Where do apparel businesses begin? Ask the average entrepreneur today and you’ll likely find that they began online–building a brand and platform on Instagram or TikTok, then working with drop shippers or merchandising services like Shirtual or Shopify to produce and distribute products. However, once you’ve grown up from that niche, it’s important to be able to scale up. This often means engaging in offline branding to bring your online apparel brand to stores or expos.

If you started off with hashtags and SEO tricks, how do you transfer that knowledge to offline branding expeditions? How do you spread the word about your new retail store or pop-up chain? This knowledge has faded in recent years thanks to the sheer dominance of online brands, but if you’re interested in taking a step further, here’s what you can do to bring your online apparel brand to the physical world. 

1. Taking your brand offline

When you’re putting clothes on display for people to browse and purchase immediately, you’ll likely have to work with someone to actually get eyes on your product. Garage and back-car sales often won’t cut it in the modern age–you need to work with a distributor that people trust. There are three ways to go about it:

1. Wholesaler

A wholesaler is a distributor that buys your product in bulk for cheap and sells smaller parts of it to other retailers or businesses for a profit. While this may require you to sell individual products for a lower profit margin, wholesalers pay for a large portion of your work upfront. They also have access to a vast network of retailers that you can distribute to.

Long story short–if you’re looking for a reliable source of funds and a trusty partner for your apparel services, go wholesale. You can research the right wholesaler in online directories or find some in trade expos.

If you want to maintain a strong brand personality and are looking for customer exposure, the next two methods might be right for you. 

2. Retailer

Retailers are specialized distributors that sell directly to customers rather than to businesses. They have their own branding and image to uphold, and thus often only get products that fit their standard of quality. 

Wholesalers and retailers often work hand in hand, so working with a wholesaler can often lead to a retail proposition. There are a few other agreements you can make with retailers to put your products on display. For example–

1. Consignment

Consignment is an agreement between you and the retailer where you offer your goods for display, and the retailer only pays you after the goods are sold. This gives you the chance to put your apparel on display next to big-name brands, increasing prestige and brand perception. 

However, since you’re offering your product for free at first, it may take time before you see a profit from the retailer. You’ll also be expected to carry the brunt of marketing for your products on display.

2. Showroom Agreements

Some retail stores act as showrooms for other brands–this means that they put their products on display as usual, and the brand has to pay to rent the display. These agreements pop up when the retail showroom is particularly popular among many people. Though it might be more expensive, depending on the prestige of the showroom, it may help market your brand to the particular audience you want.

3. Trade Shows

Trade shows are temporary events that draw in massive crowds and lots of other competitive vendors. They usually have a specific focus, such as wedding preparations or textile suppliers, so you’ll find both customers and possible partners browsing through the crowds there. 

Considering their short-term but high-traffic nature, trade shows can be a great way to get your brand out there first before jumping immediately into wholesale and retail work. However, keep in mind that the costs of renting a booth for such events can be high, and you’ll want to decorate and adjust to stand out from competitors.

2. Offline Branding Strategies

Now that we’ve covered ways to take your brand offline, you’ll want to market your brand’s physical retail stores. While some marketing can still happen online, consider these offline branding strategies to strengthen your client awareness: 

1. Pop-ups & Events

Similarly to trade shows, pop-up retail stores are temporary events that take advantage of passing trends–like seasons, holidays, and so on and so forth. Having a few pop-up stores can be a great way to begin your offline branding journey, since they’re short-term but have the chance to gain immense profit. 

Collaborative events can also work the same way. Whether you’re collaborating with other brands to form a collective pop-up or joining a large-scale show, these choices can help solidify your brand in more partners’ and consumers’ minds.

2. Traditional Advertisement

The value and effectiveness of traditional advertisement can often be underrated in a digital word. Something as simple as a billboard or a set of brochures gives more credence to your brand image, building a solid idea in your customers’ minds of who you are compared to the average Instagram post.

If you’ve started a retail venture and are gaining more traction, consider expanding to physical media for your marketing means. Apparel businesses often post advertising on magazines or form their own specialized magazine catalogue for their clients’ use. If you’re advertising a position at a temporary event, your event organizers can also consider posting billboards in well-known traffic spots.

3. Word of mouth

Word of mouth is stronger than any form of marketing or branding you can think of. Over 90% of people generally believe their family and friend’s recommendations over advertisements, and it’s not hard to see why. In a world filled with content and information, the easiest way to sift through it all is to trust the people close to you who actually use these products.

All these offline branding strategies ultimately come down to building trust with the customer base you have now. The sheer scale of online entrepreneurship now often builds a wall between your brand and your consumers, creating a fleeting sense of superficial connection. 

Appearing in events, greeting and welcoming customers in real life stores, allowing customers to actually handle and touch your apparel before making a purchase, all of these things are designed to create a real relationship between your brand and your customers. Do it all right, and the word of mouth will come naturally to you, too.