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

Resilient Retail Club's Catherine Erdly
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Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan - giving you retail insights, retail trends updates and best practices for any retailer, from Shopify stores to bricks and mortar units. I'm Catherine Erdly, veteran retail expert and consultant and also founder of The Resilient Retail Club. This is the podcast for anyone wanting to start, grow, or scale a profitable small medium or large product retail business. Aimed at independent retailers, e-commerce brands, indie sellers, online shops, independent boutiques, shopkeepers, brands and makers. I'm dedicated to breaking down the concepts and tools I’ve gathered from twenty years in the retail industry in the UK and USA and showing you how you can use them in your small business.

  1. 12h ago

    Ghost stores, fake shops and what they mean for real independent retailers

    "It's with a heavy heart that we share this message with you." A little boutique closing its doors after years of love and care, one final sale, the owners off to enjoy being grandparents. Except the shop never existed."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. Chapters00:00 — The closing down sale that never happened02:28 — Inside the ghost store business model, with Chris Emmins of KwikChex04:50 — The 97% rule, and the question customers now ask you08:15 — What a fast-growing brand does differently, and why AI is reading your trust signals too Links and resourcesResilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdlyCatherine'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.comBazaarvoice: https://www.bazaarvoice.comPassenger: https://www.passenger-clothing.comWhich? investigation into bogus boutiques: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/the-bogus-boutiques-ripping-off-shoppers-aqruM5i1zJLHSay hello on Instagram: @resilientretailclub

    Ghost stores, fake shops and what they mean for real independent retailers

  2. Jul 23

    The Retail Stock Mistake Even Veteran Retailers Make

    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. In this episode00:00: 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 Useful linksFind out more about Stock Doctor: https://stockdoctor.netConnect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdlyMore episodes & resources: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

    The Retail Stock Mistake Even Veteran Retailers Make

  3. Jul 16

    The 4-Step Sales Strategy Every Independent Retailer Needs

    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. In this episode(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. Free download for this episodeGrab my free guide to creating a sales strategy for your business: resilientretailclub.com/strategy Useful linksFree sales strategy guide — https://www.resilientretailclub.com/strategyThe Resilient Retail Club — https://www.resilientretailclub.comAll podcast episodes — https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/Connect with me on LinkedIn — https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdlyWatch 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: This podcast uses chapters

    The 4-Step Sales Strategy Every Independent Retailer Needs

  4. Jul 9

    Drowning in Data? The Only 3 Retail Numbers That Matter

    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. In this 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 Links & resourcesFree download — The 3 Key Numbers guide: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/numbersMy book, Tame Your Tiger: How to Stop Your Product Business Eating You Alive — where I show you how to calculate your breakeven step by stepConnect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdlyMore episodes & the audio podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

    Drowning in Data? The Only 3 Retail Numbers That Matter

  5. Jul 2

    Independent Retailer Trends 2026: Plan Christmas Now

    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. Chapters00:00 — 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 Links & resourcesConnect with me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catherineerdlyMore from Resilient Retail Club — podcast page: resilientretailclub.com/podcastHannah Bartlett — The Christmas Insider: thechristmasinsider.comDiscover independent brands to stock on Faire: faire.comPlan a profitable Q4 with Stock Doctor: stockdoctor.net Mentioned in this episode: This podcast uses chapters

    Independent Retailer Trends 2026: Plan Christmas Now

  6. Jun 25

    Retail Planning 2026: Why a Mid-Year Check-In Beats Starting Over in January

    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 now01:33 — Revisiting the goals you set in January (without the self-blame)03:40 — The numbers that matter — and why you should ask why they happened06:10 — Best sellers: value, units, and profit08:06 — The dead weight audit: stuck stock and disappointing lines09:33 — Conversion rate and average order value10:28 — Sales channels: are you investing where it's actually working?11:20 — The social media and relationship audits13:17 — What worked, what didn't, and start / stop / continue16:29 — How the business feels: SWOT and the 20-year interview19:31 — Refocusing for half two: set your number and key dates21:41 — Your homework Useful Links Free midyear recap workbook: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/recapResilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Mentioned in this episode: Faire 50% off - use code 'Resilient50'

    Retail Planning 2026: Why a Mid-Year Check-In Beats Starting Over in January

  7. Jun 18

    How AI Agents Are Changing Retail Stores (Retail Industry Trends 2026)

    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: Faire 50% off - use code 'Resilient50'

    How AI Agents Are Changing Retail Stores (Retail Industry Trends 2026)

  8. Jun 11

    How retailers can build demand on TikTok

    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. Chapter Timestamps00:00 — The hook: 3,000 creators waiting to promote one product01:26 — Luke's retail career: From John Lewis buyer to TikTok creator04:12 — YAS CLEAN launch: £70K first livestream and 650,000 orders in year one10:02 — Building a product range vs chasing viral moments15:45 — Discovery commerce explained: How TikTok Shop's creator model works19:34 — Live shopping as real-time customer feedback Useful LinksYAS 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: Faire 50% off - use code 'Resilient50'

    How retailers can build demand on TikTok
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Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan - giving you retail insights, retail trends updates and best practices for any retailer, from Shopify stores to bricks and mortar units. I'm Catherine Erdly, veteran retail expert and consultant and also founder of The Resilient Retail Club. This is the podcast for anyone wanting to start, grow, or scale a profitable small medium or large product retail business. Aimed at independent retailers, e-commerce brands, indie sellers, online shops, independent boutiques, shopkeepers, brands and makers. I'm dedicated to breaking down the concepts and tools I’ve gathered from twenty years in the retail industry in the UK and USA and showing you how you can use them in your small business.

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