The shoppers who start researching Christmas earliest are also the ones who spend the most — and most retailers are invisible during exactly that window.

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.

If you think July is far too early to be thinking about Christmas, this episode will change your mind. I sat down with Hannah Bartlett — founder of Jolly Festive and The Christmas Insider — to unpack why the shoppers who start researching Christmas earliest are also the ones who go on to spend the most, and why that completely changes how you should be building towards your peak season.

Here's the trap most independent retailers fall into: they treat the research window and the purchase window as the same job. Right now, around 60% of shoppers are quietly building their Christmas shortlists — and holding off on actually buying until November. If you only show up when people are ready to pay, you've already missed the moment that decides where their money goes. That window is your opportunity, not your problem — but only if you know how to be in it.

Hannah has distilled her forecasting into six emotional needs and four distinct aesthetic directions for Christmas 2026. In this episode she shares the framework for choosing the one that's right for YOUR business — not just whatever the big retailers are doing. Press play and you'll walk away knowing how to show up in your customers' research phase, how to plan your stock and marketing around emotional connection rather than discounting, and how to set yourself up for your most profitable fourth quarter yet.

00:00 — Why the earliest Christmas shoppers spend the most

03:33 — The six emotional needs shaping Christmas 2026

08:02 — The four aesthetic directions to plan around

13:44 — How to choose your direction and bring it to life

• Connect with me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly
• More from Resilient Retail Club — podcast page: resilientretailclub.com/podcast
• Hannah Bartlett — The Christmas Insider: thechristmasinsider.com
• Discover independent brands to stock on Faire: faire.com
• Plan a profitable Q4 with Stock Doctor: stockdoctor.net

Mentioned in this episode:

This podcast uses chapters

We're coming up fast on the halfway point of the year — and if that fills you with dread, don't panic. Here's the good news: a midyear review beats a New Year's resolution every time, because right now you're not working from a theory about how the year might go. You have six months of real data. This episode is how you use it.

Oh, and the episode comes with a free download - https://www.resilientretailclub.com/recap

(Our sponsor Faire are offering 50% off and free shipping on first orders until July 31st. Simply add the code "Resilient50" at checkout)

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. And in this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm walking you through the exact process I've used with members, course students, and clients over and over again: look back honestly at the first half of the year, then use what you find to spring-board into a stronger second half.

The key word is honestly — without blame, without self-recrimination, and without brushing past everything you've actually achieved.

We start with the numbers: your total sales versus plan, your best sellers by value, units and profit, and a "dead weight audit" of what hasn't moved.

But the real value isn't the figures themselves — it's asking why they happened, because knowing why you succeeded is as useful as the number itself.

From there we look at conversion rate, average order value, your sales channels, a social-media audit, and a relationship audit of the suppliers, stockists, and couriers you depend on.

Then we get subjective — and I make no apology for it.

We celebrate your wins out loud, run a start / stop / continue on the first half, and use a 20-minute SWOT analysis as an emotional clearing exercise to get the 3am worries out of your head and onto paper.

Finally, we refocus.

If midyear admin usually fills you with dread, this is the episode that turns it into momentum.

There's a free downloadable workbook to do it alongside me.

Chapter Timestamps

• 00:00 — Why a midyear recap beats January 1st: you have real data now
• 01:33 — Revisiting the goals you set in January (without the self-blame)
• 03:40 — The numbers that matter — and why you should ask why they happened
• 06:10 — Best sellers: value, units, and profit
• 08:06 — The dead weight audit: stuck stock and disappointing lines
• 09:33 — Conversion rate and average order value
• 10:28 — Sales channels: are you investing where it's actually working?
• 11:20 — The social media and relationship audits
• 13:17 — What worked, what didn't, and start / stop / continue
• 16:29 — How the business feels: SWOT and the 20-year interview
• 19:31 — Refocusing for half two: set your number and key dates
• 21:41 — Your homework

Useful Links

• Free midyear recap workbook: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/recap
• Resilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/
• Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Mentioned in this episode:

Faire 50% off - use code 'Resilient50'

Right now, as you read this, an AI chatbot is running a real retail store in San Francisco — managing the product selection, deciding what to stock, and curating a customer experience. It sounds like science fiction. It is already open for business. And it is just one signal of how fast the rules of retail discovery are changing.

(Our sponsor Faire are offering 50% off and free shipping on first orders until July 31st. Simply add the code "Resilient50" at checkout)

Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly. And in this episode of the Resilient Retail Game Plan, I'm exploring one of the biggest shifts I've seen in how customers discover products: agentic AI. This is AI that doesn't just respond to questions — it researches, compares, recommends, and in some cases, actually completes the purchase. For independent retailers and product businesses with an online presence, this changes the rules. The question is no longer just how do you rank on Google — it's how do you become the answer when an AI agent is asked to find the best product for a specific need.

I dig into what agentic AI actually means, how people are already using it to shop, and what that means for the way you present your products online. I share research from the OECD, insights from Andrew Bialecki at Klaviyo, the work of retail expert Jackie Swanson, and a fascinating case study in the form of Andon Market — a real shop in San Francisco that is being managed end-to-end by an AI chatbot called Luna, which was given a three-year lease and told to make a profit.

If you're an independent retailer or product business owner with an e-commerce presence, this episode is essential listening. The shift is already happening. Understanding it now means you can take simple, practical steps to make sure your products are visible in the new discovery landscape — before your competitors even realise the rules have changed.

Chapter Timestamps

00:00 — Are robots taking over shopping? And what agentic AI actually is

02:05 — AI at both ends: retailers using AI and shoppers using AI — the data

04:50 — Luna and Andon Market: the AI chatbot running a real retail store

07:00 — Agent-to-agent commerce: Andrew Bialecki on what retailers need to prepare for

09:30 — What to actually do: getting your data right for AI discovery

11:25 — How customer search behaviour is changing and what it means for your product pages

13:45 — The three things to start with: titles, key info, and natural language

14:48 — The philosophical question: are we handing over too much to AI?

Useful Links

Resilient Retail Club podcast: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/

Catherine on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly

Mentioned in this episode:

Faire 50% off - use code 'Resilient50'