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

Is your shop or stockroom full of Christmas stock while the sales are still to turn up? Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Capify - business funding made simple. Find out more at capify.com Mid-November is when the nerves kick in. You've spent the money, the invoices have landed, the shelves are full, and you're looking around thinking: where is everybody? Have I bought too much? What if this doesn't sell? That feeling is completely normal at this point in the retail calendar. Christmas is one of the biggest financial commitments I see retailers make all year, and the money goes out long before all of the sales come in. The danger is what the nerves make you do next. You go quiet on your marketing, you knock 20% off everything, or you decide the whole season is a write-off because of one dreadful Tuesday. So this episode is a pep talk. I talk through what the wider retail picture is telling us about how people are shopping this Christmas, then give you five things to focus on over the next few weeks, plus a simple way to work out what's really going on if you are behind plan. By the end you'll know whether you have a real problem or just a quiet week, which numbers to look at, and what to do tomorrow morning instead of panicking. Chapters: 00:00 Why a slow November doesn't mean a slow Christmas 04:00 Keep showing up (and what my rose bush taught me) 07:30 Back your winners and don't panic discount 10:00 Read the trend, make buying easy, find the real problem Useful links: More episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Resilient Retail Club: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/ Say hello on Instagram: @resilientretailclub: https://www.instagram.com/resilientretailclub/ The Resilient Retail Game Plan is here to share retail industry trends, insights, and best practices for anyone starting, growing or scaling a product business. Mentioned in this episode: Capify

Everyone keeps telling me the high street is dead. So I went to see for myself. Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Capify - business funding made simple. Find out more at capify.com "The high street is dead" gets said so often that most of us have stopped questioning it. If you run a shop, hearing it week after week wears you down. It makes it sound as though you're fighting the tide, however good your shop is. But retail being hard and the high street being dead are two very different statements, and I wanted to find out which one was actually true. Since January I've been working my way through an A to Z of UK high streets for my Instagram, from Inverness to Fowey, and from Holywood in County Down to Brighton's North Laine. I've walked down streets so busy it felt like a football crowd had just been let out, and I've turned up on a Sunday to find a lot of the independents shut. In this episode I share the 10 things I've taken away so far, halfway through the alphabet: what makes one high street feel vibrant and another feel flat, why some places get three hours of your time and others get 20 minutes, and why a street can look like it's thriving to a visitor while the people running its shops are telling a very different story. By the end, you'll know what the busiest high streets I visited have in common, what independent shops bring to a town that nobody else can, and how to look at your own high street (and your own shop) the way a visitor does. If you've ever wondered whether your high street has a future, or what would make people want to keep coming back to it, this one's for you. Chapters 00:00 Is the high street really dead? 03:25 Independents, curation and a town's personality 07:32 Useful, busy and worth the trip 12:25 Opening hours, hidden pressures and what comes next Resources and links Follow my A to Z of UK high streets on Instagram (and tell me where to go next): https://www.instagram.com/resilientretailclub/ Episode 322, on how independent shops decide their opening hours: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/podcast-episode-how-to-decide-shop-opening-hours/ Stock Doctor, the service I mention for bricks-and-mortar retailers: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/stock-doctor/ Some of the shops I mention: Pencil Me In, Elgin: https://pencilmein.co.uk Seasgair, Elgin: https://seasgair.store/ Leakey's Bookshop, Inverness: https://www.leakeysbookshop.com All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly The Resilient Retail Game Plan shares retail industry trends, insights, and best practices for the retailer who's serious about building something that lasts. New episodes every Thursday morning. Mentioned in this episode: Capify

Around half of high street shops could soon pay no business rates at all. So why do so many of the retailers I speak to still feel let down by this Budget? Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. On Wednesday 28 October, John Healey delivered his first Budget as Chancellor, and for retailers there was a lot riding on it. Rises in employer National Insurance and the National Living Wage have added an estimated £6.5 billion to retail employment costs in the last couple of years. Plenty of independent shops are busy, loved by their customers and working flat out, and still struggling to keep enough cash in the business. Going in, most people I spoke to had high hopes and fairly low expectations. In this episode I go through what was actually announced and who it really helps: the business rates changes for shops in England, the new National Living Wage from April 2027, the VAT change for anyone selling through online marketplaces, and the help with household energy bills. But the headlines don't tell the whole story. A higher threshold doesn't help every shop, a "freeze" doesn't always mean your bill stays the same, and some of the support won't arrive until well after Christmas. You'll also hear how one Marlow boutique owner felt when the news landed. By the end, you'll know which changes are likely to affect your business, what you need to build into next year's forecast, and where to put your energy with the biggest sales months of the year right ahead of us. If you've been wondering whether this Budget is good news or bad news for your shop, press play. Chapters 00:00 Why so much was riding on this Budget 04:04 Better timing, and the business rates changes 06:56 Wages, marketplace VAT and help with energy bills 09:51 A shop owner's reaction, and my advice for Christmas Useful links Find your shop's rateable value (GOV.UK): https://www.gov.uk/find-business-rates Business rates relief explained (GOV.UK): https://www.gov.uk/business-rates-relief Stock Doctor, my done-for-you stock service: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/stock-doctor/ Twenty Three Living, Marlow: https://twentythreeliving.co.uk Barbakan Deli on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbakandeli/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly More episodes of The Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Mentioned in this episode: Capify

Your shop window is your hardest-working unpaid employee. This Christmas, is it pulling its weight? Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Capify - business funding made simple. Find out more at capify.com If you're an independent retailer, you're probably about to put up your Christmas window display, or you've already planned it. But a pretty window isn't the same as one that sells. For most independents, the quickest Christmas win isn't finding more customers. It's each customer spending a little more. So what does a window have to do to make that happen? And what's it doing for you at 10 o'clock at night, when the door is locked and it's been dark for hours? To find out, I brought back visual merchandiser Sarah Manning. Sarah has worked in visual merchandising for more than 20 years, starting at Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, and she has run her own consultancy since 2006. When we spoke she was in the middle of planning Christmas schemes for her own clients, so this is what she's actually doing this season, from a fashion client's window to a food retailer whose shelves are every colour going. By the end of this episode you'll know how to build one Christmas look that runs from your window to your shelves and your website, and why three colours is the limit. You'll know how to use your window and the area just inside your door to sell a gift rather than a product, so each customer spends more. And you'll know when to put your window in, when to refresh it, and how to keep it selling after you've locked up. Chapters 00:00 Why your Christmas window matters 02:44 One theme, three colours, window to website 06:50 Sell a gift, not a product 10:51 When to install, refresh and light it Resources and links Sarah Manning, Visual Merchandising Consultant: https://visualmerchandisingconsultant.co.uk/ Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualmerchandisingcourses/ The UK prop suppliers Sarah uses: http://www.dzd.co.uk/ The colour trend sites Sarah mentions: WGSN https://www.wgsn.com/ · Coloro https://www.coloro.com/ · Pantone https://www.pantone.com/ Sarah's first episode, on shop windows and the power of the pyramid: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/retail-window-display-ideas-for-shops-that-turn-browsers-into-buyers/ My free Christmas guide and planner (put your end-of-November refresh in it): https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas Give your windows a Christmas makeover? Tag me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resilientretailclub/ All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly The Resilient Retail Game Plan shares retail industry trends, insights, and best practices for the retailer who's serious about building something that lasts. New episodes every Thursday morning.

It's so easy to shop online. So why would anyone spend their precious time coming to see you in a shop? Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Capify - business funding made simple. Find out more at capify.com Last week I asked whether bricks-and-mortar shops need a website. This week I'm turning the question around: do online brands need a physical store? Your customer doesn't think in channels. She finds you on Instagram, pops in on a Saturday, orders another colour on her phone that evening and brings something back the following week. Shopify's research shows 41% of UK shoppers plan to split their shopping evenly between online and in-store, which leaves every online brand with the same awkward question. If the website always wins on convenience, what is a shop actually for? And once you've added up the rent, rates, staff, fit-out and stock, can it ever pay its way? To find out, I spoke to Dessislava Bell, who co-founded the womenswear brand Saint + Sofia with her husband Malcolm. They sold online only for almost five years and reached more than 800,000 customers around the world before opening their first shop on Monmouth Street in Covent Garden in November 2024. Dessi is the spreadsheet lover in their partnership, so I wanted to know exactly how she judges whether the shop is working. You'll also hear from Sally Hughes Daniels, CEO of the activewear brand TALA, which opened its first shop on Carnaby Street last year, and from Emilie Benoit-Vernay, Shopify's Director of Revenue for EMEA. By the end of this episode you'll know the jobs a shop can do for an online brand beyond the takings, how to choose the one you want yours to do, and how to find out whether your customers want to meet you before you sign a lease. You'll also hear the one thing that changed how Dessi sees physical retail. And if you already run a shop, stay with me, because what happens when someone walks through Saint + Sofia's door is something you could copy tomorrow. Chapters 00:00 Why would anyone visit an online brand's shop? 03:06 What a shop can do that a website can't 07:26 Service, community and the social side of shopping 10:48 Does the shop pay its way? Resources and links My Forbes article, Why Digital-First Brands Are Moving Into Physical Retail: https://www.forbes.com/sites/catherineerdly/2026/10/02/why-digital-first-brands-are-moving-into-physical-retail/ Episode 323, the other half of this conversation (do bricks-and-mortar stores need a website?): https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/do-bricks-and-mortar-stores-need-a-website/ Saint + Sofia: https://uk.saintandsofia.com/ · TALA: https://www.wearetala.com/ My book, Tame Your Tiger: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/blog/tame-your-tiger-book/ Weighing up a pop-up, a first shop or getting more from the one you've got? Find out about Stock Doctor: https://stockdoctor.net Come and say hi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resilientretailclub/ All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly The Resilient Retail Game Plan shares retail industry trends, insights, and best practices for the retailer who's serious about building something that lasts. New episodes every Thursday morning. Mentioned in this episode: Capify