The Resilient Retail Game Plan - retail insights, retail trends and best practices

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

I started this episode pulling on one thread — a closing down sale that didn't add up — and ended up somewhere I wasn't expecting. The photo of the owners had the smooth, too-perfect look of an AI image. The listing named a local town, but the shipping notes said the orders ship from a warehouse thousands of miles away. And it turned out I hadn't found one fake shop. I'd found an entire business model: set up, run a huge "closing down" sale, collect the money, wait for the bad reviews to pile up, disappear, start again. Chris Emmins of consumer protection organisation KwikChex tells me there are thousands and thousands of them, and that even the people whose job it is to count them can't keep up.

Here's the part that should worry every independent retailer. The standard advice given to shoppers is to be wary of a company they've never heard of — which is a fairly accurate description of almost every small business in the country. Research from Bazaarvoice, which I dig into with their CMO Doug Straton, found that 97% of shoppers no longer buy from a single source. They're cross-checking your website against Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, your reviews and a quick Google before they'll spend anything with you. That isn't paranoia, it's adaptation. So when someone sees your ad, they go looking. The only question that matters is what they find when they get there.

In this episode I look at what a genuinely sceptical customer is hunting for, what a fast-growing brand like Passenger does that most independents don't, and the shift that caught me off guard: the trust signals you build aren't only being read by people any more. AI models and shopping agents are reading them too, and deciding whether to put you in front of a customer at all. By the end you'll know what to check on your own website this week, which signals carry the most weight, and why the one thing that makes you almost impossible to fake is something you already have — you're just not showing it. Press play and I'll walk you through it.

• 00:00 — The closing down sale that never happened
• 02:28 — Inside the ghost store business model, with Chris Emmins of KwikChex
• 04:50 — The 97% rule, and the question customers now ask you
• 08:15 — What a fast-growing brand does differently, and why AI is reading your trust signals too

• Resilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/
• Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly
• Catherine's Forbes piece on this investigation: https://www.forbes.com/sites/catherineerdly/2026/06/26/how-fake-online-stores-are-damaging-legitimate-retailers/
• KwikChex: https://www.kwikchex.com
• Bazaarvoice: https://www.bazaarvoice.com
• Passenger: https://www.passenger-clothing.com
• Which? investigation into bogus boutiques: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/the-bogus-boutiques-ripping-off-shoppers-aqruM5i1zJLH
• Say hello on Instagram: @resilientretailclub

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

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I’ve had retailers with 18 years in business tell me the same thing after just a few months working with us — and it isn’t what you’d expect.

Hi, I’m retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

Most of us are convinced we’re on top of our numbers. Shopify pings with every sale, we know our best sellers by heart, and we watch the sales roll in. But in this episode I dig into the uncomfortable gap between looking at your numbers and actually understanding what they’re telling you to do next — the difference that quietly decides whether your stock is working for you or slowly working against you.

I walk through the questions most retailers never stop to ask. Is your best seller selling fast enough, or should you be buying twice as many? Are you carrying twice the stock you actually need? Is one category — or even one supplier — secretly funding your whole business, or quietly trapping your cash? If you’ve ever felt like you’re “all over your numbers” but still can’t confidently answer what to buy, what to clear, or what to plan for next, this one is for you.

I also share the shift that’s helping retailers get more sales from less stock, free up cash they didn’t know was trapped, and walk into their busiest months without panic-buying — plus how to tell whether you need a Stock Doctor, an accountant, or both. By the end, you’ll know exactly why collecting data isn’t the same as making decisions, and what to do about it. Press play to hear how.

00:00: The confession every experienced retailer makes

02:36: Rear-view mirror vs sat nav: how to actually read your numbers

04:53: What we look for when we analyse your stock

07:52: Stock Doctor vs your accountant — and who this is really for

• Find out more about Stock Doctor: https://stockdoctor.net
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly
• More episodes & resources: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

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Sales are quiet, and you've already decided it's your fault. It isn't.

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

Every retailer I have ever worked with has quiet weeks — including the multi-billion businesses. The only real difference is that they have enough stores and enough channels for the inconsistency to smooth itself out. When it's just you, one shop, one website, a couple of marketplaces, there is nothing to smooth it out. So a slow Tuesday doesn't feel like a slow Tuesday. It feels like evidence. Evidence that people have stopped buying, that your marketing has stopped working, that you have somehow lost your touch.

This is the single biggest confidence killer in independent retail, and it has almost nothing to do with your products. It's what happens when you run a business without a plan: a good week means you've cracked it, a bad week means it's all falling apart, and you spend the year strapped into an emotional rollercoaster you never bought a ticket for. Most retailers respond by either setting wildly optimistic goals with no route to hitting them, or quietly setting no goals at all because a missed target feels worse than no target. Neither works. And neither tells you what to actually do on the Monday after a bad week.

In this episode I walk you through the four-step sales strategy I've used with hundreds of retailers to get out of that cycle for good. It won't make your quiet periods vanish — nothing will, and anyone selling you that is lying. What it will do is tell you which quiet periods were always going to be quiet, which ones actually need your attention, and precisely what to do about them. By the end you'll know how to set a number that feels exciting rather than terrifying, how to see the rhythm your business has been running to all along, and how to build the one document that means you never again stare at a bad week and think "maybe I'm just terrible at this." It takes about ninety minutes to build. Press play and I'll show you where to start.

(00:00) Why your sales feel random — and why it isn't you

Why every retailer, from a one-woman shop to a billion-pound chain, has quiet days and busy days — and why only one of them feels it. The confidence cost of an unplanned year, and what a sales strategy honestly can and cannot fix.

(01:57) Step 1 — Set a sales goal you'll actually aim at

The archery question that exposes how most retailers approach sales, why a target isn't there to make you feel bad, and the last-12-months-plus-run-rate calculation that gets you a realistic number in minutes rather than weeks.

(05:05) Steps 2 & 3 — Monthly targets by channel, and your trading calendar

Breaking a yearly number down by month and by channel, the hidden benefit that reveals the rhythm of your business (and why February is not a personal failing), then building the trading calendar that bridges your sales plan and your marketing — including what to do when a month has no reason for anyone to buy.

(11:50) Step 4 — Track what matters, and why future you will thank you

Why the answer isn't another analytics tool, the four things worth tracking weekly, the four worth tracking monthly, and the one-line note that will save you an hour of confusion this time next year.

Grab my free guide to creating a sales strategy for your business: resilientretailclub.com/strategy

• Free sales strategy guide — https://www.resilientretailclub.com/strategy
• The Resilient Retail Club — https://www.resilientretailclub.com
• All podcast episodes — https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/
• Connect with me on LinkedIn — https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly
• Watch on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwFwdhK_WMJvXntxKLZj83Inz1fFNAN2P

New episodes every Thursday. If this one was useful, following the show is the single most helpful thing you can do — it's how other independent retailers find it.

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

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Have you ever opened your Shopify dashboard looking for one answer and somehow ended up with ten new questions?

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

Most retailers I work with don't have a lack-of-data problem — they have the opposite. They're drowning in dashboards, apps, reports, spreadsheets and AI notifications, yet they still can't confidently answer the three questions that actually matter: Am I making money? Am I on track? Is my stock healthy? More information hasn't made the decision easier. If anything, it's made it harder.

In this episode I talk about cutting through the noise. I share why “tech creep” quietly drains your bank account and your attention, how new AI tools like Shopify Sidekick are changing the reporting game, and why the answer to feeling overwhelmed is almost never another subscription. Then I get into the small handful of numbers that genuinely tell you whether your business is healthy — and why clarity beats complexity every single time.

If you've been feeling unsure about how things are really going in your shop, this one will help you stop guessing. By the end you'll know exactly which three numbers to check each month, what “good” looks like for each, and how to build one simple place to track them so you can see the health of your business in seconds — without drowning in data. The specific numbers, the benchmarks and the exact formula I use are all inside the episode.

(00:00) Drowning in data, starving for clarity — why more tools won't fix it, and how to cut tech creep

(06:45) Number 1 — Am I making money on every sale? Understanding your sales margin

(11:02) Number 2 — Am I selling enough to cover my costs? The power of breakeven analysis

(14:40) Number 3 — Is my stock turning fast enough? Weeks cover and why stock is cash

• Free download — The 3 Key Numbers guide: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/numbers
• My book, Tame Your Tiger: How to Stop Your Product Business Eating You Alive — where I show you how to calculate your breakeven step by step
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly
• More episodes & the audio podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

Mentioned in this episode:

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The shoppers who start researching Christmas earliest are also the ones who spend the most — and most retailers are invisible during exactly that window.

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

If you think July is far too early to be thinking about Christmas, this episode will change your mind. I sat down with Hannah Bartlett — founder of Jolly Festive and The Christmas Insider — to unpack why the shoppers who start researching Christmas earliest are also the ones who go on to spend the most, and why that completely changes how you should be building towards your peak season.

Here's the trap most independent retailers fall into: they treat the research window and the purchase window as the same job. Right now, around 60% of shoppers are quietly building their Christmas shortlists — and holding off on actually buying until November. If you only show up when people are ready to pay, you've already missed the moment that decides where their money goes. That window is your opportunity, not your problem — but only if you know how to be in it.

Hannah has distilled her forecasting into six emotional needs and four distinct aesthetic directions for Christmas 2026. In this episode she shares the framework for choosing the one that's right for YOUR business — not just whatever the big retailers are doing. Press play and you'll walk away knowing how to show up in your customers' research phase, how to plan your stock and marketing around emotional connection rather than discounting, and how to set yourself up for your most profitable fourth quarter yet.

00:00 — Why the earliest Christmas shoppers spend the most

03:33 — The six emotional needs shaping Christmas 2026

08:02 — The four aesthetic directions to plan around

13:44 — How to choose your direction and bring it to life

• Connect with me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly
• More from Resilient Retail Club — podcast page: resilientretailclub.com/podcast
• Hannah Bartlett — The Christmas Insider: thechristmasinsider.com
• Discover independent brands to stock on Faire: faire.com
• Plan a profitable Q4 with Stock Doctor: stockdoctor.net

Mentioned in this episode:

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We're coming up fast on the halfway point of the year — and if that fills you with dread, don't panic. Here's the good news: a midyear review beats a New Year's resolution every time, because right now you're not working from a theory about how the year might go. You have six months of real data. This episode is how you use it.

Oh, and the episode comes with a free download - https://www.resilientretailclub.com/recap

(Our sponsor Faire are offering 50% off and free shipping on first orders until July 31st. Simply add the code "Resilient50" at checkout)

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. And in this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm walking you through the exact process I've used with members, course students, and clients over and over again: look back honestly at the first half of the year, then use what you find to spring-board into a stronger second half.

The key word is honestly — without blame, without self-recrimination, and without brushing past everything you've actually achieved.

We start with the numbers: your total sales versus plan, your best sellers by value, units and profit, and a "dead weight audit" of what hasn't moved.

But the real value isn't the figures themselves — it's asking why they happened, because knowing why you succeeded is as useful as the number itself.

From there we look at conversion rate, average order value, your sales channels, a social-media audit, and a relationship audit of the suppliers, stockists, and couriers you depend on.

Then we get subjective — and I make no apology for it.

We celebrate your wins out loud, run a start / stop / continue on the first half, and use a 20-minute SWOT analysis as an emotional clearing exercise to get the 3am worries out of your head and onto paper.

Finally, we refocus.

If midyear admin usually fills you with dread, this is the episode that turns it into momentum.

There's a free downloadable workbook to do it alongside me.

Chapter Timestamps

• 00:00 — Why a midyear recap beats January 1st: you have real data now
• 01:33 — Revisiting the goals you set in January (without the self-blame)
• 03:40 — The numbers that matter — and why you should ask why they happened
• 06:10 — Best sellers: value, units, and profit
• 08:06 — The dead weight audit: stuck stock and disappointing lines
• 09:33 — Conversion rate and average order value
• 10:28 — Sales channels: are you investing where it's actually working?
• 11:20 — The social media and relationship audits
• 13:17 — What worked, what didn't, and start / stop / continue
• 16:29 — How the business feels: SWOT and the 20-year interview
• 19:31 — Refocusing for half two: set your number and key dates
• 21:41 — Your homework

Useful Links

• Free midyear recap workbook: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/recap
• Resilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/
• Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Mentioned in this episode:

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Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

Right now, as you read this, an AI chatbot is running a real retail store in San Francisco — managing the product selection, deciding what to stock, and curating a customer experience. It sounds like science fiction. It is already open for business. And it is just one signal of how fast the rules of retail discovery are changing.

(Our sponsor Faire are offering 50% off and free shipping on first orders until July 31st. Simply add the code "Resilient50" at checkout)

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. And in this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm exploring one of the biggest shifts I've seen in how customers discover products: agentic AI. This is AI that doesn't just respond to questions — it researches, compares, recommends, and in some cases, actually completes the purchase. For independent retailers and product businesses with an online presence, this changes the rules. The question is no longer just how do you rank on Google — it's how do you become the answer when an AI agent is asked to find the best product for a specific need.

I dig into what agentic AI actually means, how people are already using it to shop, and what that means for the way you present your products online. I share research from the OECD, insights from Andrew Bialecki at Klaviyo, the work of retail expert Jackie Swanson, and a fascinating case study in the form of Andon Market — a real shop in San Francisco that is being managed end-to-end by an AI chatbot called Luna, which was given a three-year lease and told to make a profit.

If you're an independent retailer or product business owner with an e-commerce presence, this episode is essential listening. The shift is already happening. Understanding it now means you can take simple, practical steps to make sure your products are visible in the new discovery landscape — before your competitors even realise the rules have changed.

Chapter Timestamps

00:00 — Are robots taking over shopping? And what agentic AI actually is

02:05 — AI at both ends: retailers using AI and shoppers using AI — the data

04:50 — Luna and Andon Market: the AI chatbot running a real retail store

07:00 — Agent-to-agent commerce: Andrew Bialecki on what retailers need to prepare for

09:30 — What to actually do: getting your data right for AI discovery

11:25 — How customer search behaviour is changing and what it means for your product pages

13:45 — The three things to start with: titles, key info, and natural language

14:48 — The philosophical question: are we handing over too much to AI?

Useful Links

Resilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

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What would it mean for your retail business if — right now, at this very moment — three thousand creators were actively requesting samples to promote your brand? That's not a fantasy for Luke Arnall-Cameron, founder of YASS CLEAN. It's Tuesday. That's just how his business works.

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

This episode is brought to you by Faire. As you will hear in the actual show, they're offering 50% off and free shipping against your first order. Use the code "Resilient50"

In this episode, I sit down with Luke Arnall-Cameron — a former John Lewis graduate buyer and marketing director turned TikTok creator and brand founder — to unpick one of the most significant shifts happening in retail right now: discovery commerce. TikTok Shop has fundamentally changed how products reach consumers. Instead of paying for ads, brands are now building creator networks — and the smartest ones are doing it in a way that mirrors exactly what every good retailer already knows about range building, customer loyalty, and repeat purchase.

Luke launched YAS CLEAN in November 2024. His first livestream generated £70,000. Within his first year he fulfilled over 650,000 orders across six countries, sold 10,000 bottles of one product in seven days, and achieved 45% repeat customer rates in December — for a cleaning brand, in the hardest trading month of the year. He also won TikTok's Breakout Seller of the Year Award.

But what makes this conversation genuinely useful for any product business owner isn't the headline numbers. It's the retail logic behind every decision he made — why virality isn't a strategy, how to think about product range in a world driven by social selling, and what discovery commerce means for anyone selling physical products. If you want to understand whether TikTok Shop belongs in your channel mix, this episode is for you.

• 00:00 — The hook: 3,000 creators waiting to promote one product
• 01:26 — Luke's retail career: From John Lewis buyer to TikTok creator
• 04:12 — YAS CLEAN launch: £70K first livestream and 650,000 orders in year one
• 10:02 — Building a product range vs chasing viral moments
• 15:45 — Discovery commerce explained: How TikTok Shop's creator model works
• 19:34 — Live shopping as real-time customer feedback

YAS CLEAN on TikTok: @yasclean

Get 50% off and free shipping with Faire - https://fairewholesaleinc.sjv.io/APj4ax

Resilient Retail Club: www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

Catherine on LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

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AI is everywhere in retail right now — but are you actually using it in a way that's helping your business grow, or could it quietly be working against you?

This episode is brought you by Faire who are offering 50% off and free shipping against new orders. Use the code "Resilient50" at checkout.

This episode also features a free downloadable resource. Go to http://resilientretailclub.com/ai to claim it.

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. And in this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm sharing the honest picture of how independent retailers are actually using generative AI in 2026.

According to government data, just 16% of UK businesses are formally using AI — yet surveys suggest up to 80% of SME decision-makers have tried it in some form. The reality? Most people are using it to write emails faster, draft product descriptions, handle awkward customer messages, and generate ideas. And that's where it genuinely shines.

But there are pitfalls too. I'm talking through the messy data problem that makes AI-powered sales analysis fall flat, the real concerns around AI imagery and brand trust, what I think went badly wrong with AI content (including something from my own business that I'm still mortified by), and why leaning on AI for big decisions might be giving you confidence you haven't earned.

If you want to use AI smarter — and stay distinctly, unmistakably you — this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• How retailers are really using AI in 2026 — the stats and the reality

• Product pages, agentic AI, and why clarity beats fluff

• The messy data problem and what to fix first

• AI customer service: the triage approach that works

• AI imagery — the jury's still out, and here's why

• What NOT to use AI for (including fully AI-written content)

• The voice note / brain dump method that keeps your content sounding like you

• The confirmation bias problem with using AI for decisions

CHAPTERS:

00:01:25 How Retailers Are Using AI Right Now

00:07:32 Customer Service, Data & AI Imagery

00:13:43 What Not to Use AI For — and the Voice Note Method

Connect with Catherine:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly/

Podcast: resilientretailclub.com/podcast

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

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71% of independent retailers in the UK are growing or stable. And 9 in 10 shoppers say AI has made them MORE likely to trust your shop over an algorithm. Here is what the data actually says.

(Our sponsor Faire are offering 50% off and free shipping on first orders until July 31st. Simply add the code "Resilient50" at checkout)

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

Are you tired of reading headlines that make it sound like independent retail is finished? The noise about AI, empty high streets, and big-box competition can feel genuinely frightening if you are running a small business. But what if the data tells a completely different story — and what if that story is one you desperately needed to hear?

In this episode, I sit down with Elyse McAvoy from Faire to unpack the Voices of Retail report — a landmark piece of research that surveyed 650 independent retailers and over 2,000 UK consumers. It is the first time a report of this kind has merged the retailer perspective and the consumer perspective into one honest picture of what is actually happening on Britain's high streets. And the findings will surprise you.

Once you listen, you will leave with a clear understanding of what is separating retailers who are growing from those who are struggling, a completely new perspective on AI and your business, and three specific actions you can take this month. If you have been feeling uncertain about whether your shop has a future, this is the episode that will give you the data — and the confidence — to move forward.

CHAPTERS

00:00 — Introduction: Why This Report Matters for Every Independent Retailer

02:30 — Key Findings: AI, the 71% Statistic and the Branding Gap

07:13 — Consumer Spending Power: What Shoppers Are Ready to Spend With You

10:28 — What to Do Now: Three Practical Actions to Take This Month

USEFUL LINKS

📥 Download the Voices of Retail report free from the Spring Fair website — link in show notes

🛒 Explore Faire as a wholesale marketplace: faire.com

🎙 More episodes: resilientretailclub.com/podcast

🔗 Connect with Catherine: linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Mentioned in this episode:

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