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

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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Do you ever feel like you're doing everything right, yet somehow still falling behind?

If you run an independent retail business, you are not imagining things. Between buying stock, managing your team, keeping up with your marketing, handling customer service, and everything else that lands on your desk — the sheer volume of what your job involves would overwhelm anyone.

This is not a time management failure. It is simply the reality of running a retail business single-handedly.

But there is a question underneath all of this that most retailers never stop to ask, and it is the one that changes everything.

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 unpacking the framework I use with my one-to-one clients in my Retail by Design programme — a step-by-step approach to understanding how you're really spending your time, building a structure that actually works, and protecting the focused work hours that move your business forward.

If you have been telling yourself for months that you will start that project "when things slow down" — this episode is for you. I work with clients who have just two hours a day after the kids are in bed, and clients who get one day a week away from the shop floor. The system I'm sharing works at every capacity level. Listen to the end to discover a clear, practical path out of the overwhelm — and toward a calmer, more intentional, and ultimately more profitable week.

Listener Benefits (What You'll Discover)

• Why most independent retailers have less time than they think — and why that's actually the start of something useful
• The exact time-tracking method that reveals where your hours are really going (with a free tool recommendation)
• How to build a weekly structure around your BAU tasks so you're not starting from scratch every Monday
• Why being "always available" is silently costing you hours every week — and the simple boundaries that fix it

📍 Ready to reclaim your time? Free resources:

resilientretailclub.com/juggle

Chapter Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: Why Independent Retailers Are Always Falling Behind

02:34 – Steps 1 & 2: How to Track Your Time and Understand What's Really Happening

06:10 – Steps 3 & 4: Building Your Weekly Structure and Batching Your Tasks

12:35 – Steps 5 & 6: Quarterly Planning, Decision Fatigue, and Knowing When to Let Go

Links & Resources

🔗 Free time management resources: resilientretailclub.com/juggle

🔗 The Resilient Retail Club: resilientretailclub.com

📱 Toggl (free time-tracking app): toggl.com

🎙️ Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube — new episodes every Thursday

Mentioned in this episode:

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Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

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

"How much should I order?" sounds like one question. It's actually two — and most product business owners only ever answer one of them.

(This episode features a free download resource at http://resilientretailclub.com/order)

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

In this episode, I'm breaking down the critical difference between product-level stock ordering (the tactical "how many of this line") and business-level stock planning (the strategic "what can I afford overall"). Drawing on my time as a buyer at Paperchase and the frameworks in my book Tame Your Tiger, I'll explain why forecasting apps, Shopify Sidekick, ChatGPT and Claude can all give you the right answer to the wrong question — and how that slowly turns a healthy business into a cash-hungry "tiger".

In this episode:

• Why most stock forecasting tools assume you have unlimited cash
• The simple reorder calculation that still matters
• What "the tail" is
• Three better questions to ask before you place a single order
• The supermarket scanner analogy that makes stock budgeting click

If you're constantly reordering but never feel on top of your stock, pause and plan with this one.

🐅 Tame Your Tiger — my book on stock, cash flow and building a calmer product business

💬 Come and say hi on Instagram: @resilientretailclub

Prefer to watch podcasts? Here's mine - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwFwdhK_WMJvXntxKLZj83Inz1fFNAN2P

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

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

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You’ve opened your shop. You’re selling. You have loyal customers. And yet something feels stuck... (this episode features a free download resource at http://resilientretailclub.com/systems

Your sales are inconsistent, stock builds up or runs out, cash feels tight even on the good weeks.

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

In this episode, I'm naming the “invisible ceiling” independent retailers hit when they move from opening a shop to running a proper retail business — and explain exactly what structure the next level needs.

Drawing on my recent road trip through Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, and nearly 20 years inside seven-, eight-, nine- and ten-figure retail chains, I'll talk you through the systems that separate hobby shops from real businesses: sales plans, stock plans, trading calendars, cash flow visibility, team roles and SOPs.

If you’ve ever wondered “is there more to this?” — this episode is your answer.

In this episode:

• Why so many independent retailers start their business “almost by accident”
• The invisible ceiling that stalls shops around the 1–3 year mark
• The difference between opening a shop and running a retail business
• The six systems every next-level retail business needs
• Why there is no such thing as a “natural business person” — and what to do instead
• How to know whether you need the Stock Doctor, Retail by Design, or just the back catalogue

Resources mentioned:

• Episode 299 — Retail Bottleneck: How to Stop Being the “Go-To” for Every Answer in Your Business
• Book: Tame Your Tiger: How to Stop Your Product Business Eating You Alive
• Stock Doctor — done-for-you stock management
• Retail by Design — my 1:1 service
• The Resilient Retail Club — reopening later this year
• resilientretailclub.com

Mentioned in this episode:

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This episode contains a freebie download. Scroll down to find it.

Believe it or not — today is episode 300 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan.

Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly and in this episode, which is six years, 300 episodes, and over 1 million downloads later since I started this podcast, I'm sharing a fast track to the biggest themes that have shaped this podcast and the retailers who listen to it.

In this milestone episode, I'll walk you through the four essential episodes from the back catalogue that I believe every independent retailer needs to hear.

Whether you're brand new to the show or a long-time listener, these are the ones that cut to the heart of what it really takes to build a resilient retail business.

So what are the three big themes?

Stock. Profit. And mindset.

Visit the episode's show notes for links to all the episodes mentioned at https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/retail-stock-management-profit-and-mindset/

And ensure you go to this link for your free download: resilientretailclub.com/300.

Mentioned in this episode:

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This episode is sponsored by Intuit Mailchimp.

Do your retail team ask you the same questions over and over? Has "what are we focusing on this week?" become the soundtrack to your inbox?

Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly and in Episode 299 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm explaining why so many independent retailers and product business owners accidentally become a bottleneck inside their own business — and walk you through exactly how to fix it.

You'll learn why the classic wheel-and-spoke information flow creates constant delays, inconsistency and interruptions; why growing your team makes it worse rather than better; and how to build a single source of truth that finally gets your team self-serving the answers they need.

I'll also share a £100,000 lesson from my Coast days on what poor information flow really costs a business, the categories to include in your single source of truth (weekly focus, key dates, stock and order trackers, priorities, SOPs), and the crucial step most business owners skip — how to actually make your team use it.

If you've built a business that can't run without you in the room, this is the episode to start unpicking it.

• 00:00 Why Everyone Asks You
• 01:18 The Bottleneck Wheel
• 02:52 Build One Source of Truth
• 04:20 What £100,000 of Poor Information Flow Really Costs
• 05:50 What to Put in Your Single Source of Truth
• 08:27 Why It Won't Stick (And How to Fix It)
• 10:22 Holding the Line With Your Team
• 13:05 Where to Start (Small and Specific)
• 14:20 Wrap-Up

• Resilient Retail Club: https://resilientretailclub.com
• Retail Roar 2026 summit: https://retailroar.co.uk
• Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
• Prefer to watch? Full episode playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwFwdhK_WMJvXntxKLZj83Inz1fFNAN2P

The Resilient Retail Game Plan is a podcast for independent retailers and product business owners who want to build more profitable, sustainable businesses. Hosted by Catherine Erdly — retail expert, coach and founder of The Resilient Retail Club.

If this episode helped, hit like, subscribe and share it with another retailer who needs to hear it.

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

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

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If you're sending the same email to everyone on your list and wondering why it's not driving the sales you expected, this episode is for you.

I'm Catherine Erdly, and this is Resilient Retail Game Plan — practical product business advice with a healthy dose of reality.

In this episode I'm sitting down with Ali Wood from Intuit Mailchimp to get practical about how independent retailers and e-commerce brands can get dramatically more from their email and SMS marketing — using data they already have.

We talk about why fragmented data is costing retailers real money, how segmentation can transform your customer relationships, and why the retailers who win over the next few years won't be the ones with the biggest budgets — they'll be the ones who are smartest with their data.

In this episode you'll hear about:

• Why sending the same message to your whole list is leaving money on the table
• How to use customer lifetime value and buying propensity to automate smarter campaigns
• The power of combining email and SMS — including a 22x ROI stat from SMS alone, and 41x when Shopify data is in the mix
• Creative ways to collect richer customer data through quizzes, pop-ups and behavioural signals
• What clean data + AI + human creativity actually looks like for a lean retail team

Whether you're just starting to think about segmentation or already running email campaigns and want to level up, this conversation will leave you with a genuinely different way of thinking about your marketing.

CHAPTERS

00:00:40 The Gold Mine Independent Retailers Are Sitting On

00:02:10 Meet Ali Wood from Intuit Mailchimp

00:04:40 How Intuit Mailchimp Evolved from Email Tool to Full Automation Platform

00:08:22 The Segmentation Shift: Stop Sending the Same Email to Everyone

00:11:29 Creative Ways to Collect Better Customer Data

00:14:45 Using SMS to Drive Email Open Rates

00:15:11 How We're Working With Intuit Mailchimp

00:16:33 Measuring What's Actually Working Across All Your Channels

00:18:30 Think Strategy, Not Just Open Rates

00:21:17 SMS Best Practices: What's Working for E-Commerce Brands

00:23:24 The Trust Factor: Why Phone Numbers Are Different from Email Addresses

00:23:44 The Numbers: 22x ROI on SMS, 41x with Shopify

00:25:58 AI + Human Creativity: The Future of Small Business Marketing

00:27:45 Clean Data, Automation & Analytics: The Loop That Wins

00:29:07 Catherine's Key Takeaways & Call to Action

Mentioned in this episode: resilientretailclub.com/mailchimp

Note: This episode was produced in partnership with Intuit Mailchimp. All views expressed are Catherine's own.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Your shop window isn't just a display — it's a salesperson working for you around the clock.

I'm Catherine Erdly, and this is Resilient Retail Game Plan — practical product business advice with a healthy dose of reality.

In this episode, I'm joined by Sarah Manning, visual merchandising consultant and course leader, for a practical masterclass on how to make your window impossible to walk past.

Sarah shares her four guiding principles — including her signature framework, The Power of the Pyramid — and explains exactly what should (and shouldn't) go in your window. You'll learn why putting your bestsellers on show is usually the wrong move, how to refresh your display every four weeks without a full rebuild, and practical solutions for shallow, narrow, or open-backed windows.

We also explore how post-2020 customer expectations have shifted the balance between product display and brand storytelling, and discuss the concept of 'external theatre' — the tools even small independents can use to draw customers in before they reach the window at all.

Whether you sell from a shop, at markets, or at events, this episode is packed with actionable insight you can put to work immediately.

What You'll Learn:

• The Power of the Pyramid framework and how to apply it to any display
• Why new, seasonal, and promotional products belong in the window — not your top sellers
• How to change your window every four weeks without starting from scratch
• Creative solutions for awkward, shallow, or open-backed windows
• How the hotspot inside your store connects to your window display
• Where to find visual merchandising inspiration on a limited budget

📌 CHAPTERS:

• 00:37 About this episode — how the topic came from Spring Fair
• 01:35 The Power of the Pyramid — Sarah's four guiding principles
• 02:30 Brand story vs. product push: what's changed since 2020
• 04:36 What should actually go in your window?
• 05:53 How often should you change your window display?
• 07:27 The permanent skeleton approach
• 08:33 Working with difficult or shallow windows
• 10:18 Open windows vs. backed windows
• 11:55 External theatre: beyond the glass
• 14:57 The hotspot — your 'third window' inside the store
• 16:45 Where to find visual merchandising inspiration
• 20:00 Outro and where to find Sarah Manning

Connect with me 🔗:

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

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

→ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resilientretailclub/

🎧 LISTEN ON YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST APP:

→ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/resilient-retail-game-plan/id1558090069

→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2EIPFznxQFQHIXmC3QoBFQ

Resources Mentioned:

• Sarah Manning: visualmerchandisingcourses.co.uk | @visualmerchandisingcourses
• The Shop Drop Blog by Tim Nash — free newsletter every Thursday

Mentioned in this episode:

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Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

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

Have you ever looked at the news and wondered whether it's even appropriate to be selling your products right now?

If you're an independent retailer or product business owner and the state of the world is making you hesitate about showing up and selling, this episode is for you.

I'm Catherine Erdly, and this is Resilient Retail Game Plan — practical product business advice with a healthy dose of reality. This week, one of the most common questions I get from product business owners: should I keep selling when the world feels uncertain?

In this episode:

→ Why big brands never pause their marketing — and what that means for you

→ Why independent retailers are a genuine force for good

→ The lipstick effect and what consumer spending data actually shows right now

→ A practical social media tip to help you show up more consistently

📌 CHAPTERS:

00:00:00 Introduction & the question everyone's asking

00:00:44 When selling feels wrong: the shared experience

00:01:42 Why this feeling is so common in product businesses

00:02:51 The mental noise of running your own business

00:06:04 The self-fulfilling prophecy & the big brand reality check

00:08:25 Why small businesses are a force for good

00:09:55 Your duty to share what you do

00:11:30 The lipstick effect: are people actually spending?

00:12:18 A visit to Columbia Road Flower Market

00:12:57 Products are how people show love

00:13:31 None of this is trivial

00:14:23 Practical tip: separate your social media accounts

00:16:08 How Catherine implemented this herself

00:17:25 A message for every independent retailer

🔗 LINKS MENTIONED:

→ Mean Mail: https://www.meanmail.co.uk

→ Retail Roar 2026: https://retailroar.co.uk

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

🎧 LISTEN ON YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST APP:

→ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/resilient-retail-game-plan/id1558090069

→ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2EIPFznxQFQHIXmC3QoBFQ

Mentioned in this episode:

Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month

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

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Nobody talks about how lonely it can be to run a small business.

Your friends and family mean well — but they don't really get it. If you have a team, you feel like you have to have all the answers. And whether you're on the shop floor, in your home office, or in your unit, there's a good chance your dog is getting more of your business thoughts than any actual human being.

I'm Catherine Erdly, and this is Resilient Retail Game Plan — practical product business advice with a healthy dose of reality.

In this episode, I'm being honest about the one thing most business owners never talk about: isolation. And why community — real, practical, human community — isn't a nice-to-have. It's fundamental.

You'll hear:

1. Why business loneliness is more common than anyone admits — and why it matters
2. How being in a community speeds up your learning, builds confidence, and protects your resilience
3. Why hearing about other people's tough weeks can actually make your own feel more manageable
4. How community can drive real commercial results — referrals, collaborations, and sales
5. All about the Retail Roar 2026 Facebook community and why it might be just as valuable as the summit itself

If you've been feeling flat, isolated, or like nobody around you truly gets what you're going through — this episode is for you.

🏟️ Free Retail Roar ticket: retailroar.co.uk

📩 Join the Resilient Retail Club: resilientretailclub.com

📲 Follow on Instagram: @resilientretailclub

⏱ Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:13 The Loneliness of Business

03:56 Why Community Matters

06:42 Join the Retail Roar 2026 Community

Mentioned in this episode:

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