Bringing Business to Retail

Should you do 25% off everything this Black Friday? That's what Stacey, who owns two children's shoe stores, asked inside My Million Dollar Store. Stacey's shoes are made for her stores, she gets a couple of deliveries a year, and she'd rather have the cash than the boxes. In this episode, Sal explains why the discount percentage is the last thing to decide, and builds Stacey's Black Friday offer...

Q4 has a way of filling every available minute. Stock is arriving. Orders need to be packed. Staff need to be rostered. Customers need help. Christmas ranges need organizing. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, you're still supposed to send your weekly email and keep showing up on social media. The problem isn't that retailers don't know marketing matters. The problem is that when the busi...

In this episode, Salena Knight explains why the products you regret buying can be some of the most valuable data in your retail or ecommerce business. It is easy to focus on best sellers, products that sold out, and suppliers that performed well. But your clearance section, old stock, and products that have been sitting in the warehouse can tell you just as much - and sometimes more - about your b...

You found the perfect product. You know your customers will love it. So you buy it. But what if that isn't enough to make it a good buying decision? In this episode, Salena challenges the way retailers think about inventory and explains why buying isn't just about finding products that fit your brand or that you believe will sell. Every dollar you put into stock is a dollar that can't be used some...

In this episode, we're talking about a problem a lot of retailers are feeling right now: getting customers to your website is costing more, so how do you make more money from the traffic you already have? Krisztian Kiraly, International Partnership Manager at OptiMonk , joins us to unpack the idea of "conversion before acquisition" - improving the customer experience and conversion rate before sim...

What does it take to build a retail business that is profitable, deeply connected to its community, and still growing years after opening? In this episode, Salena chats with Jill Schuler, CEO of The Stitchery Studio, a fabric shop and studio that has grown from one person's dream into a thriving creative community. Since opening in 2017, Jill has taken a considered approach to modern textiles, com...

Somewhere in your product catalogue, there's revenue you're missing, sitting in data you're not tracking. In this episode of Bringing Business to Retail, Salena Knight sits down with Leon Bart-Williams, a former Amazon sales leader and founder of a retail technology platform, to talk about how the world's biggest retailers use product data to make decisions, and how independent retailers can use t...

What if the biggest mistake you ever made in your business wasn't actually a mistake at all? In this episode, Salena shares the story of the most ridiculous purchase she ever made for her retail store - a box of decorative sew-on barrettes that had absolutely no place in an eco baby boutique. Nearly 20 years later, she found them again while packing up her house, and they reminded her of one of th...

Jennifer Ann Johnson knows what it's like to lose everything and start again. After rebuilding from the ground up, she created True Fashionistas into a $50 million resale business while discovering that confidence isn't something you're born with. It's something you build. In this conversation with Salena Knight, Jennifer shares the lessons she's learned about resilience, leadership, business grow...

What would you do if your orders suddenly quadrupled in just a few weeks? For one retailer, a simple change to her shipping strategy delivered exactly that. Orders surged, the Shopify notifications kept coming, and it looked like she'd found the perfect way to increase sales. But was it really a win? In this episode, Salena Knight shares the story behind a coaching call that uncovered what was rea...

Playing it safe feels responsible. It feels sensible. But what if it's the thing keeping your business from growing? In this episode, Salena shares one of the most pivotal moments in her retail journey, and unpacks why the safe decision is often the most expensive one a business owner makes. From setting conservative revenue goals to avoiding difficult conversations, underpricing products, and und...

Think you're the only one who can do it properly? That belief might be the thing keeping your business from growing. If you've ever caught yourself saying "it's just quicker if I do it myself," this one's for you. This week, Salena Knight exposes one of the biggest hidden traps in scaling a retail or ecommerce business. It has nothing to do with working harder, hiring more people, or finding a bet...

Are you working harder than ever but still feeling like profits aren't where they should be? With rising wages, increasing software subscriptions, higher freight costs, and customers becoming more selective about how they spend their money, many retail and ecommerce business owners are finding themselves squeezed from every direction. The natural reaction is often to focus on getting more customer...

Why do customers ignore review requests, newsletter signups, and referral programs even when they love your products? In this episode of the Bringing Business to Retail podcast, Salena Knight shares a simple but powerful communication strategy that can help retail and ecommerce businesses increase customer participation without changing their marketing systems or spending more money on advertising...

Do you find yourself feeling guilty when customers spend a significant amount of money in your store? You're not alone. Many retailers feel uncomfortable when customers make large purchases. Instead of celebrating the sale, they worry the customer will change their mind, question the value, or think they've spent too much. In this mini episode, Salena shares the story of her first $1,000 sale and...

Every retailer has done it. You launch a bundle, run a gift-with-purchase promotion, or test a new offer. The results aren't what you hoped for, so you file it away under "that doesn't work for my store." But what if the offer wasn't the problem? In this short episode, Salena Knight shares a coaching conversation with Jill from Stitchery Fabric Store about a challenge many retailers face: knowing...

In this episode, Salena coaches Cathy, the owner of an online gifting business, through one of the most common struggles in retail and ecommerce - spending too much time and money on customers who may never become profitable. Cathy shares how she has been sending free gifts with purchase to customers in an effort to get people to try her products, along with the challenges she faces when corporate...

What would happen to your business if you couldn't show up tomorrow? It's a question most entrepreneurs avoid asking, until life asks it for them. In this deeply personal episode, Salena Knight opens up about the terrifying moment she was told she was likely facing cancer and how that experience forced her to confront a reality many business owners quietly fear: has the business been built to surv...

If you've ever left a networking event wondering whether your business is behind everyone else's, this episode is for you. Salena Knight breaks down the dangerous comparison cycle that many retail and ecommerce store owners fall into without even realising it. From hearing someone talk about record-breaking sales to another retailer struggling with foot traffic, it's easy to start mentally measuri...

Most retailers assume that when customers are already buying, there's no need to market harder. In this episode, Salena shares the costly lesson she learned after treating busy seasons like "business as usual" instead of strategically maximizing every customer interaction. From missed upsell opportunities to poor inventory planning and passive selling, she reveals how retailers unknowingly leave m...

Show Notes Every week in retail and e-commerce Facebook groups, the same question appears. Sales have dropped off. Is anyone else experiencing this? And every single time, the comments fill up with store owners saying the same things back to each other - it's the economy, the algorithm killed my reach, I've tried everything and nothing works. But here's what almost nobody says: what they've actual...

Show Notes You're not being ignored, you're being overlooked. And that's a very different problem.  In this episode, Salena Knight shares a simple but powerful story - walking past a beautifully curated store for 18 months without ever going in, despite being the ideal customer. It highlights a problem many retailers and ecommerce brands face: being visible, but not truly seen. If your store isn't...

I recently stopped at a fuel station to fill up my car - something I don't do very often - and watched the bowser tick past $90, $100, $110, $120. I was genuinely waiting for fuel to come gushing out because surely it had to be broken. It wasn't broken. And that moment is exactly what this episode is about. Rising costs are hitting every part of retail and e-commerce - freight, fuel, wages, rent,...

My guest today is Teresa Olson, founder of Olson House in Milwaukee, a beautifully curated store known for Scandinavian-inspired homewares, design-led products, and now a growing vintage collection. But her story does not begin in retail showrooms and brand catalogues. It starts in a Kmart, moves through a record store, a speech communications degree, DJing, interior design, corporate office life,...