Do you think wedding online retail can be profitable?

I think it’s something that is very competitive (what isn’t, nowadays?). I think if you do it, you should find a niche. Niche developed according to product or location is what I’m thinking of.

I think you have great ideas that I also think are not unique and without Googling them I would expect the area to be filled with websites filled with similar offerings. That said you mention you BF has a website in highly competitive market that hits in the top 3 Google searches. That is no easy feat so why not ask him how he did it.

A lot will depend on if you desire your business to be strictly local or multi-state or larger. Either way the task is the same and that is to get your site noticed by Google. I am just learning these ropes from my companies website developer but I will say the more you do in social media the more hits you will get. We have a Facebok page, Instagram, LinkedIn, a Blog, YouTube, a blog and numerous links to other sites and each one exponentially adds to our presence as far as Google searches are concerned.

I asked about if your biz will be directed towards a local audience as Facebook will work wonders for you there as almost every town in the US has a “what’s happen in (insert town name) page and every day I see people ask about, discuss and promote businesses such as yours to their fellow citizens. I do see that if you promote, upsell and keep content flowing on your website you should attract business and ultimately a loyal following if you are truly good at and passionate about what you will do. Good luck.

Can you please “wedding retail online” ? What does that mean to you? Dresses? Floral? Venue selection?

Most aspects of a wedding are regional, and a small region at that. Online retail businesses generally do well by being accessible nationally.

Ask yourself, “what market can I serve that is not being served at present?”

Good luck with this.

Selling a variety of wedding favors ranging in different themes (rustic, Asian, funky, elegant), bridal shower gifts and gift baskets, wedding gifts, wedding decor rentals (variety styles of card drop boxes, center pieces, signs, different cute card holders, back drops and chair covers in a variety of colors, tents, etc). I would like different themes available. Of course this may be available to those within a certain distance but all others with favors and such can be shipped out.

Eventually moving on to gently used wedding dresses that are under 1,000 and personalized gifts. Hopefully for it to become an online community with forums where people can discuss.

I would like this to be national which is why it would be online. Ship out everywhere.

Hmm I may have to think of something else. It’s just really frustrating not knowing what I want to put my heart into that will work.

It seems the market is extremely saturated with it. I wonder what else I can think of.

@chelle21689 There is no such thing as a “sure thing” business venture. his may sound counter intuitive to you at the moment but I see people succeed more often when they do something that they put their heart into it…if you do this then you stand a much greater chance of it working. You already listed things that you are excited about so pick one or more and start putting together business plans on what it is you want to sell and who your customers and competition is and how you are going to do as good or better job than your competition.

Seeing what you are wanting to do in writing can go a long way to making your choice to do or not to do what it is you wish to do.

A friend of mine has started a wedding decor business in Australia. She basically rents out all of the stuff needed to make weddings pretty including the floral arrangements. She’s making a go of it but had a good start as she knew a lot of people through her connections – she’s a real estate agent and her husband owns a restaurant. They’ve recently bought a country property in the wine district where they can host weddings – and he caters them.

It’s possible but it’s a stinking bag of hard work. I’m looking into making barefoot sandals for her business as beach weddings are very popular there and the pre-fab ones aren’t quite to the standard she is looking for.

Thanks for the responses. Some of you have been reassuring.

So I’m trying to think deeper. It seems the market is less saturated with renting out wedding decor and supplies. I know that many I know usually just throw it out. Maybe have people be able to sell gently used decor and supplies too.
I can offer a service to ship these out. I really one day want to move to somewhere with a beach within 30 min driving. Maybe eventually expand to wedding beach decor.

Now I need to figure out how to supply all this stuff and where to get it.

It seems like many people now do things on their own. If you check Pinterest, you’ll find zillions of ideas that are “Do it yourself” for all kinds of parties.

I went to a wedding last year where the centerpieces were beautiful lanterns in the middle of a bunch of flowers. I found out that the mother of the bride made these things herself. I asked her where she got the lanterns and she said TJ Maxx. She put these things together and they looked great. It wasn’t a huge wedding so there were about 12 tables therefore 12 centerpieces plus the one for the Bride and Groom.

I’m sure it could be profitable, if you develop a good business plan and tap into the right market. I’m just not sure what market that could be for weddings.

Dress and tuxedos? No. People are going to want to try that stuff on before buying, and that’s not possible online.

Flowers? There’s already companies that do that. You can go to whatever website (I think FTD runs one), place an order and that order gets sent to a local shop for deliver.

Wedding decor? Maybe. Though, again, you’d likely have to be able to network some way of having that stuff delivered locally.

Really, aside from the dresses/tuxes, probably most of that stuff can be done online. And you may well be able to be a new entrant into the field and make a profitable go at it, but you’re going to need to figure out how to be competitive with other players already in the field.

Perhaps a better idea would be to set your sights more locally – become a wedding planner or something. You could start small at first. Work with a couple here and there until you get a feel for the business and are able to dedicate yourself to it full time.

Hmm.. not sure how I could get in a job with a wedding planning business. I could see myself doing it part time. I help out at my parent’s business on Saturdays to be nice but I really want to do something for myself and venture out.

Start part time. Offer your services to friends, friends of friends and so on. Eventually you’ll build up word-of-mouth advertising/reputation then can start to venture into doing it full time.

@Darth_Algar I was thinking that! People was telling me to get a job in the wedding industry first to build experience but I don’t think it’s necessary.

I think I should start off with some items, rent them, give friends and friend of friends deals to start off and give me practice like help plan their wedding or set up…take some awesome pics to advertise….that gives me some hope. 3 of my friends are getting married soon so maybe I’ll ask them if I can do anything to help if I get my inventory in time!

Good plan @chelle21689

A colleague of mine MC’d a friend’s wedding several years ago. Now it is a well-paying part-time gig for her. She and her husband were recently taken to Fiji by a couple who wanted her to MC their wedding.

@BellaB expense paid trip?!

@Darth_Algar about the market. It looks like rustic is a huge trend right now. Not many places offer those items and I know it can be hard to find. There’s one place I know that offers it and that’s it.
But I would like to also offer other options like elegant and flashy which never goes out of style.
A friend in Texas showed me her friend’s successful business locally on Instagram called beautiful_event_rentals which is rustic and also has elegant items. Rentmywedding is very flashy. I wonder if it would be a confusing identity to offer different themes options