Retailer’s Roundtable – January 2025

Retailer’s Roundtable – January 2025

Today’s session was packed with actionable retail insights! Here’s what we covered:

🛍️ Seasonal sales strategies for peak seasons (00:13:17)
📊 Boosting profitability through margin analysis (00:14:52)
🤝 Creating better customer experiences (00:12:54)
✨ Sealing with “squirrel brain” and competing priorities (30:00) (00:12:54)
🚀 So much more to help you grow this month, including using the Monthly Playbooks and ideas to stay on track
👉 Don’t miss out— watch the replay to get the full scoop and take your retail game to the next level!
Retailer’s Roundtable – January 2025

Retailer’s Roundtable – December 2024

Thank you to Dan, Katie, Sylvia, Dorothea, Susan, and Dana for joining me at the last roundtable of the year! Tons of good info and insight in this one. Here are some timestamped notes to help you navigate the replay incase you missed it!
Planning and Annual Goals: Make sure you go through the yearly planning/goal setting workshop! We will meet live on January 16 at 12pm.
Inventory Management (3:00–7:30)
  • There needs to be an emphasis on moving inventory instead of stockpiling it.
  • It’s better to sell inventory at cost rather than to store it.
  • We talked about strategies to determine minimum viable inventory levels (it’s different for everyone!)
  • Don’t forget about the Inventory Masterclass if you need a refresher!
Holiday Sales Strategies (00:09:00–00:13:00)
  • It may make sense to mark down your holiday décor items before Christmas!
  • We touched on pricing strategies, such as planning markdowns while maintaining margins
Customer Engagement (00:13:00–00:17:00)
    • Live social selling on FB is a big thing right now! (We know this here – many of you have been doing it for a while!)
    • Stay customer-focused and be sure you are HELPING customers find what they need especially during the holiday season.
    • Promote gift certificates NOW!
    Promotions and Email Marketing (00:17:00–00:22:00)
    • Are you emailing your customers? It is so important to send frequent email communication to stay top-of-mind.
    • Members shared stories of engaging customers with email-exclusive promotions and behind-the-scenes stories. (Email works!!)
    Email Campaigns and Customer Insights (22:00–27:00)
    • I encourage you to review email engagement metrics, such as clicks and opens, to identify active customers.
    • Use email-exclusive offers to drive foot traffic and maintain top-of-mind presence.
    Retailers Sharing Best Practices (27:00–32:00)
    • Participants shared successful strategies, such as offering early access promotions (“first dibs”) via email and offering gift registries to their customers.
    • It’s important to tailor communication channels for different customer groups (e.g., non-social media users).
    Member Questions/Thoughts
    • We discussed member experiences around the sales and how they compared to last year.
    Closing Thoughts and 2025 Outlook (40:00–End)
    • Make sure your holiday hours are updated and pinned to the top of your social media pages!
    • I encourage you to use the slower post-holiday period for reflection and detailed planning for 2025. You have a smorgasbord of resources available, such as workshops and templates, to support yearly goal-setting in Headquarters.
    Retailer’s Roundtable – January 2025

    Retailer’s Roundtable – November 2024

    Here’s your Roundtable Recap from Tuesday – Watch the replay if you missed it! Thank you all for joining us – what a great turnout and chat!
    [00:00:00] Welcome and Intros
    [00:06:00] Member Spotlight: Jeanne’s Big Announcement
    • Jeanne shares her exciting plans to relocate and pivot her shop model to a seasonal market. I provided advice on staying positive during changes and shares examples of successful shop relocations. 🙂
    [00:14:00] Navigating Challenges with the Community
    • Sandy and Suzy discuss frustrations with local support and how their town’s parade timing affects Small Business Saturday. Other members, including Jeanne and me, share their experiences with similar struggles and offer creative solutions like leveraging data and community engagement strategies.
    [00:39:00] Hiring for Growth
    • Dan shares plans to create a PR and community outreach role. I break down the importance of defining the ROI (return on investment) and metrics for new hires and integrating them into a marketing budget.
    [00:53:00] Exploring Visibility Strategies
    • Members brainstorm ways to attract new customers, such as utilizing existing customer referrals, social media, and local collaborations. Chris shares her recent success with a billboard campaign that paid off within a day!
    Why Watch the Replay?
    This month’s Roundtable was packed with actionable advice on business pivots, handling community challenges, hiring strategically, and boosting visibility. Plus, hear inspiring wins from fellow shop owners that could spark ideas for your own business!
    Retailer’s Roundtable – January 2025

    Retailer’s Roundtable – April 2024

    Thank you to everyone who joined me! Here is a very brief summary of the conversations we had. I encourage you to watch it back if you missed it!

    If you missed the podcast episode with our very own Jeanne Terrill, here is the link! It is getting lots of traction and I’m getting excellent feedback on it so I wanted to be that if you wanted to listen in, you wouldn’t miss it. 

    8:00 – Shout out to Jody Peskin! She made the cutest edible treats for my Level Up Mastermind retreat. Check out her website and reach out to her if you are looking for a personalized treat.

    12:00 – Sales Accelerator Program starts next week! If you want to sign up, now is the time! As IC members, you get $100 off of the registration fee using code “ICFRIEND” – here is the link: https://wendybatten.thrivecart.com/sales-accelerator-cohort3/  If you want to amplify your marketing with a group of like-minded retailers, join us. 😊

    14:00 – Editable graphics just dropped in the Inner Circle! Check out the post here.

    17:00 – We talked a little more about the Playbook and how to use it – make sure you are looking at it monthly! May and June are coming out in the next few days.

    20:00 – 36:00 – I shared some ideas of what’s working with regards to marketing in your shop. I encourage you to take a look at both the shop standards and the sales masterclasses in the Headquarters section of my website.

    36:00 – We brainstormed ideas for the best use of space in smaller shops.

    46:00 – Signage chat

    54:00 – Jeanne asked for more info about the podcast episode on souvenirs – We talked about opportunities for souvenir sales in towns that aren’t considered touristy.

    Thanks again to everyone who joined me! If you couldn’t this time, no worries! Remember we meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. See you in May!

    Retailer’s Roundtable – January 2025

    Retailer’s Roundtable – June 2023

    Thanks to everyone who came to the Roundtable on Tuesday!

    First of all, I wanted to remind you to watch the sales strategy sessions I’ve dropped in the group so far this month. The videos are short but important and EVERYONE can benefit from them. Schedule a little time and watch them as soon as you can!

    We had great conversations in the meeting – enjoy the playback in case you missed it in person.

    12:00 – the difference between value sharing and political statements
    16:00 – Marketing strategy ideas for moving into a bigger space, numbers to know
    29:00 – Karis’s great example of her branding statement and how she got there
    37:30 – Google Business – What you need to update NOW
    42:30 – Mid-Year Reviews – CST Podcast Episode 112 – What you need to be doing now to be ready for end of year
    45:00 – What’s coming in the Inner Circle: The rest of the sales strategy series videos, new holiday bootcamp, session on revenue streams for seasonal shops/businesses

    Masterclasses referenced in the meeting: Foot traffic, Branding, Google Business (available to ALL OF YOU now! – I linked them in the comments. You must be logged in to view them.)

    Have a great day!

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