Top tips to setting up a retail store:
l Work with your resource partners to clarify online retail restrictions and complete any
new sales agreements, if needed.
l Find great images of products from resource partners or invest in an
inexpensive light box to take quality shots from an iPhone. Name all of your
photos so they can be discovered by search engines.
l People love gift sets! If you don’t have time to list every retail item
individually, start with care packages and add more retail as time permits.
l Branch out and offer items that you might not normally retail in-store.
l Host live shopping events on Facebook and Instagram, create invitations to
generate buzz, and use these events to highlight items in your online store
and answer questions.
l Deliver an experience: Include a handwritten note, treats and samples with every
package. Use brand colors to wrap items in tissue paper. Make your package
presentation Instagram-worthy and ask people to tag your business and show
off their items!
l Create a separate social media presence for your retail store to target a wider national audience
and cross post from your retail accounts to your spa account.
CASSIE SAMPSON, BA, LMT, opened East Village Spa in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2008. Despite signing the lease the day
before the stock market crashed in 2008, Sampson has grown her business into a successful day spa employing over
20 licensed massage therapists, estheticians, nail technicians and support staff. Cassie is most proud of the warm
and welcoming team she’s been fortunate to grow and work alongside for more than a decade.
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