How Instagram Became This Oklahoma Boutique’s Saving Grace
It’s no secret that local businesses have been hit hard with social distancing regulations and temporary store closures due to COVID-19. Some have been forced to close for good, while others can stay afloat through different modes of operations.
Katherine Buxton, owner of Oklahoma City boutique Gretta Sloane, is one of the lucky ones.
She has found success with running her clothing store digitally, through social media. However, she anxiously awaits the day she can see her customers again.
“I want to sell things to people I can see or at least talk to. Interacting with employees and customers is my favorite part of this job,” Buxton said.
Located in the Nichols Hills Plaza shopping center, Gretta Sloane has become a favorite among locals to find unique and stylish brands like Veronica Beard, Ulla Johnston, Moussy Denim, and Golden Goose. Buxton describes the store as “a vibrant and fun place to shop and work.”
As the implementation of social distancing rippled throughout the country, Buxton made the difficult decision to temporarily close her doors on March 26. She said she knew this was best for everyone’s health and safety to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
On March 28 Oklahoma City mayor David Holt officially issued a shelter-in-place order to last until mid-April, which was later extended through the end of the month. This meant nonessential businesses, like Gretta Sloane, would be forced to remain closed for the foreseeable future.
“Formally, I shut the doors and notified my customers via social media and notes on the door that we would be sheltering-in-place but that did not mean that we wouldn’t be open,” Buxton said.
Knowing that she already had an engaged audience of over 5,000 followers on Instagram, Buxton decided to go digital and increase her activity on social media. She realized it would be a good place to still operate the business and communicate with customers.
“Luckily, we have a loyal following on Instagram of customers from all over the country. We would not have been able to continue to operate the business without social media,” she continued.
Buxton began offering curbside pick-up and local deliveries, arranged via phone calls and social media.
“While we couldn’t operate in the same way we had previously, we were still able to service our customers through FaceTime, Instagram, delivery, curbside pick-up, shipping, or gift cards,” she said.
Customer engagement was successful from the beginning. Buxton continued posting her usual photos and videos of styling merchandise and new products. She also began doing live Instagram stories which brought the shopping experience right to customer’s fingertips, wherever they were quarantined.
“Most of our sales over the past five weeks have been a result of my posts on Instagram. We actually haven’t sent one email. I have also been doing recorded try-on sessions for Instagram stories with different designers and categories. People have really responded to these,” Buxton said.
Instagram has become Gretta Sloane’s bread and butter during this time. The social media app has helped Buxton increase customer interaction around the country, as well as generate sales since the pandemic hit. This is reflected in the store’s most recent numbers.
“We have been able to maintain 40% of our sales compared to last year since the start of the pandemic. But what is interesting is the shift in out-of-state sales this year compared to last. This year, 47% of our sales from 3/26–4/28/20 have been from out-of-state compared to last year at only 1%,” Buxton said.
Despite the success the store has had using social media, there are still some economic consequences Gretta Sloane will face in the coming months — particularly the fall collections.
“We have found the biggest problem is with the upcoming fall inventory. The biggest hit to our inventory will be Golden Goose. Unfortunately, Italy has been one of the hardest-hit countries. Therefore, Golden Goose stopped production on spring. They also decided to cancel all of fall,” Buxton said in an email interview.
With Golden Goose being one of the store’s most popular brands, missing out of Spring and Fall will be detrimental.
“We had just placed a $16,000 order which was a 46% increase over the previous fall. Golden Goose is one of our top-performing brands and it rarely goes on sale. This is going to be about a $10,000 financial hit to our bottom line this fall,” she continued.
While it may be a long road ahead for local stores like Gretta Sloane, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Oklahoma City’s “Shelter in Place” order was lifted on Friday, May 1. Most businesses have been given clearance to begin reopening but must follow certain guidelines if they choose to do so.
Gretta Sloane re-opened on May 4th with special protocol in place for employees and customers to follow.
