Would you like to know why YOU should celebrate Amazon Prime Days and turn them into Your Store Days? Wait, what?! Why am I asking you, an independent retailer, to cheer for Amazon Prime Days? Because this is a huge opportunity to take advantage of the cultural fanfare this event gets and put a local twist on it to make it your own successful annual event: Your Store Days! In fact, we have taught this for years now and we’ve seen store owners increasing sales 176%!!! Our clients have gotten featured on the front page of their local newspaper, because of this idea. Before I tell you how t ..read more

A lead magnet is a very well known term in the online marketing space, but they can also be a very efficient retail marketing strategy. That’s why I’m sharing these 7 retail friendly lead magnets you can use to grow your email list. Why Lead Magnets? The ultimate purpose of your lead magnet is to attract leads – or customers – into your world. You do this by building a connection with them, by providing them something of value so they feel comfortable with giving you their contact information. Because no one wakes up thinking: “I can’t wait to join some email lists today!” Most often lead mag ..read more

There are 2 important customer types in retail that you should pay attention to the most. Because once you understand these two customer types, you’ll be able to execute marketing, store events and promotions that serve each type the best – which leads to more sales and profit for you. When I share these two types with store owners, I love to use the analogy of Thumbs and Pinkies… Identifying the 2 Important Customer Types Let’s do a little exercise! Put both your hands up in front of you, fingers spread wide. Now fold down your fingers so all you see are your thumbs. Your thumbs represent yo ..read more

Cathy: What I have for you today is the easiest event with the greatest ROI (Return on Investment), that you’ve ever heard of. It’s been hugely successful. When I first heard about it, I thought, I can’t wait to share it with you and the continued success of it is amazing! I want to introduce you to Amy and Courtney from WaterMark Corners. Amy please tell us all about your store and then please introduce Courtney!  Amy:  Hi Cathy and hi everyone! I own WaterMark Corners. We are a gift and stationary store in Moline, IL. We’re a part of the quad cities. We specialize in items that ar ..read more

Cathy: I can’t wait to introduce you to Lori Holt, tell us a bit about your store!  Lori: My shop is called Quilter’s Corner and we’re in a little tiny town in central South Dakota – Population 700! Our closest stoplight is 60 miles away. 60 miles to a Walmart, to fast food. So that tells you, we are in the boonies! We love what we do! We have a sewing machine dealership and service, we host retreats and have two long arm machines where we do custom quilting for other quilters. We also hold classes and try to be an inspiration center for people that love to work with fabric.  Cath ..read more

Would you like to get VIP treatment from your vendors? Of course you do!! To learn the secrets to get the most support possible from your vendors, I’m sharing what I learned and I got the scoop from a former senior buyer from Macy’s and a fantastic women’s apparel sales representative. These experts both pointed out that maximizing your relationship with your vendor requires a bit of homework before your scheduled buying appointment. Implement these insider tips to get better vendor deals and terms, which means improved cash flow for you! Here are a few things to consider when preparing for ..read more

A 5th Saturday only comes around 4-5 times a year which makes it the perfect opportunity for you to promote your store! As always, there’s a science behind everything we do here at RETAILMavens which is why I don’t want you to just do a promotion because everyone else is doing it. I want you to be strategic with every event you plan. That’s why I recommend two different approaches to a 5th Saturday promotion. Depending on the time of year, your store likely falls into one of these two categories: 1. You’re a store with lots of new inventory coming in 2. You’re a store with lots of old inve ..read more

I was chatting with a client recently, and she was feeling a little panicky. Her sales were down and she told me she wanted to do a quick weekend sale. My immediate answer was “NO”, quickly adding an explanation for why it was a bad idea. Then I realized that you might not know why it’s a bad idea either! The strategy of the right sale at the right time It’s very common for retailers to approach slow traffic by throwing a weekend sale, thinking it will bring much needed traffic and cash flow. And while I know the intention is good, there is a flaw with this strategy (with one exception, I’l ..read more

One of the top reasons people give for why they haven’t achieved their goals, started or completed a project, or spent time on a hobby they really enjoy – is that they don’t have enough time. But consider this: What are you NOT making time for? You could easily fill all 24 hours in a day with everything that “needs” to be done between your store and family commitments, leaving zero time for the things you love. But that wouldn’t be a rich life, would it? If you want a successful business that is sustaining your ideal life, financially absolutely – but also providing you with freedom to le ..read more

There has been a lot of uncertainty and confusion about what retailers can do right now to deal with everything going on in politics, with the economy and the world in general. Consumer habits have changed for sure. Recently I delivered my annual State of Retail in 2022 at our RETAILMavens Mastermind Retreat, sharing what you need to know about retail in 2022, so you’ll know exactly what to do differently, what will never change and what matters more than ever. Something that never changes in retail, is that better service equals better sales – Every, single time.  So in these changing ..read more