparel,” she explained. “And then she works in coordination with another girl who does all of the toys and gifts.”

To help encourage multi-item sales, Smith said they also stock little items around the cash register to make it easy for buyers to add more to their purchase. "You always suggest a bow for a girl," she added. "We

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(have) bows, toys, rings, little stick-on earrings, and a ton of stuffed animals, too."

And over at Pink & Brown Boutique, Le said their baby apparel displays always include accessories so that everything matches together, as well as toys. "And then in our store we have cubby holes built into the wall so then we can actually display all the products that people can (get) if they need like a boy gift, girl gift, or neutral – they can just look at those cubby hole as an example," she added.

And if a shopper picks up one item, Le says they are always ready to show them other items that complement it to help turn a singleitem sale into a multi-item sale. "We show them, which is great because you can't do that (with an) online store," Le said. "With a brick and mortar (store), it's very easy to show people all the accessories that match the one item that they want and then they fall in love with it."

Old School Customer Service

Even with well-curated displays, customers sometimes need extra help in finding what they need or the perfect baby apparel gift for new parents. This is where great customer service comes into play, said Whitaker at Pitter Patter, Inc.

"The first thing I do with someone after I greet them, I'll ask them if they're looking for anything specific," she explained. "And then I'll say, tell me a little bit about your recipient. I like to try to cater to what they're looking for, because the gift is from them. And I know every single item in my store, so if they can tell me a little bit about what they're looking for, I can help direct them to things that I think will work for what they're searching for. I really want my customers to Keed love what they've given, I want their recipients to love what they've received, and I want it to be a fun experience."

And Hyde at Indigo Baby suggested not to be afraid to offer "old school" customer service such as assisting with shopping, wrapping gifts, shipping, and walking customers to the door. "Offer the old school service – people miss that," she said. "They miss walking into a store and being greeted and asked about their day, especially the grandparent Baby Boomers because that’s how their childhood was. If you’re genuinely invested in wanting to help people find the perfect gift, they feel that. It becomes part of the interaction. And then it doesn't feel cheesy – it doesn't feel like a used car salesman. You really do create relationships with people and then they come back and they bring their friends." ❖