As a retail store owner, you have your work cut out for you when it comes to growing your business. There’s a lot you need to know, and a lot you need to take action on, whether it’s the latest trends in omnichannel retail, engaging with your most loyal customers over social media, or understanding the way technology and mobile are revolutionizing how you can accept payments.
Retail blogs can be a helpful resource. To save you the trouble of searching for the best retail blogs, we’ve compiled a list. Use this article as your guide to the 18 top retail blogs that you can read and subscribe to if you want to stay ahead of the curve and thrive when it comes to selling in person.
18 retail blogs to help you succeed
- Kizer and Bender’s Retail Adventures
- Retail Insider
- The Retail Doctor
- Retail Minded
- Retail Customer Experience
- Forrester Retail Blog
- National Retail Federation blog
- Retail Design Blog
- CrossCap Blog
- iSi Global Blog
- Retail Prophet
- RetailWire blog
- Duct Tape Marketing
- Retail Geek
- Retail TouchPoints
- Drapers
- Retail Dive
- Shopify Retail Blog
1. Kizer and Bender’s Retail Adventures
Featuring the latest and greatest insights from Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, this blog offers readers the duo’s unique perspectives as speakers, authors, consumer anthropologists, and consultants to some of the world’s biggest retailers. On their blog, you’ll find tips on topics such as customer service, merchandising, and everything in between that’s relevant to successfully running your retail store.
2. Retail Insider
Retail Insider is edited by its founder, Glynn Davis, a business writer who specializes in retail and the food and drinks industry, and has seen his work appear inThe Financial Times, among other places. Retail Insider gives readers a behind-the-scenes look of the UK’s small-business retailers, intermixed with CEO interviews and tips on where to go for a good beer.
3. The Retail Doctor
This blog gives you a glimpse into the brain of Bob Phibbs, a nationally recognized retail expert with more than 30 years of experience under his belt. Each post offers a great deal of insight for readers and their small businesses on everything from employee training and retention to making your store events a success, as well as lessons retailers can learn from the successes and failures of other businesses. In addition to his blog, be sure to check out his latest book The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business.
📚Further reading: 11 Best Retail Management Books Every Merchant Should Read
4. Retail Minded
Recognized as one of the most trusted resources on both the work and life aspects of being a small business owner, Retail Minded has been a go-to blog for advice since it was founded in 2007 by Nicole Leinbach Reyhle. In addition to the blog, Nicole is the founder of the Independent Retailer Conference, and Retail Minded also offers a resource guide for retailers and a book to help market and manage a retail business.
5. Retail Customer Experience
Ever wanted expert hands-on advice from a wide array of trusted sources? Then this should be your go to source. With more than 50 retail experts sharing their insights and domain knowledge for the everyday retailer, it doesn’t get much better if you’re looking to change the way you operate your business or are looking to turn it around for increased sales and growth.
6. Forrester Retail blog
As one the world’s largest and most reliable sources of research, data, and consultation services, the Forrester’s retail blog is a goldmine of useful information and trends. Though far more high-level and targeted at bigger retail chains than some of the other retail blogs we mention in this article, it never hurts to have a glimpse of some of the consumer and technological trends that impact and shape the way consumers behave in a smaller retailer’s store.
7. National Retail Federation blog
Touted as the world’s largest retail trade association, representing everyone from discount and department stores to wholesalers and chain restaurants the NRF is out to advance the retail industry’s status quo through advocacy, communication and education. Its blog covers retail trends, interviews with retail executives, and retail data to help small businesses make smarter marketing decisions when it comes to reaching their target consumers.
8. Retail Design blog
The Retail Design blog is one of the premier destinations for retail designers and visual merchandisers looking for the latest trends, insights, and inspiration in their fields. It’s a place where designers upload, share, and comment on everything including furniture, lighting, materials, branding, and using eco materials. Join in on the fun by contributing to the community, or just browse and glean all the incredible imagery showcasing the best of boutique retail design from around the world.
9. CrossCap Blog
Dubbed as exclusively dedicated to retail marketing technologies, this blog belongs to a company that has worked with several Fortune 1000 retailers on the planning, execution, and analysis of their omnichannel marketing plans. With retailers having to focus their attention on so many different channels when it comes to getting the word out, a good place to start learning how to do it right is CrossCap’s blog.
10. iSi Global blog
iSi Global is a retail design agency that helps retailers design, develop, and deploy engaging retail environments and POP (point-of-purchase) displays. Its blog covers the latest retail trends, retail tips, and news from its bases in the UK and Poland.
11. Retail Prophet
You can probably tell from the blog name alone that Doug Stephens, one of the world’s foremost retail industry futurists, isn’t kidding around when it comes to helping you envision the future of retail. His posts touch upon the latest retail and technological trends you need to keep on top of in order to know how your business will shape up over the coming years. He’s also the author of The Retail Revival: Re-Imagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism.
12. RetailWire blog
RetailWire is retail’s premier online discussion forum, serving the industry for more than 20 years with compelling content that goes beyond conventional headline reporting. Its editors post timely topics every morning, Monday through Friday, and the RetailWire BrainTrust panel of industry experts and general readers add their commentary, creating virtual round tables of retail industry opinion and advice covering today’s retail industry trends and issues.
13. Duct Tape Marketing
John Jantsch needs little introduction, but as a leading marketing consultant, speaker, and author of three books, he’s been described as the “Peter Drucker of small business marketing tactics” by Seth Godin. Which means, his blog, books, and podcast are all mandatory reading and listening for any small-business owner looking to maximize their marketing tactics with a limited budget.
14. Retail Geek
Retail Geek was one of the web’s best omnichannel retail blogs before evolving into a weekly podcast. It’s hosted by two industry veterans, Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Communications, and Scot Wingo, founder and executive chair of ChannelAdvisor. The Jason & Scot Show features interviews with industry leaders, detailed conversation about key topics, and timely news. And if you prefer to stick to reading, episode transcripts are posted on Retail Geek’s website.
15. Retail TouchPoints
Retail TouchPoints provides the latest retail news, reports, and trends for retail executives in customer-facing roles. Its articles cover a range of topics, including store operations, customer experience, digital commerce, machine learning, and marketing.
16. Drapers
Drapers has been the leading authority on fashion retailing in the UK since August 1887. It provides you with insightful analysis, industry news, retail data, and the opportunity to meet its network at in-person networking events.
17. Retail Dive
Retail Dive is a great resource for in-depth journalism and insight into the most impactful trends and news shaping retail. Its website and newsletters cover topics like retail technology, brick-and-mortar, ecommerce marketing, store operations, omnichannel selling, payments technology, and more.
18. Shopify Retail Blog
Shopify was originally founded in 2006 as an ecommerce platform after our CEO Tobias Lütke and co-founder Scott Lake attempted to open an online store to sell snowboarding equipment. They couldn’t find an ecommerce platform to satisfy their needs, so Tobias, a computer programmer, built his own. Shopify has evolved into a global omnichannel commerce leader with ecommerce and retail products—and blogs for each. Our Retail Blog teaches you about retail marketing, running a brick-and-mortar store, how to succeed at omnichannel retail, in-store payments, inventory management, and more.
From DIY window display tips to the types of signage you need to get started to how the biggest retailers are succeeding on Instagram, we’ve got you covered so you can succeed at selling anywhere, at any time.
Retail blogs: start reading
Now that you have a comprehensive list of retail blogs, it’s time to get started. If we missed one of your favorite retail blogs, let us know by commenting below.
Read more
- Back-to-School Marketing: A Quickstart Guide for Businesses in the Industry
- Cause Marketing: What It Is, How To Do It, and Why It Matters
- Affiliate Programs for Retailers: What Are They and How They Can Boost Your Revenue
- Shopping Tourism: Why Retailers Should Care (+ Tactics to Leverage this Trend)
- How to Plan a Successful Retail Product Launch
- Hyper-Personalization: 4 Examples of Retailers Doing it Right
- The Ultimate Guide to Geotargeting in Retail
- Summer Marketing: 20 Ideas To Survive The Summer Slump In Revenue
