Azalea had SUCH a great idea: Invite fashion-savvy, outgoing, customers to create a look out of your merchandise in stock and model it for you… wow! Now this is a Kudos idea!
Kudos because:
- It’s flat-out fun. For her and for you and your staff.
- The model is flattered, spreads the word to her social media buds.
- You may even learn something by the way your invitee coordinates items, poses, and
- It differentiates you from both “regular” retail and your resale competition. It gets you out of that boring Sea of Sameness some communities have when it comes to resale.
Don’t sell fashion, sell furnishings instead? Ask your vibrant loyal customer to create a cozy nook (chair, side table, lamp, rug…) or tabletop decor or bookcase style.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Can you explain a little more on how to do this without creating any bad feelings with customers? I mean I can see selecting those customers to participate and then other customers feeling bad wondering why they were not? Was this done via raffle style? Did the customers get to keep the clothes? I think it is a great creative idea, but I can see such things going wrong as to make a shop owner feel like maybe it was not worth it by causing bad will (because everybody is offended these days) or being put in a position to gift the clothes modeled when you really want to be paid for them. I think great ideas like this one need more details given to consider the left turns promotions like this often take despite our best efforts to be positive and fun.
Diane, thanks for the feedback. Some details that might help you tailor this idea to your specific market:
Amateur models are usually given the opportunity to purchase what they show at a 20% discount. (Remember this too when you are dressing volunteer models for a fashion show!) That doesn’t mean YOU have to do so. You could simply give them a $20 gift card or just some prints of their photo shoot… or send flowers to their house. The one thing you MUST give them? A hand-written, delivered-by-the-mailman, thank you note.
Worried that everyone will want to do this? Believe me, most folks wouldn’t WANT to be photographed full-figure and posted on Facebook. If there ARE “too many” volunteers, schedule them out, say, once a month… then they’ll help you boost you shop, or end up deciding they’re not ready for prime time. Azalea, I am sure, chose who they asked with care: someone with real style of her own, who’d come alive in front of the camera… and who has lots of FB friends, since the whole goal of this promotion is to spread the word.
There are MANY more details, suggestions (over 200 of them!) and ways to get full value before, during, and after your promotions in my publication, Resale’s BEST Promotions. It’s available to order at http://tgtbt.com/shopgrow.htm#13
PS Azalea’s ongoing promotion also makes great sense because their tag line is “handpicked style”… maybe your tag line would suggest some sort of angle in your shop?