Running a successful music shop starts with one important question: What do music stores sell?
Whether you sell classical instruments, offer music lessons, or specialize in guitars, knowing what to sell is crucial for your music store’s success.
In this blog, we’ll explore what music stores sell — and what you should offer to become a successful music shop.
1. Musical Instruments
The top-selling items in music shops are musical instruments — especially fretted instruments like guitars and ukuleles. This means that selling musical instruments is a great way to gain loyal customers.
For example, if a new musician comes into your store to buy their first instrument and they have a good experience, they’ll likely become a repeat customer.
Another great thing about selling musical instruments is that there’s a wide variety to choose from. The more instrument variation you have in your inventory, the more widespread your customer base will be — from a student renting a cello to a teenager wanting to learn guitar to an adult picking up their trumpet skills again.
But you can’t sell every instrument on the market. Start with the most popular instruments: violin, guitar, drums, keyboard, and trumpet. Then, ask your customers what other instruments they’d like to buy.
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2. Music Accessories
Accessories are great items to sell in your music store because musicians always need to take care of their instruments and build new skills.
Think about selling accessories like:
- Strings
- Picks
- Capos
- Stands
- Cases
Music stores typically sell these items because they are often bought with new instruments. Items like strings and capos are useful for other musicians as they become more skilled.
Your customers will also need maintenance supplies. You can sell instrument-safe cleaning products and small replacement parts to take care of regular wear and tear — these will fly off the shelf in no time.
Selling electrical instrument accessories is also a great idea because it introduces your customers to a different side of music and, in turn, will be another source of revenue for your music store.
When music stores sell electrical accessories, they’ll typically sell items like:
- Amplifiers
- Cables
- Pedals
- Microphones
If more customers show interest in electrical instruments, you can build your inventory from there.
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3. Sheet Music and Books
Musicians constantly search for sheet music and instructional books. Unless your customer plays by ear, they need sheet music to play their instrument. Typically, these items are cheaper for you to stock up on — plus, they don’t take up a lot of space.
Music lesson books are especially popular with new musicians and students. You should sell music lesson books that correlate with every instrument you sell in your music store. These books typically come in series with different levels, so make sure you offer every level at your store.
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4. Digital Recording Equipment
But what do music stores sell for customers that are more experienced musicians? Digital recording equipment is a great option for these customers. Experienced musicians may want to get into recording their music.
Sell recording equipment and software like audio interfaces, recording microphones, and studio monitors. You can also offer digital audio workstations (DAWs) and plugin software so that they can easily record from home.
It can be difficult for musicians to record in their own homes or to find affordable places to record. If you have enough room in your music store, consider creating a small, soundproof recording booth to rent out — this is yet another stream of revenue. It also gives you a way to better connect with your customers and gain their loyalty.
Related Read: How Much Does It Cost To Start a Music Store?
5. Instrument Rental Services
Instrument rentals are popular in the retail music industry, too. The question isn’t always, “What do music stores sell?”
Sometimes, especially for students, the question is, “What instruments do you rent?”
Renting instruments is an easy way for your music shop to increase its chances of success. At the beginning of every school year, new music students will need an instrument. Use rental software to keep all of your rentals organized, so you don’t have to take on too much of the operational stress.
As students decide that they want to pursue music, they may choose to buy their instruments from you after renting. By having an instrument rental program for young students, you bring in a huge customer base.
You can offer short-term and long-term rentals to bring in more clientele than just students. After your customers return their instruments, you can offer a promotion like a10% discount on instruments.
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6. Music Lessons
Offering music lessons is another way to bring in new, loyal customers.
Similar to rental services, once your customers have graduated from music lessons, they’ll likely come back to your store for any musical products they need. If they have friends or family that are also interested, you can count on their referral to your music shop.
Assuming music lessons gain popularity at your music shop, you don’t want to deal with a disorganized schedule. Look into music-specific software that helps you keep all of your music lessons organized. This way, you don’t have to worry about keeping track of them manually.
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7. Instrument Repair Services
Your music store can also offer instrument repairs. Repairs on instruments are typically minor — so if you’ve taken classes or done your research on how to repair instruments and you have the right repair tools, think about offering instrument repair as a service for another stream of revenue.
Like music lessons and rental services, make sure you have a music-specific software to help you keep track of work orders. This also makes it easier for you to charge for labor, because the customer is paying for a service rather than a physical product.
You might not be able to take on this extra work. Consider hiring an employee with specialized skills to handle instrument repairs and other services, so you can focus on your inventory and help your customers throughout your entire store.
Related Read: How To Market a Music Store: 7 Steps to Success
How Music Shop 360 Supports Your Music Store Sales
It’s important to know what music stores sell, but you also need to understand how they manage their inventory. Music Shop 360 is a music-specific point of sale (POS) system that makes inventory management seamless for your music shop.
Adding to your inventory is easy with Music Shop 360’s comprehensive catalog of popular music products. With the click of the button, you can easily add and remove items from your inventory.
And because Music Shop 360 is cloud-based, you can manage your shop’s inventory from anywhere. Plus, your music store’s e-commerce website is linked to the software, so you can always get real-time inventory data.
Services like instrument repairs, music lessons, and rentals are easy to manage with this system because it’s made specifically for music stores like yours. Keep all of your services and work orders organized with this easy-to-use software.
Plus, it generates easily readable reports, so you can always keep track of your most popular products and services.
Schedule a demo today to learn more about how Music Shop 360 can take your music store to the next level.