We live so close to our store that I don’t have time to listen to a podcast on my five-minute commute. But if you enjoy listening to informative audio programs when you are in the car or at home, here are some suggestions that might help you improve your retail game.

Retail Details is hosted by Becky Tyre, founder of the Retail Details blog and a frequent writer on all things retail.  During her half-hour podcasts Becky invites select retailers “to share what drives them to be creative in cultivating, defining and redefining successful retail spaces along with tips, insights and inspirations.”  Recent guests include Julie Horowitz Jackson of VIRTU Chicago and Amy Rutherford, owner of Red Barn Mercantile and Penny Post in Alexandria, Virginia.

The National Retail Federation’s focus is on big retail, but we share our larger competitors’ concerns about topics such as current trends, sustainability, and recruiting employees in a tight labor market.   The NRF’s podcast, called Retail Gets Real, features “unfiltered, insightful conversations with the industry’s most interesting people.”

Bob Phibbs, who goes by the name “The Retail Doctor,” had the famed Paco Underhill as his guest on the latest episode of Tell Me Something Good About Retail. The topic that day was “The Science of Age When it Comes to Retail.” Other episodes have talked about product differentiation and customer service – again, with an emphasis on larger retailers, but information we all can benefit from.

If you need help with a specific area of running your business, there may well be a podcast for you.  There are, for example, countless series talking about how best to use social media. One of the top ranked at the moment is cleverly called the Social Media Marketing Podcast. Host Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner produces a weekly 45 minute podcast for businesses talking about the latest strategies and tactics.

Stores pursuing e-commerce might want to listen to The Jason and Scot Show, a weekly podcast hosted by Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis Communications, and Scot Wingo, Founder and Executive Chairman of ChannelAdvisor. Their show features interviews with industry leaders, timely news, and longer “deep dive” episodes on topics such as Amazon, Artificial Intelligence and digital payments.

If you just need a short bite of daily business news, check out the NPR Business Story of the Day – 3 to 5 minute stories topics such as the spread of the Coronavirus that impact all businesses.  I suppose I would have time to listen to this one on my walk to work – but it’s also good to have a bit of quiet to focus on the day ahead.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder