Five Minute Friday: The Strategic Shifts Top Retailers Are Making for 2026

Hey guys, welcome back to 5 Minute Friday. And I love these episodes, right? These short five Minute Friday episodes that hopefully give you just some quick tips and things to think about in the next week or in the next year as you really start to plan and maximize what's happening in your business. And today I want to talk about what I think the top 10% of retailers are doing differently right now and what I see them doing differently into 2026. I think that by 2026, you guys, the gap between average retailers and top performers. Performers is going to be wider than ever and it's not going to have anything to do with your effort. I have to tell you this, I no matter where you're at on the spectrum, I see retailers working so freaking hard every single day that are new, that are growing, that are scaling, that are established, that are multi million dollar stores. Hard work is abundant in this industry, but there definitely are some things that those who are growing and scaling versus those that are slow and struggling are doing different. And that's what I really want to highlight right now so that you can make the best decisions for yourself possible in 2026. So I feel like really, if I look across the top 10%, the top 10% really aren't guessing anymore. They're operating with much more clarity and leverage and intention and they're surrounding themselves with the right people to get the right things done. So I want to dive into what I think these four things are that retailers are doing that are leading them to be successful right now and will into 2026. So, so difference number one, and if you've been in retail bootcamp, man, this is a broken record because I talk about this all the time. Difference number one is the top 10% operate like CEOs, not entrepreneurs. Right? They choose vision and strategy and systems over the chaos of what needs to be done today. It is a huge mindset shift. So what this looks like is there is time blocked for thinking, not just doing the task timed blocked out to be strategic and think about what would the best version of myself as a CEO of this business choose to do in this situation. And you may be using AI to help ask that question right and get you better answers and food for thought. They're also reviewing numbers on a weekly or even on a daily basis. They are not letting the emotion of how do I think this week in business will went? Let them, you know, dictate what actions they're going to take forward. Because that emotional train of thought that, oh, I think this week was terrible. You know, because X, Y and Z happened, when in reality, if I based that decision on my numbers, it would be a totally different outcome. In retail boot camp, we have this thing called the weekly tracking sheet that helps them really root how they're judging the performance of their business. Not at all in emotion, but on data on a regular basis. So they make data or they make decisions based on data. Not urgency or fear or just anxiety because they aren't sure what's actually driving their business. So what can you do to make sure you're really leveraging yourself as a CEO versus an entrepreneur this year? Well, I would say start by how you're scheduling yourself as a CEO. So when do you have a weekly CEO meeting with yourself? And this might be you working on the four part to do list. It might be you filling in that weekly tracking sheet or your retail scorecard, which is in your training library. It's really getting deep into what are the numbers, the priorities, the systems, the team, and really the risks. Like, what are those things that I need to focus on to drive the business forward this week? All right, difference number two in the top 10% of retailers is they start to build systems out before they need them. Before they need them. They're proactive because they have a vision of what they think is coming down the road versus being reactive. Always just trying to build the plane as they fly it and then going, oh, you know, once I'm there, then I'll figure this thing out and build a system for it. It. No, they're much more streamlined than that. So this may not be perfect. Right. We're all entrepreneurs. Life's a little bit messy. This is definitely not been perfect for me, but I know this has been true in my business. And so that's looking like, as I'm building out a system for something, I'm documenting it. Like, I'm just simply starting the bones of an SOP so that when this becomes unmanageable for me to. To do on a daily basis, I can easily hand it off to somebody else. Or if we're starting a new app or, you know, like changing a flow or a process or how we do something, we're doing a loom video or we at least have a folder where all this information's going. Like just these little things of documentation and creating standards and processes and then cascading that to our entire team is really, really important so that everybody is playing from the same sheet of music. This also looks like automations. So asking yourself across your business, what are the things I'm doing manually right now that could be automated. So this might be using ManyChat. This might be really optimizing your flows. With Klaviyo. This might be using Ask Ashley AI, Shopify AI or Chat GPT to write descriptions, captions, analyze your sales numbers, look at your inventory, buying strategy, all of those things. And then I think they also, in terms of documenting systems and processes, successful retailers have clear ownership over specific roles in the business. So it's not just like a flat company structure where everybody answers to you, the CEO, right? You're like you're running all the different places, wearing all the hats and telling all the people what to do. No, everyone knows their role. It is clear, it's documented, they are accountable to it, there is an outcome and their pay is based on it. So everyone has to know. It's just like playing a basketball game, right? I have to know what's the quarter I'm in, what basket am I shooting at, what is the score and what's the next place that I'm going to run. Our team has to be equipped. So that is building the systems even before we need it. Even if it's you as a solopreneur, even if it's you with one or two part time employees. Build those things out now because scaling becomes way easier down the road. All right, difference number three is the scaling and top 10%. Retailers right now are using AI as a strategic partner, right? They are leveraging AI. They're not using AI in a lazy way. AI in a lazy way is. Gosh, I just think it's like dabbling. Lazy AI is dabbling in just chat GPT and thinking that's good enough. Like, oh, it created a couple documents for me. No, I. In the last year, our mastermind did a complete study on AI and every member of our mastermind came to the table with how they're leveraging it and they taught one another all the different tools they're using, how they're using them, everything from manufacturing patterns or creating, you know, prints that they can use in manufacturing and patterns in the apparel designs that they're going to be launching in 2020. I mean this is super strategic stuff to how they're leveraging their team to how they're creating content to how they're running their operations plans to how they're editing video, how they're taking one piece of content and taking in, you know, 10 different ways to even exactly how I created Ask Ashley the AI bot and I taught them how they could do that to train their internal team on operations. So using AI as a strategic partner also could mean for you in the new year, using IT to analyze your sales trends and forecasts. It could be giving you suggested offers sales promotions to test out when you input all the data you had from the last year. So if you're using the Boutique Boss Planner, you've documented how every single month went, what your sales were, what your promotions were, what work, what didn't. Drop all that in AI and have it create you a done for you plan in a couple of seconds for 2026, right? No more gut feelings, no more guessing. Like, leverage the data you have and let it help you make smarter decisions. So I would double down on that, double down on where's the opportunity of my data? Where can I bring in more profit? Where can I save more time? Use AI as a strategic partner. All right, and then finally, number four, this is a huge difference, right? The top 10%, they're prioritizing customer retention. Overreach, right? The days of just scattering your marketing message all over and hoping enough people see it is those days are done. Those days are done, right? Depth in your marketplace beats just this, like broad scale any day of the week. So what did we look at, you know, retailers doing in this regard last year? Well, Boutique of Black was a huge, huge opportunity for retailers to. To leverage this in the last year. Retailers who took meta advertising, their SEO and their Google advertising and then really optimizing wherever they have a conversion point, right? So E commerce or in store conversion, retailers who took those things seriously and leveraged, really retaining those customers and doubling down to get them back again and again and again. Those retailers won. We saw ROAS numbers through the roof in the last year when retailers took this into their own hands and didn't just, you know, kind of blindly trust like, oh, someone else can do this for me. No. The more they understood about their own customer, the more they doubled down on the content that's actually working and the ads are proving it's working in their own community. And then they had a plan to grow and scale that amount of content that made people feel like they were a part of the community, like they had a relationship with the brand, like they were seen and heard and understood, not just another number, right? Or another person to buy this product, like they actually belonged with this brand. Those retailers had massive success this year. So remember in the new year, just blindly posting on social media or going organic alone isn't going to bring you the same success that you'll have when you double down and understand the data behind your marketing. So what is the traffic? I need my marketing. What's the conversion that I need in my marketing? And then what are the ads and the conversions teaching me about the content I'm creating so that I can double down and create even better content in the new year and build a true community and personal relationships around my brand? Right. So the old saying is there's only three ways to grow a business, right? Number one is to attract new customers. Number two is to get customers to buy more. And number three is to get customers to buy more often. And ads can help us do all three of those things. But there is the most revenue to be had in steps two and step three. And that's what that content strategy, building a community, building relationships, and leveraging ad to teach us how to do it. That's where that strategy really comes in. So when I look back, the top 10% of retailers in 2025 and the top 10% in 2026, they're not the lucky ones. They're not the ones who just happen to get started at the right time. They're not the ones who, oh, you know, I was here when live selling was this or it was that. No, they're the ones who have the clearest vision. They are leveraging data, and they're being incredibly strategic. And I know that that is possible for you, too, no matter where you are at. This does not have to be perfect. Your road to growth is not perfection. It is very messy. It is a messy middle. I could tell you about it all day long. So don't chase perfection, but I would say chase being intentional. Right? And inside of what we're doing at the Boutique Hub, inside of our membership, inside of what we're doing, retail boot camp and teaching every single one of the six layers of business all the way to what we're doing in Retail bootcamp and helping you leverage ads and data because you've streamlined all these other areas of your business. Those are the things that I know are going to help you reach that top percent, because the top percent are in those programs with you. So I invite you, come and join us inside of 2026. I want to get you to that top 10% mark. So let me know what you thought of this episode if it was helpful. If you want more episodes like this, you guys, let's chat. But thank you for listening to the podcast and thank you for being here today, you guys. All right, let's do this. Let's make this your year. Let's go. That's it for five minute Friday, you guys. I hope you found some quick, actionable steps you can put into play in your business right away. As always, if you're not yet a member of the Boutique Hub, I would love to personally invite you to join us. It's where all of daily conversations happen. The up to date what is working now in the industry conversations, the latest trainings, trend reports, discounts, resources, and of course access to thousands of wholesale brands that you also know and love. So please take a minute, follow the link in the show notes and we would love to invite you to join us inside of the Boutique Hub.