A customer finds a dress she loves. It fits everywhere except the length, and she stands in the fitting room working out whether it is worth the hassle of finding someone to shorten it.
If nobody in the shop mentions that you do it, for thirty pounds, in a week, she leaves without the dress.
What customers ask
They usually ask whether you alter garments, whether it is done in house, what it costs, how long it takes, whether it can be done before a specific date, whether the alteration affects returns, whether you alter things bought elsewhere, whether a garment can be let out as well as taken in and whether they need an appointment for a fitting.
Publish prices for the common jobs
Hems, sleeves, taking in a waist, bodice adjustments and strap shortening. A short price list converts customers in the fitting room, where a vague promise to find out does not.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a boutique might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Customer: Do you shorten dresses? Assistant: The alterations page lists the common adjustments with prices and the usual turnaround, including hems and sleeve shortening. It also explains how fittings are arranged. Could you tell me roughly when you need the dress for?
Customer: I need it for a wedding in two weeks. Is that possible? Assistant: The page shows the standard turnaround and the express option with its surcharge. Whether a particular garment can be done in that time depends on the work involved, so the fitter would need to see it. Would you like to book a fitting?
Customer: Can I still return it if it has been altered? Assistant: The page explains that altered garments cannot be returned and at what point that applies, so you are told before any work starts. It also explains what happens if the alteration is not right.
Say plainly that altered garments cannot be returned
This is the term that causes disputes, and it is entirely reasonable when stated before the work rather than discovered afterwards.
Be honest about what cannot be altered
Some seams cannot be let out, some fabrics show old stitch lines and some cuts change character when shortened. A fitter explaining this protects a customer from paying for a garment that will never look right.
Occasion wear needs a timeline
A wedding guest, a mother of the bride or a prom dress carries a fixed date and often several fittings. Publishing how far ahead to come in prevents a rushed job in the last week.
Offer alterations on garments bought elsewhere
If you have the capacity, it brings people into the shop who then buy. If you do not, saying so avoids a wasted visit.
Explain the fitting process
Whether an appointment is needed, how long it takes, what to bring including the shoes and underwear that will be worn, and how many fittings to expect. Customers who arrive prepared get a better result.
Alterations are a retention tool
A customer who has had something altered well comes back, which is worth more than the fee. It is the reason to treat it as a service rather than an inconvenience.
Fit is where most returns come from
The upstream problem is covered in size and fit questions that cause boutique returns.
Availability questions arrive alongside
They are covered in stock and restock questions boutique shoppers send.
Answering when the shop is shut
Customers decide in the evening and over long weekends, which is the gap described in bank holiday enquiries, and the value of publishing recurring answers is the same point made in resident questions councils answer again and again.
Getting started
Publish your alteration prices, turnaround, fitting process and return terms, then answer at any hour. SpideyChat for retail and ecommerce answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.