When Erin Sanders and Tara Johnson were students at Poplar Bluff High School, they didn’t spend time together off campus.
But little did they know that decades later their lives would become entwined.
Sanders and Johnson are the proprietors of Envy Boutique — a local business that has been operational for nearly five years.
For the proprietary duo, opening the shop at the height of the digital age was perfect timing: for both the customers as well as the co-owners.
“Before we opened up our boutique, we did a lot of buying and reselling from the back of our cars. That is when Swap Shop on Facebook was really big, and people would post all kinds of stuff — just buying and reselling,” said Sanders. “We went from that and then decided to go into business. Literally, we went from nothing to making enough of an income to allow us both to have a great paycheck.”
With the technology shifts that have inundated the American consumer, everything now is at the customer’s fingertips, with smartphones and the plethora of apps that are at the public’s disposal.
For Sanders, the shift simply makes it possible to expedite, from purchasing and selling to shipping.
“You are able to reach so many people. We ship to Canada, and you are not able to do that (without technology),” said Sanders.
Various computer software programs have enabled a much smoother, expedited process regarding the boutique’s inventory, digital mailing lists and updated customer files.
All of which would not be an option without the technological boom.
Technology shifts have also allowed for a more tailored approach to every customer Sanders and Johnson have.
“Once people buy online from you, you are able to save their address and phone number. It will basically show products to them in an email that says: ‘Hey, we miss you. We haven’t seen you in a while. Look what we have (that’s) new. Here is the discount code to offer you to come back.’ There are so many databases now that you can use where you can put in your customer size; the things they will typically buy from you online,” Sanders said.
With technology comes the constant learning and utilizing and growing, which Sanders and Johnson have heeded the call to action.
Said Sanders: “Because of technology and all of the people who are able to create these really cool programs and apps, you can now not just sell nationwide, you can add personal touches to those people that you never even meet.”
Technological advances are two-sided, oftentimes bringing about challenges going from analog to digital.
And Sanders has seen both positives and negatives.
“One big thing with any small business owner are things like Temu and Amazon. Those things are products that are 100% shipped from China, from Hong Kong, from different places into the United States,” said Sanders. “They are able to sell it (at) pennies on the dollar, so it makes it very hard.”
Sanders will conduct her own comparative pricing research when buying for her home. If the business owner is, then so is the general public.
“Even myself, if I am looking for something and going to someplace local, and I am looking to see how much this is, the very next thing I am doing is going to Amazon. I am finding out how much I can ship something for and how much it will cost,” she said. “Yes, of course, I want to support the small business owner. I am the small business owner. But I understand, especially now with interest rates being so high and times are so hard. You are going to get it the cheapest you can to compensate for something else.”