Home shopping: how does it work?

What exactly is home selling?

Home selling involves selling products or services on behalf of a brand on a self-employed basis (known as VDI, or vendeur ou vendeuse à domicile indépendant-e). As the term suggests, sales are made from home. This may be the home of the salesperson or that of a hostess. No sales are made in-store.

Sales sessions generally last a few hours. During this time, the home assistant presents the product lines to several customers and helps them make their choices. In Elora's case, the aim is to highlight the clothing, accessories and footwear collections and their qualities.

The challenge of these home shopping sessions is to develop a personalised sales pitch for each participant. You have to convince people without pushing them to buy at any price. This requires excellent interpersonal skills and active listening.

The last thing you need to know is that door-to-door selling is a professional activity that can be pursued on a full-time or part-time basis (to supplement your income, for example). Regardless of how you choose to work, all the money you earn from selling products must be declared to the tax authorities.

> See also: The advantages of VDI status

Fashion jobs as a door-to-door salesperson

We don't always realise it, but a home-based sales assistant doesn't just sell clothes. She also wears other hats as a sales professional.

The home sales assistant is also :

• An image consultant

A home sales assistant is also an image consultant. In practice, this means that she helps her customers to improve their image and self-confidence. To achieve this, she has a number of tools at her disposal:

➔ Listening to customers and their needs

By talking to customers, home sales assistants can obtain lots of useful information about their tastes and personalities. Thanks to this, they will choose pieces that are in line with what customers want to exude and that will make them look their best.

➔ Analysis of their morphology

This analysis helps guide customers towards clothing cuts that flatter their figure. X-shaped, V-shaped, H-shaped or even A-shaped silhouettes do not present the same challenges.

> See also: The different types of women's body shapes and how to dress them

➔ The study of their client's colorimetry.

An image consultant also takes the time to offer an analysis based on the dominant colours sported by clients. By observing hair colour, complexion, but also eye colour, she can determine whether it is better to favour cool colours or warm colours.

> See also: Which colours suit me best?

• Personal shopper (or shopping assistant)

Home sales assistants also frequently become personal shoppers. In this case, at the customer's request, she makes a selection of clothes and accessories they are likely to like.

The selection can be made before the home sale. Of course, the home sales assistant will also bring additional items to the sale, if necessary, to widen the customer's choice.

The personal shopping session can also take place on the big day, with each of the participants.

Getting started as a home sales assistant

Would you like to become a home sales assistant, but don't know where to start? Here's some key information to help you get started:

1. Study the brands available on the market

There are brands in a variety of fields, from fashion and jewellery to household products and sex toys. The choice of one brand or another should be based on your personal tastes.

The more you choose a brand that you like and whose values speak to you, the more motivated you will be at the moment of sale.

> See also: How do you choose a home shopping company?

2. Choosing your status

You can be an agent or a buyer-reseller. At Elora, home sellers are only offered an agent contract. This means you don't have to buy stock and you can start your business with greater peace of mind.

3. Good training

Once the legal aspects have been sorted out, it's time for training. This stage is carried out in collaboration with the brand. Specific training courses are usually offered, and new home-based sales assistants are given a coach.

You should also attend meetings run by more experienced fashion consultants to get a real idea of how a home shopping session works. The idea is to draw up a list of best practices, which you can reproduce in future fashion workshops. Don't hesitate to create an overall plan to follow for home sales.

Finally, it's important to learn on your own, by keeping an eye on the fashion sector and its trends (if that's the sector you're interested in). This will make you a better salesperson.

> See also: Why train as a home seller?

4. Mobilise your network and organise your first sales sessions!

Ask people around you to find your first customers and organise your first fashion workshops. Don't neglect communication, particularly on the logistical aspects, throughout the process. Good organisation will be appreciated by your customers and will save you unnecessary stress.

Please note: depending on the type of products to be moved, it is strongly recommended that you have a vehicle to launch your business.

PS: once the business is up and running, the door-to-door salesperson needs to work hard to maintain her network of customers. Newsletters, promotional text messages, running a social networking account, etc. each home seller has her own methods!

Would you like to become a fashion consultant and have questions about Elora? Contact our team.