12 Resolutions I Hope Retailers Will Make for 2018

1. Create a store experience that makes people glad they visited and didn't just shop from their couch. (ideas + links to what I like here and here)

2. Give people a reason to come to your store, even - especially - when they're not planning to buy. (ideas here)

3. Invest in stores for brand purpose and long-term sales lift, just as you would certain types of advertising. (here's why it's important, qualitatively and quantitatively)

4. Reduce or eliminate reliance on sales per square foot as a key reporting metric. (but it's hard)

5. Re-think sales associate and store manager commissions/bonuses, especially if you're only basing this pay on four-wall sales.

6. Make e-mails and direct mail (which you should send) less about product-pushing, instead investing in brand content, logical partner content, and post-purchase product use tips. (see: Food52 and Crate & Barrel)

7. Use the historical sales data you have on individual customers. (examples of where you're not)

8. If you want to acquire new customers and invite people to interact offline with your brand, create experiences outside your existing or traditional stores. (this one was great)

9. Make sure everyone working in your stores knows at least as much (if not more) about what they're selling than what a customer can learn by standing in your store and Googling the product or reading reviews on your site. (how Lowe's nails this)

10. Think about store merchandising in an e-commerce era and address it with service if not with tech. (why and how here)

11. Invest in people with strategy, money, and stature. (examples and more examples)

12. Stop blaming disappointing results on any of the above if you're not confident your merchandise and pricing is spot-on.