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. 1d ago ·  Bonus

    The Shopping Forecast Podcast - 'Special Listen In' Episode

    I just wanted to let you have a quick listen to my other podcast. Fashion brand consultant Elizabeth Stiles (host of The Fashion Brand Clinic) and I teamed up to launch "The Shopping Forecast" which is a podcast that proves shopping is about so much more than what’s in your basket. Each episode we bring the receipts on current consumer trends and the cultural shifts shaping the way we shop, unpacking the psychology behind our purchases and the brands redefining consumer culture. Whether you love spotting trends before they hit the mainstream or are simply fascinated by why people buy what they buy, The Shopping Forecast is your weekly guide to the sociology of shopping.

    The Shopping Forecast Podcast - 'Special Listen In' Episode

  2. 4d ago

    Retail Opening Hours: How 8 Independent Shops Decide When to Open

    What are the right opening hours for your shop, and what should you actually be using to make that decision? 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 Earlier this year I visited Jedburgh and Kelso in the Scottish Borders for my A to Z of independent retail, and I made a very London-centric mistake. I went on a Sunday. The cafes were open, the chains were open, and between the two towns I found exactly one independent shop open. When I shared it on Instagram, it started one of the liveliest conversations I've had all year. Should independent shops open on Sundays? Is it worth opening if the footfall isn't there? Do customers now expect you to be open seven days a week? So rather than tell you what I think, I asked eight independent shopkeepers how they actually decide their opening hours, and their answers couldn't be more different. One owner cut her week from six days to four and saw her sales go up. Another went to seven days a week and has just moved into bigger premises. One closes on Mondays because the whole village does. Another stays open on the afternoon her neighbours shut. You'll hear all of them in their own words, from Peckham to Pembrokeshire and Bantry to Lyme Regis. By the end of the episode you'll know what to weigh up before you change your hours, why one quiet Tuesday tells you far less than you think, and the one thing all eight shopkeepers agreed on, whatever days they choose to open. If you've ever stood in an empty shop wondering whether it was worth unlocking the door today, or you're deciding what to do over Christmas, this one's for you. Chapters 00:00 Why I found just one independent shop open on a Sunday 01:51 Consistency, the rhythm of your town and trial and error 06:24 Who covers the hours, and what the numbers actually say 10:26 When the decision goes beyond the numbers Resources and links Free Christmas guide and week-by-week planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas Episode 321, Retail Christmas Forecast: What the Summer Numbers Really Tell Us: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/uk-retail-sales-summer-2026/ Tell me your opening hours 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 Mentioned in this episode: Capify

    Retail Opening Hours: How 8 Independent Shops Decide When to Open

  3. Sep 24

    Retail Christmas Forecast: What the Summer Numbers Really Tell Us

    So how was the summer for retail in general, and more importantly, what does that tell us about what's ahead for Christmas? 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 Depending on what you read this summer, retail either collapsed or quietly got on with it. You'll have seen headlines about the retail apocalypse sitting next to reports of rising consumer spending, and the frustrating thing is that a lot of those contradictory things can be true at the same time. So in this episode I go through what the actual numbers say. Retail sales volumes were up. Footfall was down in six of the first seven months of the year. Online hit its highest share of spending since April 2021. Clothing had its strongest month since September 2025, while furniture and computing were left on the shelf. Consumer confidence climbed to a 21-month high, and June's early promotions appear to have pulled demand forward out of July in exactly the way Black Friday pulls it forward out of December. Put together, that gives us a picture of a customer who hasn't stopped spending at all. They've become selective, occasion-led and comfortable flipping between your website and your shop door depending on the weather and their mood. Which is genuinely encouraging going into Christmas, because Christmas is planned, occasion-led spending. It just means you can't assume that customers spending in general translates into customers spending with you. I finish with the four things I'd want you to do before November: don't plan for disaster, get your entry and mid price points right, stop relying on footfall alone, and keep enough flexibility in your stock budget to react to what's actually selling. Chapters 00:00 How was the summer for retail, really? 02:51 What the ONS sales numbers actually showed 05:26 Why footfall fell but spending didn't 07:18 Online's strongest share since 2021 10:00 Small treats, rising confidence and the October budget 12:56 Four things to do before Christmas Resources and links Free Christmas guide and week-by-week planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas Episode 316, Retail Christmas Strategy: Why August Decides December: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/christmas-planning-for-independent-retailers/ 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

    Retail Christmas Forecast: What the Summer Numbers Really Tell Us

  4. Sep 17

    Retail Christmas Stock Planning: How Much Should You Actually Buy?

    Before you place one more Christmas order, stop and ask a different question. Not "how much money have I got left to spend?" but "is my stock actually ready for Christmas, and where are the genuine gaps?" 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 I said this was going to be a four-part Get Set for Christmas series, but there's one thing I didn't dig into properly, and it's the thing that quietly decides whether your Christmas is profitable or just busy: the stock itself. The trade shows are done, the catalogues keep landing, the reps keep calling, and every new range looks like the one that's going to make the difference. The temptation to keep buying is enormous, and it's easy to justify because Christmas matters so much. In this episode I walk you through how to work out whether your stock is ready, and I mean properly ready, by category, not just a list of bestsellers. I show you the check that reveals when something is badly out of line (the one where jewellery is 40% of your sales and 10% of your stock), the question almost everyone forgets to ask about what they want left on 31 December, and the calculation the Stock Doctors run for every client that turns a vague budget into a specific gap to fill. I run the numbers on a worked example so you can see exactly how £6,000 on the shelf, £2,000 on order and a £10,000 sales expectation become a real buying budget. By the end you'll know how to tell a genuine gap from a gorgeous distraction, how to buy strategically rather than opportunistically, and how to come out of January with cash in the bank instead of a stockroom full of problems. If you've ever bought something because you loved it rather than because your business needed it, this one's for you. Chapters 00:00 Stop before you buy anything else for Christmas 01:31 Your buying budget isn't a pot of money 02:20 Look at last Christmas by category, not by bestseller 04:45 Sales mix vs stock mix: the 40% / 10% test 06:30 Set a realistic Christmas sales target 07:50 What do you want left on 31 December? 09:55 The balance-back calculation (the £5,000 example) 12:36 The 80/20 rule, and what to do if you have no data 15:04 Nine questions to ask before your next order Resources mentioned Free Get Ready for Christmas guide and planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas Stock Doctor, my done-for-you stock management service: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/stock-doctor/ Episode 316: Christmas planning first steps: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/christmas-planning-for-independent-retailers/ Episode 317: Christmas cash flow planning: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/retail-cash-flow-planning-for-christmas/ Episode 318: Your Christmas product range: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/how-to-plan-your-christmas-product-range/ Episode 319: Christmas promotions: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/christmas-promotion-ideas-for-independent-retailers/ All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Mentioned in this episode: Capify

    Retail Christmas Stock Planning: How Much Should You Actually Buy?

  5. Sep 10

    Retail Christmas Promotions: 7 Ways to Drive Sales Without Discounting Everything

    If your Christmas promotional strategy is "20% off everything", then you probably haven't got a Christmas promotional strategy. 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 This is the final episode in my four-part Get Set for Christmas series, and it tackles the bit most independent retailers leave until a panicked evening in November: the promotions. The fourth quarter has become the noisiest, most discount-driven time of the year, and when every other brand starts shouting about money off, it's very easy to react, slash prices and find yourself at the end of December with a great sales figure and no profit to show for it. In this episode I walk you through the seven types of promotion available to you, from the most premium to the most distressed, and explain why I think of them as a continuum. Some barely move sales at all but do wonders for your relationship with your customers. Some absolutely will drive sales, but every time you use them they work a little less well and your brand looks a little more worried. I also share the one question you should ask before you run any discount, the mistake I see big high street names making over and over again, and my honest view on whether you need to take part in Black Friday at all. By the end you'll be able to build a week-by-week promotional calendar for the whole of Q4 that hits your sales goals, delights your customers, looks after your VIPs and leaves your margin intact, so that when the busy months arrive you can focus on selling rather than working out what to say next. Chapters00:00 If your strategy is "20% off everything"01:31 What a promotion really is, and who discounts are actually for05:56 The seven types of promotion, from giveaway to red sale13:55 Your Q4 timeline: what to do in September, October, November and December Resources and linksFree Christmas guide and week-by-week planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmasEpisode 316, Retail Christmas Planning: Why Independent Retailers Should Start in August: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/christmas-planning-for-independent-retailers/Episodes 317 and 318 (cash flow, and your Christmas product range)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

    Retail Christmas Promotions: 7 Ways to Drive Sales Without Discounting Everything

  6. Sep 3

    Retail Christmas Range: Stop Trying to Stock Everything

    The biggest Christmas mistake I see is not ordering too little. It is trying to stock everything. 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 Every year I watch independent retailers try to turn themselves into a one-stop shop for December. More lines, more categories, more just-in-case. And every year the same thing happens. The money goes out across everything, the shop looks busy, and the sales still land on a small handful of products you could probably have named back in August. It is not about having everything. It is about having the right things. The reason most of us get that wrong is that we plan Christmas as though it were one single, homogeneous block of spending. It is not. Your customers are not walking in to buy "Christmas". They are on missions, and every one of those missions has its own budget, its own timing and its own deadline. The Secret Santa buyer and the Christmas Eve panic buyer are not the same person, they are not spending the same money, and they will not be in your shop in the same week. In this episode I walk through the buying missions that actually make up December, roughly what each one is worth, and when each one turns up. Once you see them written down, the gaps in your range become uncomfortably obvious. Then I get to the part that quietly decides your whole December: your hero products. The small group of lines that will carry the majority of your Christmas sales, why identifying them now changes how you market, price and reorder everything else, and why your strongest one probably does not look remotely festive. By the end you will know exactly which lists to make this week, which gaps to fill before the autumn trade shows, and where the room is to try something new without gambling your peak season on it. Press play and I will walk you through it. CHAPTERS 00:00 The one-stop shop mistake, and what to do instead 01:16 Think like a Christmas shopper: the missions people are actually on 06:11 Hero products: the 20% that will carry your Christmas 08:51 Filling the gaps, and the 20% where you get to have some fun LINKS Free Get Set for Christmas planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Parts one and two of this series: episode 316, Christmas Retail Strategy: Why August Decides December, and episode 317, Retail Cash Flow at Christmas: Four Ways to Ease the Squeeze. Episode 309 with Hannah Bartlett on Christmas trends: https://thechristmasinsider.com/ Find out more about Stock Doctor: https://stockdoctor.net Say hello on Instagram: @resilientretailclub Mentioned in this episode: Capify

    Retail Christmas Range: Stop Trying to Stock Everything

  7. Aug 27

    Retail Christmas Cash Flow: Four Ways to Ease the Squeeze

    Your sales aren't bad. So why does it suddenly feel like there is no money in the bank? Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. Every September and October I have the same conversation, and it is almost always with someone who is convinced they have done something wrong. You planned Christmas properly. You placed the orders. And now, right on cue, the invoices for all of that stock are landing while the Christmas sales that are supposed to pay for them are still months away. Your VAT, your wages and your rent carry on regardless. That is the Christmas cash flow pinch, and it turns up in the same fortnight every single year. What I want you to understand is that this is not a mistake you made. It is the shape of a seasonal business. Retail runs on the gap between paying for stock and selling it, and Christmas stretches that gap wider than any other point in the year. It happens at the very top of the industry too. When I worked in big corporate retail we had a standing set of meetings for exactly this problem, with a name I have never forgotten, and the thing we were protecting was not the bank balance you would assume. At Paperchase we took half our year's revenue in the fourth quarter, sometimes more. You do not survive a shape like that on optimism. So in this episode I take you through four things you can do over the next few weeks to ease the squeeze. Which stock is quietly holding your money to ransom, and how to get it out. How to build a Christmas buying budget so that every pound you spend has a job to do instead of being a hopeful just-in-case. How to reshape your delivery dates and your payment terms so the cash leaves your account later than it otherwise would. And the one thing not to do when the balance looks tight. By the end you will know exactly what to review this week, what to ask your suppliers for, and why September feeling like this is information rather than a verdict. Press play and I'll walk you through it. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Christmas cash flow pinch (and why it isn't your fault) 05:20 Way one: free the cash trapped in old stock 07:57 Way two: buy with intention, not "just in case" 09:14 Ways three and four: flow your stock in, and don't panic LINKS Free Get Set for Christmas planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas Free cash flow planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/cashflow Find out more about Stock Doctor: https://stockdoctor.net All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Faire (mentioned in this episode): https://www.faire.com Mentioned in this episode: Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/ Capify

    Retail Christmas Cash Flow: Four Ways to Ease the Squeeze

  8. Aug 20

    Retail Christmas Strategy: Why August Decides December

    The retailers who have a brilliant Christmas are not the ones working hardest in December. Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. It is the middle of August, and I know that for a lot of you the word "Christmas" right now produces a small internal flinch. But here is the uncomfortable thing about peak season: by the time December arrives, almost every decision that will determine how it goes has already been made. The buying, the sales plan, the staffing, the storage, the marketing calendar. Every one of those is a retail management decision, and every one of them gets made weeks or months earlier, usually in a rush and usually on instinct. The effort you pour in during December is real, but it is spent inside a retail strategy you built in August whether you meant to or not. In this episode, the first of four I am running across the next month on getting ready for Christmas, I want to talk about where you actually start. Not with this Christmas, but with last one. There is an exercise that every large retail business I have worked in runs religiously, and that almost nobody in indie retail ever does. It takes about half an hour, it uses data you already have, and it will tell you things your memory absolutely will not, because we are all very good at quietly editing out the worst bits of the last peak season. I will walk you through the questions it should answer: which products were really carrying your Christmas, what surprised you, what you were too timid on, and which bits of your small shop marketing genuinely earned their keep and brought you repeat customers. Then I want to talk about the two things that turn that review into a plan: choosing one clear goal for this Christmas instead of trying to fix everything at once, and being honest about whether your business can physically cope with the Christmas you are hoping for. That second one matters most if you are scaling a retail business, because retail business growth is wonderful right up until the week you cannot fulfil it. Demand you cannot fill is expensive and stressful, and it is far easier to see coming in August than in the last week of November. By the end of this episode you will know exactly what to sit down with, what to look for, and what to have decided before the next one, where we get into the cash flow to fund it all. Press play, then go and grab the free planner. CHAPTERS 00:00 Why a great Christmas is decided in August 01:12 The Lessons Learned exercise big retailers never skip 05:37 Choosing your one Christmas goal 07:18 Capacity planning: can your business actually cope? LINKS Get Set for Christmas planner (free): https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas All episodes: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Mentioned in this episode: Capify Home and Gift Association is our sponsor this month https://www.homeandgiftassociation.org.uk/

    Retail Christmas Strategy: Why August Decides December
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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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