Start your lash supply business with the right products

First stock is a big part of your initial investment. Therefore, deciding which products is essential for your lash supply business. Since we have many years serving with many lash supply businesses worldwide and in many cases we accompanied them from the 1st days of their business, we believe that we can share some tips based on our experience.

1. WHAT SHOULD I SELL?

There are 2 product strategy for the starting period of your lash supply business:

• Focus on lashes only
• Serving the whole need of a typical customer

Strategy 1: Focus on only lashes

This strategy is especially suitable if you want to build your own lash brand with strong competitive advantages, such as positioning it as a high-end brand or offering very competitive pricing. Consider why your target customers might choose to buy other products for their lash salons elsewhere, even while keeping purchasing lashes from you. They need a truly compelling reason to remain loyal to your brand.

By focusing, you can truly invest in that competitive edge, making your lash brand stand out from the rest. This strategy allows you to leverage the success of your lash brand to support other products as you expand your range in the future.

Follow this strategy, your lash supply business convince your potential customers by the product superiority (no matter if it’s quality or price).

Strategy 2: Service the whole need of your typical customer

Your lash supply business can adopt this strategy during the initial phase by informing your target customers that they can find nearly everything they need for their lash studios at your store. Purchasing everything from one place is always a compelling reason for customers to try a supplier and remain loyal.

Follow this strategy, your lash supply business convince your potential customers by the service superiority (the convinience and the speed).

For example, you can refer to this post: 14 Lash Extension Kit Essentials – every lash starters need

• Lashes
• Glue
• Tweezer
• Doll head
• Practice lashes
• Adhesive ring/holder
• Gel pad
• Tape
• Wands
• Brush
• Mapping stickers
• Primer
• Remover
• Mirror

2. SHOULD I SELL PRODUCTS OF MY OWN BRANDS OR OTHERS?

There are 3 options for your consideration. Each on has its own advantage and disadvantage for each model of your lash supply business.

Sell only your brand

Building customer trust in your credibility can be challenging, but it is well worth the effort. Once you earn their trust, you gain a substantial profit margin and unlimited potential to expand your product line. You can also be more proactive in pricing strategies and stock planning, as you work directly with manufacturers.

You can also work with the lash manufacture to customize many details on the products to make it outstanding from products available on the market in terms of both its function and its appearance.

And since you’re the founder of the brand, you know the story behind it, you know how to integrate the messages to the design of the products. These things will eventually contribute to your brand.

Sell only famous brand at the begining

By following this approach, you minimize the risk of quality issues and leverage existing brands to attract customers already in the market. You also gain customer trust more easily. However, in terms of competition, you have fewer opportunities to create significant advantages. And getting more advantage will rely heavily on how big your investment is. Additionally, the profit margin for your lash supply business is likely to be low, and you may be less proactive in pricing strategies and stock planning due to heavy reliance on other brands.

Combine your brand and other Famous Brands

You can choose to combine selling lash under your own brands and other lash supplies items or tools under other famous brand. This way bringing you 3 benefits:

• You can focus on working for high quality lashes while the quality of other items has been assured already.
• Famous brands of other items can imply that your lashes products has the same high quality as those brands.
• You can fullfill the whole need of a lash artist, studio or salon. The brands of other items can help you attract customers naturally.

3. HOW COULD I SHORT-LIST THE PRODUCTS TO START WITH?

The reason you should always narrow down your product catalog to a shortlist is to optimize your budget for the best ROI (Return on Investment) in terms of both its amount and speed.

Ask your targeted customers

Observing and conducting consumer surveys can help you identify the typical needs of your target market segment. However, don’t stop at simply listing “what they usually buy.” Always delve deeper to understand “why they buy those items most frequently“.

You can also consult with lash experts (lash masters) who set the trends in the lash extension market to gain a better understanding of basic needs, current trends, and which trends are likely to last or fade away.

You can also research the most popular lash extension sets in your market to identify the types of lashes being used. By combining this information with some knowledge of lash extension techniques, you can quickly create a shortlist of items to sell.

Study your competitor

Which items does your competitor usually running Ads/ place at the most attractive postion in your store? get the most reviews? people diss the most in forums?, best selling on their website, best selling on e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Etsy… (or other favourable platforms on your market).

You can also check the combo, the set, the kits that your competitors are offering.

For example, you can know best selling product of a Shopify store just by adding these /collections/all?sort_by=best-selling after their URL. For example:

Ask your lash manufacturing partner.

Normally, a lash manufacturer in Vietnam or China will work with many lash supply business in many market. They not only know, but have a deep understanding on the reason why this lashes are on big need, other aren’t. They can tell you on not just general ideas but item by items without leaking confidential information of their other customers. Don’t hesitate to ask them to help.

For example, when you come with Sen Lash Factory Vietnam, we can even help you to build an optimized lash catalog for your budget and your market segment.

Refer to Sen Lash Factory Vietnam shared resources