There are many successful drop shippers and online retailers, distributors,
wholesalers, etc. whom are based solely on the web, but ultimately if they
are serving a large clientele a brick and mortar becomes essential for
fulfillment. Being online based is always cheaper in overhead. Good Luck with
your Lingerie Business.

firstly you need to position your lingerie store, it is just common one or sexy one? then, you need to do a site with similar style with your products. the third step is to find a lingerie suppliers or factory to be agent or wholesale from them directly then show it in your store. the fourth step is to attract more aimed customers to visit your products, the deals happen. I hope you can have good start! you can contact me if any confusion on this, I would like to help you if I can. ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

Hi Cher,   I thought I'd add a woman business owner's point of view.   I think you really need to consider your type of business & your customer.  If you are planning a store for women to buy for themselves, brick and mortar allows women to try on & select items which fit.  An important consideration.  If you are planning a store for people to purchase discreetly or gifts, online might make more sense.  There's a lot of competition online, so unless you have a particular or unusual target market in mind, competition will be fierce.   A few years ago we worked with a client who had an online lingerie store.  She also carried a particular type of swim suit which was hard to find.  This product mix gave her business a little bit of a different twist than that of her competition.   I suggest you give careful thought to both your market & your product mix.   Best of Luck to you!

@Cher One thing you need to ask yourself is do you have the capability to run an online store ? and the stuff that go along with it like SEO because it can cost you more to set this up and earn than a Bricks and mortar. If I may I would suggest that you start with a bricks and mortar, touch based with the local community once your presence is felt start offering your existing client the online option and then take it from there to make an online store. As one poster said the online business is very crowded and highly competitive. You need something to fall back on, incase somethng went sour. Just a side note doing to many to soon (specially not knowing the in and out) might overwhelm you.

Cher, Although it's possible to succeed with either an online presence or a bricks and mortar business, I've always suggested to my clients (mostly bricks and mortar businesspeople), that they consider both and here's why... Although the internet is a great place to start and run a business, it's a pretty crowded place today (estimated to be well over 80 million active websites). Long gone are the days where you buy a domain name, put up a few pages and start cashing checks. Getting noticed today is a lot like playing 'Where's Waldo'. But that does not mean the opportunity to succeed online is no longer there. For the right idea, the right products and the the right businessperson, it's still the best medium for a rags to riches story. Since the start-up costs are minimal and free web design products like Joomla make it easy to create a website, it's pretty easy to be up and running within a few days and for under a thousand bucks - try and do that with a retail store. But as I mentioned, it's a pretty crowded place (just ask a few of the contributors on this board that have their own web-businesses). Having a bricks and mortar business is a bit of the opposite. Start up costs are much higher (i.e.., Store, Inventory, employees, etc), but because there are less sites on Main Street that the world wide web, it's a bit easer to get noticed. Besides, if your plans include hosting workshops for your customers, nothing beats doing it in a controlled environment (and I can only believe with lingerie that would be important). Although it's possible to have a successful on-line business with no physical presence (i.e.., A bricks and mortar store), it's almost a necessity these days for a retailer or restaurant to have an online presence as well. Because, as I mentioned, the start-up costs are low, it's a great way to extend your demographic reach beyond the city or town that you do business in and even increase foot traffic to your store by offering online coupons, special offers, invitations to your workshops, etc. Which ever way you decide to go, you'll still need a business plan (I know, it sounds boring, but it's necessary) and that may even shed more light on your final direction. If you choose to build a store, understand your customer, study your competition (their operations as well as location & store design) and find a mentor (your local S.C.O.R.E. Chapter is the best place to start). Best of luck to you and let us know what you decide! Tony O

Where do you plan to conduct the workshops? Will you need a brick and mortar location or can you conduct them at the client's business? If you have to rent meeting space for each workshop, that may cost nearly as much as having your own space. If you conduct them at the client's location, you may be able to start with the on-line business and expand later.

@Cher, I think NRiddle makes a good point. Look at your resources and finances. Doing both is the easy answer, but sometimes you cannot afford to take the risk with investments and loans. There are benefits for both brick and mortar locations as well as web-based and likewise, both have challenges. You may be able to create a plan to start one and then a few years later roll out the other one. The nice part is that usually all brick and mortar locations have some type of web-site, so having both will probably end up being the answer in the long-run. JimD

Do both, a e-commerce website gives you the ability to reach customers across the globe while a brick and mortar store allows you to capture your local market. With e-commerce website sales you can help prop up a brick and mortar store during it's inital 'no profit' years; typically 2.