Consignor Retention: 5 Essential Practices

How to Keep Your Consignors Happy and Loyal to Your Consignment Store

Consignors are the lifeblood of your consignment store business—so how do you keep them coming back to consign with you rather than with an online consignment platform or the local competitor down the street? Here are essential, research-backed ways to keep your consignors engaged and consigning with your store. We'll also show you how ConsignCloud can enable these practices.

1. Clear, Consistent Communication

There are two kinds of consignors you will be communicating with: new consignors and established consignors. Consignor retention starts at the very first point of contact, so let’s look at how to recruit new consignors with retention in mind:

New consignors need to know how to consign with you and why consigning at your store is better. Have clear instructions listed on your consignment store website as well as information on what your consignors should expect. This should include:

• Consignor agreement/contract terms: Clearly outline criteria for accepting consignment inventory, commission rates, pricing policies, and discounts. Make this easy to sign using digital tools like Google Forms or DocuSign.

• What makes your store unique: Provide your mission and vision for consignment and let the personality of your business come through. Research suggests that consumers prefer businesses that align with their values and create a sense of community (Deloitte, 2023).

Check out Alexandria's Consignment Contract and "How to Consign" page for great examples of clear online communication

For established consignors, communication should focus on consignor retention strategies:

• What is selling: Regularly update your consignors on the types of high-demand inventory you need, using ConsignCloud's Inventory Insights Report (shown below) to determine your best-selling products. Data-driven inventory decisions can increase consignment sales by up to 30% (McKinsey & Company, 2023).

• Store needs: Inform your consignors via email marketing and social media about the inventory you are looking for, whether that be your high-selling products or new, trending products.

• Consignor accounts: Keep your consignors updated about their consignment sales, expired items, and payouts. Personalized updates can increase consignor engagement and retention significantly (HubSpot, 2023).

Actionable Steps to Communicate with Consignors:

• Send consignor account status update emails using ConsignCloud’s Account Status email feature.

You can send an Account Status email to your consignors which includes their active and sold inventory as well as their balance payable

You can personalize the content and message of the Account Status email

Consider sending consignors information about your inventory, like which brands or categories are performing best—go to the Inventory Insights report to find this kind of data

• Remind your consignors to log in to their ConsignCloud consignor portal to see their sold items, active items, and account balance.

• Post social media reminders: “Consignors, check your portal to see if you have a payout waiting for you!”

2. Make Payouts a Priority

Nothing excites your consignors more than knowing they have a payout ready. Being proactive and flexible with consignor payouts fosters loyalty.

• Use multiple payout methods: Offer direct deposit, PayPal, Venmo, or in-store credit to make payouts seamless.

• Send payout notifications: 1. Filter your accounts for those who have a positive balance. 2. Adjust the language of your Account Status email to the effect of, "You have a payment waiting for you!" 3. Send the Account Status email from your accounts table.

  • Research shows that prompt consignor payouts can increase consignor engagement by over 50% (Forbes, 2023).

By filtering for accounts with positive balances, you can quickly email that specific selection of consignors instead of spamming all your contacts

3. Reward Your Top Consignors

Using Inventory Insights, identify your top consignors and create a loyalty program to keep them engaged.

Identify your top consignors using Inventory Insights and see performance by Account

You can then tag those consignors in order to easily locate them in the future (simply filter accounts by tag and find your Top Consignors tag)

Once you have identified and tagged your top consignors, you can start your loyalty rewards program (see creative ways to tag and analyze your inventory as well). Here are potential ways to reward your loyal consignors:

• Increased commission rates: Offer a higher commission split (e.g., move from 50/50 to 60/40 for top sellers).

• Top consignor discounts: Provide special, store-wide discounts for loyal consignors.

• Monthly store credits: Offer recurring store credit incentives.

A well-structured loyalty program can boost consignor retention by 5% and increase profits by up to 95% (Harvard Business Review, 2022).

Create a Rewards discount for loyal consignors in the ConsignCloud Register

4. Offer Competitive Rates

While consignment commission rates aren’t everything, they do matter. Ensure your consignment store rates are competitive with online consignment platforms like The RealReal, ThredUp, and Poshmark:

• Poshmark's Fee Structure

• The RealReal’s Commission Rates

• ThredUp’s Earnings Model

A snapshot of the consignor commission rates from online platforms; these may seem high, but it can be more difficult for consignors to sell on these platforms than in your store

If your store offers better incentives such as faster payouts, in-person consignment assistance, and a curated shopping experience, you can maintain consignor loyalty despite slightly lower commission splits.

5. Be Kind and Professional

Customer service is a major factor in consignor retention. Studies show that 73% of consumers say great customer service is key to brand loyalty (PwC, 2023). Treat your consignors with respect and professionalism by:

• Acknowledging their contributions to your store’s success.

• Providing timely and transparent responses.

• Offering personalized interactions to build rapport.

Conclusion: Strengthen Your Consignor Relationships with ConsignCloud

Retaining consignors is about more than just offering competitive commission rates—it’s about creating a seamless, rewarding, and engaging experience. Clear communication, timely consignor payouts, competitive incentives, and a welcoming environment all contribute to a thriving consignment business.

Want to simplify consignor management and keep them coming back? Try ConsignCloud today. With automated emails, inventory insights, and easy payout tracking, ConsignCloud takes the hassle out of consignment management so you can focus on growing your consignment store.

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