In-store shopping still leads by a long shot, with retail spending in brick-and-mortar shops outpacing online purchases 7-to-1 — but that doesn’t mean you should disregard a business website. In fact, shoppers in the U.S. are spending over $1 trillion online each year, and a share of that could be yours.
If you own a fabric or quilt shop, you might think customers prefer to feel the fabric in person, but online shopping is growing even for fabric stores. With more people buying fabric, patterns, and sewing supplies online, having a well-designed website can take your business to the next level.
So, whether you're expanding or just starting out, this guide will show you how to build a fabric store website that works for you — plus, we’ll explore how a point of sale (POS) system with a website builder makes it even easier.
Benefits of a Fabric Store Website
If you're still wondering whether a fabric store website is worth the effort, here’s why it's a great move for your business:
- Wider reach: An online store lets you connect with customers from all over, not just your local area. It’s like opening your shop to the world, with no borders or limits.
- 24/7 availability: Unlike a physical store with set hours, your website is open ‘round the clock. Customers can browse and shop for fabric any time, even when you're not around.
- Convenience for customers: Shopping online is easy for your customers. They can browse through your fabric selection, find exactly what they’re looking for, and check out in just a few clicks — no need to leave home.
- Increased sales: With an online store, you can reach more customers, which means more sales. Plus, it’s easy to highlight special deals, new arrivals, or seasonal collections to encourage purchases.
- Better customer experience: A smooth, user-friendly website gives customers a great experience. Detailed fabric descriptions, clear images, and simple checkout make their shopping process easy and enjoyable.
- Improved inventory management: A POS system integrated with your website helps you track inventory in real time. You’ll always know what’s in stock, and it’s easy to keep your online store up to date with your physical shop.
- Marketing opportunities: Your website is also a powerful marketing tool. With features like search engine optimization (SEO), blog posts, and email newsletters, you can increase your visibility and keep your customers informed.
- Brand building: Your website reflects your store’s personality. It’s a space where you can tell your story, showcase your fabrics, and create a unique experience that customers will remember.
Having a website for your fabric store opens up a whole world of opportunities. It’s a great way to grow your business and connect with more customers.
Now that you know why it's worth having a fabric store website, let’s go over the key steps to get yours up and running.
8 Steps to Creating a Fabric Store Website
If you don’t have a background in web design, don’t worry — you don’t need one. We’ve broken the process down into simple steps to make creating your fabric store website as easy as possible.
Step 1: Choose the Right Platform for Your Fabric Store Website
The first step in building your website is to select the platform that best fits your needs. You want a system that helps you showcase your products, manage inventory, and process orders easily. A good website builder should also allow you to add product categories, manage pricing, and handle customer transactions.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
A website builder that integrates with your POS system makes managing your store so much easier. It syncs your online and in-store inventory, so you never have to worry about overselling or running out of stock. With real-time data, you can keep track of your sales and inventory across all channels, from your website to your brick-and-mortar store.
Popular E-Commerce Platforms
- Shopify: The platform is easy to use and offers customizable templates.
- WordPress: Known for its flexibility, WordPress requires more setup.
- BigCommerce: Designed for scalability, BigCommerce is ideal for growing businesses.
- Like Sew: An all-in-one solution designed specifically for fabric stores. It allows you to manage your store, inventory, and website all in one place
Step 2: Design a Website With Your Customers in Mind
Design is about functionality as much as it is about looks — it needs to offer a seamless shopping experience. The layout should be easy to navigate, making it simple for customers to find fabrics, patterns, and supplies.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
A POS system that’s integrated with your website helps ensure that your design is beautiful, cohesive, and functional. You can easily update your inventory in real time, which means that your website reflects the current stock of each fabric — this means customers never have to worry about ordering something that’s out of stock.
Plus, many POS systems come with built-in analytics tools that show you which products are performing well, so you can make informed decisions about how to feature fabrics on your site.
Key Design Tips
- Easy navigation: Organize fabrics by material, color, or project type (e.g. quilting, apparel).
- Clear categories: Create distinct categories for your products like cotton fabrics, dress patterns, and accessories.
- High-quality images: Show off the textures and colors of your fabrics with clear, close-up images.
Step 3: Add Products and Set Up Your Online Store
Once your design is ready, it's time to populate your website with products. Organize your fabric collection into categories like cotton, linen, silk, or by project type (e.g. quilting, home décor).
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
A POS system integrates seamlessly with your website’s product catalog. As you add fabrics or products, your inventory is automatically updated across both your online store and physical location. This eliminates manual updates and keeps everything in sync.
Plus, when you add new products, the POS system suggests relevant pricing and stock levels based on historical data.
Product Details To Include
- Images: Provide high-quality photos of each fabric.
- Fabric description: Include important details like material, width, weight, and care instructions.
- Pricing and availability: Be transparent with prices and make sure customers know how much stock is available.
Related Read: Business How To Choose Quilting Supplies for Your Store
Step 4: Set Up Payment and Shipping Options
For a smooth shopping experience, you need to offer secure and convenient payment options. Whether it’s credit cards, PayPal, or even local payment methods, your goal is to make it easy for customers to pay.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
The right POS system allows you to offer multiple payment options while securely processing transactions. The beauty of having a POS system integrated with your website is that it also syncs your payment information across both online and in-store sales. This makes reconciling payments and managing financials much simpler.
When it comes to shipping, you also want to offer flexible options like standard, expedited, or free shipping for larger orders.
Payment and Shipping Tips
- Offer multiple payment options (credit cards, financing options).
- Make shipping costs clear upfront.
- Consider offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount to encourage larger purchases.
Step 5: Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Most consumers shop from their mobile device versus a laptop or desktop computer, so it’s important that your fabric store website is mobile-friendly. A responsive design automatically adjusts to fit different screen sizes and provides a smooth shopping experience, no matter what device your customers use.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
POS systems with integrated website builders typically come with responsive themes designed for mobile shopping. This ensures that your site functions smoothly on mobile devices and provides a seamless checkout experience. Additionally, your inventory updates automatically across devices, so if someone buys fabric on mobile, the system reflects that in real time.
Step 6: Add a Blog (Optional)
Adding a blog to your fabric store website can help with both customer engagement and SEO. Write posts that have value for your customers, like sewing tips, fabric care instructions, or new fabric trends. This also helps drive more traffic to your website, as search engines love fresh, relevant content.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
A POS system integrated with a website builder can make managing content and products even easier. As you write blog posts, your POS system can help you link blog content to relevant products — like fabrics or tools — driving traffic to your online store. This crosslinking can help improve your SEO and generate more sales.
Blog Post Ideas
- “10 Must-Have Fabrics for Quilting Projects”
- “How To Choose the Right Fabric for Your Next Sewing Project”
- “Fabric Care 101: How To Keep Your Fabrics Looking Fresh”
You can also think about the things you search as a fabric store owner and as a consumer. This is a great starting line for blog post ideas, or you can do keyword research to help come up with topics.
Step 7: Optimize for Search Engines
SEO is the process of getting your website to rank higher on search engines like Google. Use keywords like “fabric store website,” “buy quilting fabric online,” and other related terms to help potential customers find your store.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
Many POS systems with website builders come with built-in SEO tools that make it easier to optimize your website. For example, your POS system might allow you to add SEO-friendly descriptions for each product or automatically create SEO-friendly URLs for your product pages. This can help improve your ranking on Google, making it easier for customers to discover your store.
SEO Tips
- Use keywords throughout your site, including in product descriptions and blog posts.
- Optimize images with descriptive alt text.
- Use meta descriptions for each page to improve your visibility in search results.
Step 8: Test, Launch, and Promote Your Website
Before you officially launch your fabric store website, make sure everything works perfectly. Test the shopping experience from browsing to checkout, ensuring everything is seamless and functional.
How a POS System With a Website Builder Helps
Once you’ve tested your site, your POS system will ensure that all of your sales data, inventory levels, and customer details are synced and up to date. Whether someone shops online or in-store, the system tracks everything in one place, making reporting and analysis easier post-launch.
When you're ready to launch, promote your site through email, social media, and even in-store if you have a physical location. The more you spread the word, the more customers will visit your site!
Related Read: Fabric Store Marketing: 8 Beginner Tips
Build The Perfect Fabric Store Website With Like Sew
As you move forward with building your fabric store website, having the right platform makes all the difference.
Like Sew is an all-in-one POS system with a fully integrated e-commerce solution designed specifically for fabric, quilt, and sewing stores, making it easier than ever to manage your online and in-store operations. From intuitive website design to seamless POS integration, Like Sew ensures your store is optimized for you and your customers.
Ready to take your fabric store online with a website that works as hard as you do?
Schedule a free demo today to see how our software can help you create a stunning, functional website that drives sales and elevates your business. Your perfect online store is just a click away!
