The saying that you can do well by doing good has never been truer in the retail world. Both our shops and our suppliers often benefit from the “halo effect” that helps influence consumers’ positive impression of our businesses. It’s interesting to note that the term was coined by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920 in… Read More

An update of a popular blog post from 2016 Every year since 1999, a Pantone shade is selected as the Color of the Year by the Pantone Color Institute. The purpose of this program is to “engage the design community and color enthusiasts in a conversation around color, highlighting the relationship between color and culture.… Read More

There is a new way in which artificial intelligence is influencing our customers: as a means of researching products they’re interested in buying. Google has long been the standard search engine, and therefore a key way in which consumers found out about our businesses. But artificial intelligence is starting to change that. AI agents are algorithms… Read More

An update of a popular blog post from 2014 On a recent flight, I discovered that my seat mate had paid less than half the amount for her airfare than I had paid for mine.  Welcome to the world of dynamic pricing! Technically dynamic pricing means that the price of an item is determined by… Read More

I first met Crystal Vikaitis some 15 years ago, when she was bringing her enthusiasm and expertise about social medial to the gift industry through popular trade shows lectures. She has since launched the company Crystal Media, built a successful marketing brand called Rooted in Retail, and acquired the nickname – based on the meaning… Read More

An update of a popular blog post from 2011 We love it when our suppliers make their closeouts and overstocks available to our shop instead of selling them to T. J. Maxx or Marshall’s.  The fact that customers can find products at these discount outlets similar to the ones we’re offering at full price makes… Read More

Last year was the 50th anniversary of the scratch card, which is usually used as an instant lottery game. In the most common scenario, the player scratches off three or more areas in the hopes that the numbers or symbols that are revealed will be the same. According to Planet Money on NPR, “Americans spend… Read More

An update of a popular blog post from 2015 Sending an email blast to your customers doesn’t do any good if your message doesn’t get opened.  And yet even with a permission-based list of people who have agreed to receive emails from your shop, you would be doing well to get an “open rate” of… Read More

Faire is such a dominant player on the retail scene that it was big news when they started to offer American retailers the option of paying through Plaid. Several shopkeepers have asked what this is, and whether using this ACH platform is a good idea. (If you’re not already familiar with the basics of ACH,… Read More

I’m not sure what might be an appropriate way to commemorate closing our store due to the pandemic, but the 5th anniversary of that sad day is coming up soon.  What a tough time it was for independent retailers –  and almost every other business.  Back in March, 2020 the majority of us thought that… Read More