It should be fun to order clothing for your gym. Cool gear should be an option that brings the community together and puts some extra money in your pocket. But I often see gym owners abandon the process or avoid it because of the confusion and stress involved.
This is because I own a custom-made clothing business. I have seen the mistakes that most people make. Here are some tips to avoid the pitfalls and focus on what really matters – getting your community together.
There are too many choices and kinds
Did you know that people actually buy less when they have more choices? If you are curious about why choice is demotivating for buyers and consumers, then check out the Columbia Jam Study. The study focused primarily on a jam tasting sales area set up inside a popular grocery chain. They examined these things on different weekends:
One Saturday, there would be 24 jams available to choose from.
The next Saturday the only jams available at the store would be six different types.
The sales area with fewer options offered more jam jars. In numerous studies, this has been tested with many products.
Where exactly are the pitfalls in a fitness center clothing order? One, customers don’t take the time to think about what colour shirt they want. The customer only wants to know the best option, not the entire range. You may have designed a shirt which works in ten different colors, but that does not mean you should make all of these shirts.
We have people who come to us regularly asking for every color shirt that we offer. Although we try to talk them out of their decision, many people ignore it. When they reorder they will tell us “I sold out of X colour, but I have a full field of Y colour left!” This is when groupthink or the herd mentality take over. When 5-6 people start shopping for the same color, everyone wants it. You’re stuck with the purple shirts. Keep it simple when in doubt.
Some homeowners believe that buying different types is the key to generating sales. But just because someone wants a V neck, doesn’t mean you have to cater for them. Gym owners will probably get carried away and want six different cuts of girls’s shirts. One girls’s shirt, one ladies’s tank top, one men’s shirt, and one man’s tank are all you need. Keep everything simple.
There are too many cooks in the kitchen
You are a fitness center owner who is busy. You do not have the time to coordinate your clothing order. However, you know that you need one. You give the office manager control over the order. Then, he or she asks their colleagues for help, and these ask the rest of the fitness centre for assistance.
You’ve essentially turned your income-making choice into a 3-ring circus by inviting strangers to some pseudo-committee-decision-making process. Keep the clothing order between yourself and trusted advisors. Ask for outside suggestions, but if it’s about your brand and revenue, you have the final say.
Lack of clear branding
You may not be happy with your gym’s branding. You have tried many different types of logos, but nothing has stuck? The key to the problem is the way you do it. You must use only one logo and brand message.
Consider all the big manufacturers that you come across on a daily basis, from Apple Health to Rogue Health. Their branding has been the same since day one. Apple doesn’t change its logo for every new product. Successful companies maintain their branding in good times and bad. Find a branding strategy that shows what your business is all about. Keep it up.
No Preorder
You decide to order tanks for the women’s group training class, as you think you know their sizes. You “didn’t have the time to do a preorder”, so you ordered 20 of each size.
Fallacious transfer! This is another revenue-generating option. Pre-order carefully, take your time and eliminate any stock issues.
Delaying the sale of shirts
You’re all busy. It’s something we deal with every day. Delaying your order for clothing will probably cost you a lot of money per month. Clothing sales are one of the passive revenue streams that you can have in your business.
Before you stress yourself out over your next clothing order, take some time to organize, get rid of the noise and remember the main reason why you wanted shirts in the first place.
Photo 1 by Jorge Huerta Images
Photos 2 & 3. Courtesy of Shutterstock.
