The Retail Doctor Blog

It started with a simple question to me, “How do I overcome anxiety?” It came from a retailer dealing with all the...

Looking for how to grow profit margins in your store? 

People who sell retail have to up their game, or their brick and mortar stores will bleed customers.

And don’t blame...

The Coronavirus has amplified many of the problems that already existed in retail selling. And the pandemic has...

Everyone is looking for how the long-term effects of how the pandemic will change retail forever; especially in...

Why should you hire people who do not look like you? Because while it is human to hire people with similar...

While I love to speak to retailers and provide retail sales training for how to sell better in their stores, I have...

Looking for how to find hope for your retail business? You’ve come to the right place.

By the end of today, 43 states are expected to be reopening retail stores  even if only for curbside pickup. 

 Here's how you can deliver retail sales training to remote employees effectively...

When you have just one brick...

I'll get to what you can do about gloom and doom retail shortly but I want retailers to understand what is going...

While many retailers are focused on just getting their stores open, there is a lot of work that must be done to...

When major league baseball players return to their fields, that will be a huge marker of the beginning of the return...

Retail stores are closed.

What we do as retailers now will determine what retail looks like in the future. We as consumers are hitting the...

I know I have a range of business owners with their own perspectives about the coronavirus also known as COVID-19....

How to deal with virus outbreak? Most retail store manager training includes have to have sales meetings but when...

When coming to New York, retailers should study what’s new in Manhattan. You can see technology, merchandising, ...

In the moment after someone has walked into your store but before the salesperson has spoken to them, anticipation...

As brick and mortar retailers continue to look for how to compete with online, many are realizing they have to do...

Visual merchandising covers everything from how you visually arrange your merchandise to how you interrupt traffic...

What customers think of you decides how much you can charge for your product, what kind of employees you have...

Closing a sale. Why is it so hard to do? Because you are putting yourself on the line. Did you read the situation...

Longtime readers know I sometimes share both my good and bad retail customer service shopping experiences from...

The reason for a bad customer service experience could best be summed up by Lily Tomlin's character Ernestine,...

How can you determine whether your customer engagement strategy needs improvement? Customer engagement is an...

Value selling is, at its heart, the moving of more merchandise. No matter how many facts you know about a product,...

This post was written pre-COVID-19. Obviously, coming in contact with people from all over the world can raise risks...

What are the best retail sales training tips? Those tips that make a shopper feel for a few minutes they are the...

What are sales behaviors? They are a series of actions comprised in a sales process, the way sales people act and...

You know you should be searching for the best retail blogs to learn how to do better with your store so I’ve...

Retailers, are you meeting your retail employees' training needs? Online retail sales training programs can help you...

I might have been a nut, but I actually liked working retail during the holidays. 

When Small Business Saturday began nearly a decade ago (thanks to American Express as a marketing campaign for...

An online retail sales training program can be the best way for a retailer to increase their customer experience by...

If you’re looking for the top skills for how to be a good shop assistant or assistant store manager, you’ve come to...

If you’re trying to grow your retail sales, role play has to be an essential part of your daily practice. Retailers...

While a lot of people moan about fewer people going to the mall, what really matters is improving conversion rates...

I first stepped into Barney’s in New York City in 1993 because it was one of the only high-end men’s clothing stores...

I expect it is going to be a great August for retail sales. Not because it’s back-to-school season but because of...

I used to work under a high-pressure bonus program. It was everything to hit goal for the month. Some guys would do...

I was talking to a frustrated CEO last week. Their number one store was failing and he felt it was the manager’s...

I remember a buddy of mine who went to work for Circuit City. He did a great job and was promoted many times....

Oracle NetSuite and I partnered on a new survey to find out exactly where the disconnect between shoppers and...

No matter what you sell, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to figure out why a shopper didn’t buy from...

It’s been a tough last few months for brick and mortar retailers as many are reporting lower same-store sales like...

I am celebrating 25 years as the Retail Doctor and looking at retail trends. I put myself through college working at...

A friend of mine received a disturbing product recall on his Pacifica van – the ball joint on the front wheel could...

Many retailers are wondering, “How can I get more sales from men in my retail store?”

“Have you ever done a business makeover for an equipment dealer like this before?” my client asked.

“No,” I...

A lot of money is chasing the term of disruption in retail.

It’s easy for many retailers to get distracted with all the changes going on in technology, social media, and...

This week, two analysts from UBS gave us the most shocking headline which said 75,000 stores will need to close by...

Three very short examples about customer service…

Levi's made headlines last week when their stock gained 32% on its first day of trading. While Levi's sales and...

I attended Shoptalk in Las Vegas last week.

Even as headlines about the retail apocalypse returned after widely...

I just completed a business makeover of Eklund’s, an agricultural equipment dealer in rural, upstate New York.

A friend of mine went to Victoria's Secret recently and shared this story.

One of the first things I do when conducting a business makeover is to get the owner and manager to accompany me on...

I’ve been quoted a lot regarding J.C. Penney, beginning with Ron Johnson’s botched makeover filled with hubris a few...

For a long time, restaurants have had signature dishes, from the highbrow Le Cirque Lobster Salad all the way down...

Back in the 90’s, I used to have one remote for my TV, one remote for my cable, one remote for my sound system, one...

Stump the Chump usually refers to someone in the audience trying to try to trip up a speaker with aggressive and...

I attended the NRF Big Show last week and came upon three tech solutions retailers are using to bolster their...

After an interview at CNN in New York, I was to catch up with my buddy Tony at the new Men’s Nordstrom just down the...

Gillette sells razors, Nike sells shoes, Starbucks sells coffee, and Patagonia sells sportswear, but these are also...

Oracle NetSuite and I partnered to find out exactly where the disconnect between shoppers and retailers is occurring...

I was in Dallas a few weeks ago and decided to visit the Neiman Marcus flagship store.

It’s almost hard to remember how we used to buy mattresses.

Many retailers have embraced digital as the be-all and end-all. Many pundits and retail experts are telling us the...

Another year has closed. For some, it was record-breakingly good.

One thing that is true across the board, last year...

Here are the 10 must-read blog posts for reliable, retail-focused information on everything from staffing issues to...

Holiday merchandising is always hard.  A lifetime ago I managed a western wear store in South Coast Plaza, the...

A lot of attention is being given to how online retail is growing. But what if that growth isn't coming entirely...

Are you looking for how to use email marketing in December to lure holiday shoppers back to your store again and...

This past week I was named as one of the top voices in retail on LinkedIn along with others including NBC reporter...

Looking for a strong way to promote your business and how to attract customers using Small Business Saturday? 

Sleeping with the Eyes Open, a 1929 study, theorized that people in monotonous situations tended to enter a...

The holidays are a great time to entice shoppers with unplanned purchases.

At this time of year, there are loads of holiday preparations articles about how brick and mortar retailers can have...

Brick and mortar retailers have to put up with a lot of bad customer behavior. But how should you deal with a...

You can’t open a webpage, a newspaper, or turn to your video channel without someone somewhere coving the story that...

A lot of retailers write me about their fears. Fear of not doing enough to gain market share. Fear of not having the...

Imagine if this was your retail business: “Given our view that Bed Bath & Beyond was unable to post positive comps...

                                           Wondering how to prepare your store for the holidays?

Online mattress company Casper has opened 200 stores across the US; online consignment store ThredUp has planned...

During the time of Covid, it can be easy to feel you're doing all you can retailers. Sorry, but we've changed our...

Retailers often ask me, How can I bring more customers to my business?

As I walked past a Brookstone in an airport one Sunday afternoon several years ago, a guy was clearly teaching his...

You probably got to this page from a search like ransom email bitcoin password. Here's my story.

How do you become a good retail sales associate and move visitors from shoppers to customers?

Amazon’s website crashed as Prime Day 2018 kicked off. How does Amazon crash when people order from them 24/7 365...

Amazon is the company retailers love to hate. Amazon’s arms continue to weave and curl around your customers.

And...

Ever written an email or text to a retail business and didn’t get an answer within a day?

An aversion to selling is everywhere in the retail industry. And it has nothing to do with Covid.

IHOP created a tsunami of publicity when they teased they were changing their name to IHOB. A few days later they...

As 250+ Bon Ton stores go out of business, the Wall Street Journal caught up with their former CEO Tim Grumbacher...

When I was putting myself through college, one of my first jobs was in retail sales at the Broadway Department Store...

Have you passed on retail sales training because for you either didn’t think it would work or you had a bad...

A lot of retailers are looking for ways to draw shoppers into their stores.

The one common denominator when it comes to retail sales is...people. And how those people interact with each other.

As a motivational speaker, I travel a lot and encounter customer service mistakes all the time.  

If you're paying attention to the doom and gloom associated with retail, it might seem that the exuberance of online...

Management has the ability to make or break a team of retail employees, but only if they have leadership skills in...

I was staying at the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise Ireland and walked into the restaurant to have breakfast. I’d...

I was with a friend who was looking for a new pair of sneakers yesterday at Dick’s Sporting Goods. He found an...

Looking for ideas to keep employees busy?

In the retail world, customer service often matters more than the price tag. When people find the perfect fit,...

They say you have to spend money to make money, but you also have to save money to make money. 

Retail brands are in trouble. Even top brands like Nine West and Bon Ton have gone belly up.

Your retail business...

                            When was the last time you had a negative customer service experience?

What is the current state of the retail industry? To no one’s surprise, most retailers see customer service as their...

This past week, Starbucks announced they were closing 8000 of their US locations for bias training after a manager...

A question I’m asked frequently is how to select the best POS system software.  It’s important because a point of...

When I was selling cowboy clothes in the Santa Monica Place mall back in 1982, I received a call. “I’m Kris...

Did you ever watch the Sopranos episode where Richie racks up a massive debt? Tony takes over the business and racks...

A great downtown has a thriving independent retailer community working at the top of their game. New businesses open...

I love checking out art museums on vacation. I usually meet the docent because I stand too close to the artwork and...

The big news this week was that Toys R Us took the final step to close all 735 of their US stores and put 33,000...

When I was first starting out, one of my first jobs was as a janitor and shipping clerk at Slavick's jewelers in...

Back when I was a kid, I had a coughing fit at a concert. My mom looked down at me, grabbed her purse, and gave me a...

A local business group asked me to present for half a day. It was a typical group of small and medium-sized...

You don't want the reason you have loyal retail employees to be because they don't ask for a raise or they've been...

Let’s be honest, a lot of people are afraid of retail salespeople. For that matter, they are afraid of anyone who...

The days of trying to make shoppers buy something are gone. Even if you still try to use old school closing...

Do you remember what it was like when you started your first retail sales job? The joy of finding out how you could...

Last week I wrote a rather scathing review the customer service skills I experienced during my visit to The...

I was standing naked, covered only in a towel and yelling down from the second floor of the men’s spa at the...

Time and time again, retailers return to this blog to learn how to sell more in retail. Yes, I have a lot of tips...

As a retail consultant, speaker, and trainer for some of the best retail brands in the world, I get on a lot of...

As a retailer, I loved the day before Christmas Eve.

All the planners had purchased - with their lists of must have...

How can brick and mortar retailers compete against online retailers to get their fair share of last minute shopper's...

How does weather affect retail sales?

You can’t open a webpage without seeing a new charge of sexual harassment or the downfall of some powerful man in...

The first week of December can be the calm before the storm.  Your seasoned retail employees know what is in...

Many news outlets scrambled over the weekend to pull together every fact they could to show the retail apocalypse –...

In April of 2016, my blog 5 Ways How to Raise Your Retail Sales Associates' Conversion Rate was shared almost 5000...

Most every retailer's looks at their employee scheduling as their most expensive operating cost.

A lot is being written about customer engagement in retail.

How retailers are trying to engage shoppers to their ...

Are you looking for how to improve sales for your store? In this article, I look at selling role play in five...

When it comes to the easiest sales technique you can use to grow your average sale, there is nothing that works...

My buddy Steve had a neck pain and had been researching a pain-relieving pillow for weeks.

There will be five Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Maybe that's why the National Retail...

So many retailers love to complain that online retailers are killing them.And yes online is affecting all of us, but...

Imagine that you’ve just stepped into a retail business that has been operating at a loss for over a decade.A retail...

Shoppers respond to a human trusted advisor more deeply than to any webpage.

What skills do retail managers need? They need a host of interpersonal skills so they can execute a management plan...

Greeting a customer is the most important thing you can do right...or wrong in a brick and mortar retail store. I'll...

When it comes to customer experience, many businesses have abandoned personal contact making their stores little...

Today’s blog is not about retail sales training. Or marketing. Or attracting customers to your shop.

It’s about how...

Whether you are about to open a retail store or have been running one for years, if you don’t have a marketing plan,...

For years we’ve heard that employee expenses are driving retail profit margins down; as a result, labor hours were...

In 2001, Tim & Cynthia Holliday took a gamble:  They purchased Children's World, a struggling children’s uniform,...

A New York Times story today shared Saks has turned the entire second floor of their New York City store into The...

Every Friday I answer your questions in a Facebook LIVE video. This past week many questions revolved around the new...

I've written about badcustomer service experiences but this time, I thought you should see what a great customer...

What to do when your retail employees are standing around and your store is not busy...

Effective goal setting is the key to driving sales and self-discipline. To set a meaningful goal, you should start...

With lower foot traffic, retailers are desperate to get a handle on the top retail trends to see where their...

Your success as a retailer depends on increasing your metrics like units per transaction (UPT) and conversion rates....

This is a retail strategy post with many items for smaller retailers as well as some for larger retailers...

One of my first clients was a coffee roaster, and I remember the owner recounting a story about retail management...

Shoplifting and employee theft are on the rise; they make up what retailers call "shrink."

I have been a loyal Nordstrom shopper for decades. It was the pinnacle of cache to buy from Nordstrom. Exclusive....

Michael Kors received a lot of attention last week for announcing they would be closing about 125 retail stores over...

A study warned recently that up to 7.5 million retail jobs could be gone in the coming years due to automation. For...

I had been hired in my business consultant role by a guy looking to open a new store.

After assessing the location...

People often ask me, “How many hours does it take for retail sales training?”

Online retailers are jealous.

One of the best things you can hear in a retail store is, “I was just walking by and spotted this and I had to have...

Brick and mortar stores have the ability to surprise and delight. So does a downtown shopping area.

I received a tweet from Susanne Wolf in January of this year accompanied by the photo above. It read, “Thanks to you...

We now value the worth of something by how picture-ready it is. I got caught up in it myself while staying in Los...

Are you struggling to get more sales? Looking for how to sell more in your store? You can either watch a 90 second...

On Monday, Ralph Lauren announced they are closing their flagship Polo store in New York City as part of a drive to...

Retail sales training for associates has to be more than to hammer employees over the head about facts, facts, facts.

There is nothing sadder than going by one of your favorite boutique retailers and finding an empty store with a sign

Online retailers are coming after every single brick and mortar retailer.  

Many retail stores offer the same or similar products as you do.

And anything is available online.

If the only...

I‘ve been an in-person retail sales trainer for upscale retail brands and I’ve helped them achieve extraordinary...

Today’s RetailWire discussion revolved around Brian Kilcourse’s shopping trip. The proprietor of Judi’s of Nevada...

Many decades ago, when I was first starting out as a commissioned salesman, I had a very good customer, Richie.

Wow, yesterday’s post “It’s Time To Raise Your Prices – Even Though Everyone Will Tell You Not To” got a lot of...

Time management isn't for accountants - it's for everyone.

If you own a business, you have had to terminate employees. You had assessed their behaviors and found them taking...

My first job was as a janitor in a dry-cleaning store. One rainy Thursday I had cleaned up the break room like I...

I train a lot of retail stores how to sell using a fairly detailed process. You can’t just wing it. If you're...

How to attract customers? That is a frequent question to my retail consultancy.

I was walking around Manhattan after I had finished speaking at the First Data Main Street Matters event when I...

Personality styles have fascinated salespeople since the Greeks first identified them as the 4 temperaments.

Retailers have always been at the mercy of the yearly calendar. As the seasons change, the climate of the market...

The opportunities for coaching retail employees are huge and exemplified in this brief story...

Trust is one of the building blocks of sales, retail employee management and economic life as we know it.

Garden centers or nursery stores should be the best places to find great customer service.

Imagine you’re at home with most of the lights off watching Game of Thrones. You’re enjoying a nice glass of red...

Excellent retail customer service is dependent on your sales associates. But a bad retail experience is also...

There was a time when great merchandising was a valuable tool in a retailer’s arsenal against competitors.  Now it’s...