RALEIGH, N.C. — Online shopping continues to boom, and one brick-and-mortar store in Raleigh is switching to virtual retail.
Research from Statista shows e-commerce customers are expected to increase by 15 million people between 2023 and 2027.
Stylefinder Boutique in Raleigh recently closed their retail store, devoting more time to their online and social media following.
“It just really catapulted us forward to doing some things that we had kept putting on the back burner,” said Stylefinder Boutique founder Mary Michele Nidiffer. “And so we just really said, now is the time. And once we were able to make that pivot, we were able to just take that and run with it.”
In 2020, the boutique started doing live shows online, selling their clothes and jewelry to people across the country. Now, they do shows twice a day during the week.
Clients still come into their headquarters to do personal styling sessions, but it no longer serves as a retail shop.
Nidiffer says since the pandemic, her team has hired four extra people and sales have more than doubled. She also hosts a podcast and is currently working on a book.
“Our approach really is about helping women understand what to wear and how to wear it. We’re not just here to sell clothes,” Nidiffer said.