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

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When it comes down to it there are just four core ways to increase your sales - to get more people to buy your products, to get those people to buy more from you, to have those customers spend more with you than they will have done previously, and finally, to get those customers to come back and buy more often. 

But as we all know, making any one of these things happen, let alone consistently, is a lot easier said than done. That’s why it’s imperative, as tempting as it might be, to not get caught up on quick-fix tactics and to start putting a solid sales strategy in place.

An effective strategy relies on a myriad of things to succeed, you need to start making considered choices and decisions across the board, from your social media channels to email automation, if you want to see your traffic flow and steadily convert. 

In today’s episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I discuss important strategic areas to focus on and nurture, from customer retention to non-competitive collabs, as well as how vital tracking your strategy’s effectiveness is. We’ll also cover getting the most out of your bestsellers and how if you want to be truly successful you need to serve your customer's needs and ignite their desires.

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Websites have come a long way from the bare-bones HTML pages of the early 90s to the slick world-wide-web we inhabit today. Affordable DIY platforms, ranging from the drop-and-drag simplicity of Squarespace to the well-built infrastructure of Shopify have allowed small business owners to access the tools of the trade that were typically the reserve of big brands and flourish. 

Whether you’re running your business from an Etsy page or have coded your own storefront on WordPress, your website plays a pivotal role in reaching your customers in the digital age. But with the constant evolution in buying habits, married with the impact that widespread global uncertainty has on markets and spending, it can be difficult to know how to best harness your little corner of the internet in a sea of online competitors.

In episode 92 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Aime Cox-Tennant, founder and managing director of web design studio - Studio Cotton. Supporting independent brands since 2016, Studio Cotton blends the latest tried-and-tested website design expertise with a tailored, personal approach.

In this podcast, we discuss the vital importance of SEO, UX and accessibility to making sure your site is discoverable, functional and useable, as well as why it makes sense to take your site-building lead from the big high street brands. We also debate the power of the oft-neglected blog and how being human is usually the best way to your customers' wallets (via their hearts!). 

Check out Studio Cotton at https://studiocotton.co.uk/

And connect with Aime and the studio at:

https://www.instagram.com/studio.cotton/ https://twitter.com/studiocottonuk https://www.facebook.com/studiocottonuk

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You need only take a quick scan of the apps on your smartphone to see how dramatically the landscape of social media has changed since Facebook got the ball rolling in earnest all those years ago. Social media has not only been at the forefront of adopting and trialling new tech but in many cases platforms like Instagram and TikTok have been the change-makers themselves, tweaking their platforms, prioritising content and harnessing data in an effort to win the fight for your attention (and cash!) in an increasingly competitive digital market.

In today's episode, I speak to Thomas Rankin, the co-founder and CEO of Dash Hudson, an all-in-one social entertainment marketing software platform for the world's biggest brands. Helping to create and share photos and videos that people care about, Dash Hudson empowers brands to predict performance, analyse trends, and accelerate growth across key visual marketing and e-commerce channels.

In today's podcast, we drill down into the collision of culture and tech that is social entertainment, and how it marks a sharp shift from a focus on connections and curated content to of-the-moment and organic entertainment. We also discuss the opportunities on offer for those willing to take risks and remain creatively flexible as well as how influencer marketing has evolved to include ‘creators’ and will continue to in the future.

Get in touch with Thomas at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rankinthomas/

And connect with Dash Hudson at:

https://www.dashhudson.com/ https://www.instagram.com/dashhudson/ https://www.tiktok.com/@dashhudson https://www.facebook.com/DashHudsonForBrands/ https://twitter.com/DashHudson/

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

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When it comes to the world of e-commerce, the name Etsy has become pretty much synonymous with small businesses, especially in terms of hand-made products and independently-crafted gifts. Since its foundation in 2005, the platform has changed a great deal on its own terms but has also kept pace with the shifting landscape of the internet, the rise (and dominance) of social media, and the general advances in digital tech. 

For all these reasons, Etsy remains an invaluable tool in the selling kit of almost any small product business, whether you’re an established business owner or just starting out, and in today’s episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan I speak to seasoned Etsy seller and expert, Lauren Keplinger, about how to make the most out of the platform. 

An active seller since 2012, Lauren’s success with her monogrammed baby products has seen her go on to help businesses with their Etsy performance whilst helping them maintain a healthy work/life balance. In this podcast, we discuss the benefits of Etsy’s built-in traffic and brand name recognition, the core differences between the platform's international markets and the expectations from customers on the visual presentation of your products. We also drill down into what Lauren has coined ‘Hyper Narrow Markets’ and debate the need for highly-specific products lines in a crowded and competitive marketplace.

Check out Lauren’s services at https://www.laurenkeplinger.com/

Browse her wonderful baby products at https://www.etsy.com/shop/FunkyMonkeyChildren 

Listen to Lauren’s own podcast ‘Crickets to Cha-Chings’ at https://www.laurenkeplinger.com/podcast

Connect with her at: 

https://www.instagram.com/lauren.keplinger/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9TgtrJdkO_K634jtyi0S8g

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

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Throughout the course of this podcast, as part of my many presentations and in discussions with numerous clients, I’ve talked a lot about the importance of multiple income streams. In a world that’s constantly changing and with ever-evolving technology that repeatedly lowers the barriers to entry in regards to reaching your current and future customers, it’s vital that we all keep on trying out different things and looking at different ways of promoting our products - in doing so we can all hope to build and run an effective and efficient business.

In episode 89 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to illustrator and founder of Plewsy, Fiona Fawcett. With a background in Graphic Design, Fiona started her business back in 2015 with the help of The Princes Trust, and after initially starting her small business journey selling wholesale, she’s now added direct-to-consumer to her list of revenue streams and is a perfect example of a business owner who has embraced different ways of selling to great success.

In this podcast, we discuss the importance of compartmentalising your time and how invaluable training yourself can be to the resilience of your business. We also discuss the renewed energy we've sensed around trade shows (post-lockdown), the value of interacting with your customers face-to-face, and how a hybrid model of selling offline and online is the future for a world where people want to buy less from big brands and more from people.

Check out Fiona’s products at https://plewsy.com/ and connect with her business at:

https://www.facebook.com/helloplewsy https://www.instagram.com/helloplewsy/ https://www.pinterest.co.uk/helloplewsy/_shop/

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The shift we've seen in recent years in regards to conscious consumerism and sustainability is encouraging - even some of the largest and historically wasteful retailers are coming to understand that if they want to survive into the future that they need to take a good, hard look at the way they operate and how they relate to their customer base. 

The ecological issues confronting us can seem insurmountable at times, but as business owners big and small, we can all play a part in shifting the dial back into the green 

In episode 88 of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to “Mary Queen of Shops”, the esteemed retail consultant and broadcaster herself, Mary Portas! 

Author of ‘Work Like a Woman’ and ‘Rebuild’, we spend today's episode discussing how to thrive in the Kindness Economy and about taking the first steps toward small business sustainability.

And if that wasn’t enough I also got in touch with Nicky Chenery, the general manager of Safety Culture, a cutting-edge operations platform that aims to empower front line workers through auditing and micro-learning tools. We talk about harnessing data and using insights to reduce waste, streamline processes and help take responsibility for our business practices.

In today’s podcast, we cover a wide range of subjects, from rethinking the relationships we have with our suppliers, to building positive micro habits into our day-to-day operations.

We also discuss how customers don't just want to buy from brands - they want to buy into them, why we ultimately need to rethink the concept of growth and how if we really want to change the world, we just need to start where we are.  

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

Connect with Mary on her social channels here: https://www.instagram.com/maryportasofficial/ https://twitter.com/maryportas

Sign up for the Better Business Act here: https://betterbusinessact.org/

Connect with Nicky at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickychenery/

Find out more about Safety Culture at: https://safetyculture.com/retail/

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It’s been a strange few years and it doesn’t seem like we can expect an end to the unexpected any time soon.

Off the back of a pandemic, we’re now experiencing a rise in the cost of living, climbing inflation and even further instability created by ongoing geopolitical events.

It’s no surprise that all this is affecting consumers and retailers alike, and when things get tough and your sales slow down it’s sometimes hard to identify what the root cause might be, and all too easy to start feeling like you’re the problem. So, in today’s podcast, I want to assuage that fear and cover the five key factors impacting the retail industry right now: Consumer confidence, rising prices, the evolution of online, conscious consumerism and the growth of retention over acquisition.

In this episode, I discuss how we can strengthen consumer confidence through more empathetic messaging, and how revisiting the ‘value triangle’ is integral to justifying the purchase of your products to nervous customers. I also touch on the growing importance of being a value-driven business that not only does no harm but does good and why leveraging online tools and upping your engagement with your warm audience should keep you and your business in good stead through tougher times.

Use the code: 10podcast to get £10 off your first month when joining The Resilient Retail Club.

To check out the presentation mentioned in this episode, head to https://www.resilientretailclub.com/grow2022

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As digital and social platforms have continually matured and as our use and dependence on them has grown, we’ve seen incredible advances made in the democratisation of retail. 

Through ever-evolving interactions of apps and the wide accessibility of online tools, we’re now at a point where commerce and content are becoming one - where creators are able to operate beyond continental boundaries, attract global audiences and design and produce niche products for loyal customers without leaving their keyboard. 

In today’s episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I speak to Chris Lamontagne, CEO of Spring, a global platform that works with creators, providing them with all the tools to produce and sell their own unique products, all the way from design, through to fulfilment, payment and beyond.

In this podcast, we discuss how creators represent ‘the new brand’ and how a sense of community underpins the fervent fandom we see for accounts on platforms like TikTok and Youtube. We also talk about what sort of misleading audience metrics to look out for and how a digital platform’s comments and engagement tools are every creator’s secret sauce.

To find out more about Spring, follow the links below:

https://www.spri.ng/ https://www.instagram.com/springforcreators https://www.tiktok.com/@springforcreators https://www.twitch.tv/spring https://www.youtube.com/springforcreators

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The internet, and by extension retail, has come a long way since 1983. From the first tentative purchases made over dial-up to today's lightning-fast one-click purchases made on the go, the speed at which e-commerce has grown has not only been exceptionally fast but the retail industry’s successful harnessing of technological trends has completely changed the way business is done. Whether you’re a boomer, a millennial or part of Gen-Z, you’re likely to be familiar, if not completely comfortable with the contemporary consumption options on offer - whether that’s browsing through Amazon on your laptop, ordering food on your smartphone or making a purchase through a social media account - but in an ever more digitalised world what’s next for retail? On today's podcast, I speak to Lindsey Mazza from Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation who help identify where their clients can go in the market to help fulfil their consumer promises. As Global Retail Lead Lindsey helps break down the much-hyped, often misunderstood Metaverse and how it’s being used as a powerful tool by some of the world’s biggest companies. In this episode, Lindsey helps explain and describe what the Metaverse actually is, how it operates and shares some of the success stories to have come out of this new space. We also discuss creating new experiences for customers that are both physical and digital, generational differences when it comes to tech adoption and how investing in the Metaverse as a new selling channel can help retailers to learn even more about their customers. To connect with Lindsey, head over to her LinkedIn and to find out more about Capgemini, follow the links below:

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