The Resilient Retail Game Plan
Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan - a small business podcast with me, independent UK-based small business and retail expert Catherine Erdly, founder of The Resilient Retail Club. A podcast for anyone wanting to start, grow, or scale a profitable small business. Aimed at independent retailers, e-commerce brands, indie sellers, online shops, independent boutiques, shopkeepers, brands and makers. The Resilient Retail Game Plan is a small business podcast dedicated to one thing - 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 ca...
10
How Christmas 2025 Really Felt In Retail (and why that matters for 2026)
<p>Ever wondered what Christmas really felt like at the sharp end of retail—and what it’s whispering about your 2026 playbook?</p><p>With thanks to this episode's sponsor Faire (https://faire.com/) Use the code 'GamePlan25' to claim 50% off and free shipping with your first order!</p><p>I’m Catherine Erdly, and welcome to this festive edition of the Resilient Retail Game Plan—your product business advice, with a side of reality.</p><p>This isn’t a spreadsheet post-mortem, it’s an honest (sometimes wry) look at how Christmas truly landed for independent retailers.</p><p>After 25 y...
Your January Stock Clearance Strategy
<p>January clearance doesn’t have to feel like a panic move, a brand compromise, or an admission of failure.</p><p>With thanks to this episode's sponsor Faire (https://faire.com/) Use the code 'GamePlan25' to claim 50% off and free shipping with your first order!</p><p>Hi, I’m Catherine Erdly.</p><p>This week on the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’m walking you through how to run a proper stock clearance. Not a blanket discount. Not a last-minute scramble. But a strategic, cash-releasing reset that helps you start the year lighter, clearer, and more profitable.</p><p>I...
Retail Profit vs Turnover: When £3 Million Nearly Broke the Business
<p>On paper, Anna Scaife's business Anna Lou of London looked unstoppable — multi–seven-figure turnover, dream stockists like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, celebrity customers, even a Carnaby Street shop. But behind the scenes, the numbers were quietly telling a very different story.</p><p>With thanks to this episode's sponsor Faire (https://faire.com/) Use the code 'GamePlan25' to claim 50% off and free shipping with your first order!</p><p>Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly. </p><p>This week on the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’m digging into the real retail profit vs turnover conversation.</p><p>What happens when t...
Retail Trends 2026: Four Shifts Retail Businesses Need To Prepare For
<p>The shopfront of retail is about to change—will you be on the right side when the robots come knocking? </p><p>With thanks to this episode's sponsor Faire (https://faire.com/) Use the code 'GamePlan25' to claim 50% off and free shipping with your first order!</p><p>Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly. </p><p>This week on the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’m laying out the four seismic shifts set to hit independent retailers by 2026. </p><p>Think agentic AI that shops for your customers, TikTok Shop turning the high street digital, trust as your most valuable curr...
Dead Stock to Cash Flow: Access Trapped Cash Tied Up in Inventory
<p>Ever feel like your money’s gone missing—but you know you’ve already spent it?</p><p>In this episode, I’m diving into one of the most common and costly problems I see in product-based businesses: trapped stock. That unsold inventory piling up in your stockroom, storeroom, or studio? It’s not just taking up space—it’s tying up thousands of pounds you could be using to pay yourself, invest in your bestsellers, or boost your marketing.</p><p>I share a story that’s stuck with me for years: a shop owner who discovered over £7,000 worth of untouche...
Christmas Stock Management: How to shift slow sellers and avoid brown bananas
<p>Christmas is close enough to smell the cinnamon, but I know for many indie retailers this is also the “please don’t let me be stuck with this stock in January” moment.</p><p>In this episode, I’m talking you through the three big troublemakers you need to get on top of right now: slow sellers, overstocks, and the infamous “brown bananas” — those products that basically lose all their value the second Christmas week ends.</p><p>I’ll show you how to read your Shopify reports properly, how to spot the items that won’t budge in January no matter...
What Shopify and Klaviyo Agree On: Christmas 2025 Spending
<p>Christmas 2025 is shaping up to be a season of cautious confidence — and coziness. </p><p>With thanks to this episode's sponsor Faire (https://faire.com/) Use the code 'GamePlan25' to claim 50% off and free shipping with your first order!</p><p>Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly. </p><p>In this episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm sharing insights from my Forbes.com research, drawing on data from Shopify, Etsy, Klaviyo, LoyaltyLion and more to reveal what shoppers are really planning this festive season.</p><p>Discover why UK consumers are expected to spend over £91 billion, how AI is...
Get more sales with less stock!
<p>Ever wish a retail expert would walk into your stockroom, pull up your numbers, and just tell you exactly what to do? </p><p>Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly. </p><p>This week on the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I’m tearing down the myths and fears behind a stock audit and showing why getting your inventory under control is the most powerful move a product-based business owner can make. </p><p>After 25 years in retail, I’ve seen it all: wasted cash in stagnant shelves, business owners drowning in data but starving for answers. </p><p>So I created Stoc...
The Power of Planning Your Retail Sales Year: How Structure Creates Freedom (and Profit)
<p>If you’re tired of winging it with your retail sales, this episode of The Resilient Retail Game Plan is your turning point. </p><p>I'm Catherine Erdly, and in this episode I'm revealing how mapping out your sales year gives you more creativity, not less. </p><p>Plus, we're all about calmer launches, better cash flow, and loyal customers. </p><p>Learn how to replace last-minute panic with a confident plan that fits your life, not the other way around.</p><h2>Timestamped overview</h2><p>00:00 Planning Enhances Creativity</p><p>03:40 Avoid Reactive Selling Strategies</p><p>07:09 Predictive Ma...
When Numbers Finally Tell the Truth - Retail Reality Check That Changed Everything for My Client
<p>Resilient Retail Club member Petrina Reddy from "Saints at Sea" thought she was doing everything right — until the numbers told a different story. </p><p>In this episode, she joins me, Catherine Erdly, to share the moment she realised her retail business wasn’t actually working the way she thought it was.</p><p>We talk honestly about the emotional side of facing your figures, the hard decisions that come next, and how Petrina rebuilt her business with clarity and confidence.</p><p>If you’ve ever avoided looking too closely at your sales or stock levels, this is the wa...
