Emma’s Bridal Boutique uses DMS grant to capture the in-store experience
Despite the hesitance to take her brick-and-mortar digital during the pandemic, Jennifer Putman has found other ways to experiment with digital.
Emma’s Bridal Boutique is a happy place by design. “There are lots of tears here but there are a lot of memories made in my building,” says Jennifer Putman, owner of the Trenton bridal shop. “We create experiences for women buying dresses for momentous occasions – whether it’s prom or Grade Eight (graduation) or bridal.”
And there’s a physicality to that experience, something both ephemeral and unforgettable. Located downtown Trenton, the shop carries a curated collection of designer gowns set within a space designed for the dress-buying experience – a well-lit catwalk, sprawling change rooms and a lounge for bridal parties. Putman didn’t want to dilute that experience in the early days of the pandemic so she opted to close the award-winning business. “You’re making a memory,” she says. “During the pandemic, I didn't even offer an online service… you can’t recreate (that experience) picking up a dress curbside, trying it on at home, pinning it yourself.”
She says that while some businesses were able to create an experience using video chat, it wasn’t the experience she wanted for her clients. “I just closed,” she says. And ultimately, when people were allowed to come back to the store, Putman kept her business by appointment only. She didn’t want to compromise.
But despite the hesitance to take her brick-and-mortar digital during the pandemic, Putman has found other ways to experiment with digital. She is active on social media and uses platforms like Instagram and Facebook to engage clients. In 2022, she connected with Digital Main Street, a program combining grants and one-to-one support from the Province of Ontario alongside partners to help main street businesses strengthen their online capabilities and plan for the digital future. She applied for digital training and a $2,500 Digital Transformation Grant.
Her first thought was to invest in e-commerce in the form of a curated collection of dresses but as she got deeper into the process she realized the costs of shipping would be prohibitive and sending dresses into a home to be tried on then returned could result in damage to the unique dresses. Then she landed on a better idea: create some promotional content and upgrade the website – a marketing play that she hoped would help drive in-store business.
“I hired a videographer to come in and do a video,” she says. “Everybody got engaged over Christmas and New Year's and now it’s time to reintroduce everybody to me and my store.” The video captured the experience while also adding an air of mystique to entice customers to walk through the door – a teaser of the space Putman has worked so hard to create. It was an experiment, one the Digital Transformation Grant allowed her to try. And it has yielded positive results.
She says she hopes to experiment more with video in the future. “I would like to do another one,” says Putman. “That’s the goal for me going forward.”
If you’re looking to purchase a dress for a momentous occasion, visit Emma's Bridal Boutique here.
To learn more about the Digital Transformation Grant, and how it can help your business visit here.
Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Meta, Intuit QuickBooks, Square, Lightspeed, Ebay and Canada Post.
Continued investment from the Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (MEDJCT) has allowed the ongoing expansion the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses going digital across Ontario.
