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

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

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.

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.
Chapters
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

Related links
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

About the podcast
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:
Mailchimp
resilientretailclub.com/mailchimp

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.

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:
Mailchimp
resilientretailclub.com/mailchimp