Dear Future Seatailer,

In this letter, I would like to outline my vision for the Seaside Retail Community (opening 17th April 2025). It is being shaped by the founding members – this is how I see it currently. Here are seven reasons why it might be beneficial for you:

Ideas Factory

Would you like to tap into the collective wisdom of seaside shop owners just like you? Seatailers who have been there, done that, and learned from their mistakes… Or those who are embracing something radical and new… Most shop owners have lots of ideas. But it is often the implementation that makes the difference. Retail is detail.

When you join the Seaside Retail Community, you join an ideas factory that is in a constant state of production. Seatailers win together when they share their strategies and refine their processes. It is a community of retail sounding boards who are invested in the success of the collective. 

Over time, the community will evolve to enable the most efficient exchange of ideas (we don’t want it to be a time suck). Here are some of the initiatives that we plan to introduce:

  • Category-specific product masterminds
  • Commercial/operations surveys
  • Marketing and merchandising idea incubators
  • Digital and technology test lab

It will be easy to share visuals (photo/video). Maybe invite your fellow Seatailers on a virtual store walk? Pick that scrumpled merchandising idea out of the bin and seek some different perspectives. 

Product Collaboration

Sourcing unique products is central to a seaside retailer’s success.

While trade shows and sourcing trips remain the key opportunity to meet suppliers and make purchasing decisions, tapping into the “hive mind” of 100+ other seaside gift retailers (for example) should not be underestimated.

The “product” room in the community will be a place to sense check decisions, get feedback on product ranging, undertake market research, and discuss suppliers (amongst other things).

Maybe most importantly, Seatailers will be able to build relationships that could initiate product purchases, stock management projects, or group promotional buys.

There is no obligation to collaborate, but we hope to encourage generosity between members. A code of conduct will make sure that there is no spam or harassment.

Commercial Excellence

As a former buyer and trading director with B&Q and Kingfisher, I understand what truly matters to a retailer: the bottom line. You want to make a healthy net profit. At the end of a busy summer, your success will depend on whether you made the best commercial decisions for your business. Your omnichannel winter trading can also make a difference. Especially if you have an engaged email marketing list.

The Seaside Retail Community will therefore have a strong focus on commercial excellence. While Seatailers will not want to give away too much sensitive information, there is plenty of scope for driving sales and increasing profits:

  • Seaside Retail Monitor – quarterly commercial survey
  • Seaside Retail Index – quarterly pricing/market research
  • Merchandising and Marketing Incubators – idea generation
  • Buying Strategy – range planning, sourcing, negotiation

This is just the beginning. Seatailers may choose to collaborate on product-buying initiatives, pool marketing spend, or target operational savings. We won’t quite know the impact until we begin the community, but you can be sure that there are efficiencies to be found. Retailers are under unique financial strain currently. Seatailer collaboration may help to relieve the pressure.

Seatailers will also run seminars / webinars for each other and we will invite external experts to give regular presentations on specific topics. Experienced Seatailers may be able to offer relative newcomers peer coaching in certain areas of expertise. One core aim of the community is to grow Seatailer profitability. Everyone will be able to contribute something different.

We will celebrate the wins and commiserate the losses every Monday morning.

Wellness Focus

The seasonal shifts of seaside retail can impact your mental health more than you think. While fewer customers means a forced winter hibernation, the relative lack of customer contact can impact the psyche of someone who exists to serve them. Seaside retail won’t be retailing for a while. How do you spend those lonely hours in the shop? How do you deal with the financial pressures of a dwindling bank account? 

In the summer, there is the opposite problem. The pressure to may hay while the sun shines often means long days of customer service and long nights of admin. Ever-present customers can make you lose your sense of self altogether. While most seaside indie retailers view this summer sacrifice as their calling, mental health often takes a back seat.

The approach of the Seaside Retail Community is to promote a sensible attitude to self-care in all retail seasons. As everyone is in the same situation, there is a lot of empathy to go around. Sharing your struggles with people who understand what you are going through can lighten your mental load. Seatailers will hopefully come to care about each other.

And, while I am no therapist, I will (nearly) always be available for a confidential and encrypted chat via Signal. The community will open with three wellness initiatives:

  • Retail Journaling Group – weekly group run by Paul Drury (journaling since 2019)
  • Daily Wellness Content – curated mental health content tailored to retail
  • Seatailer Rant Room – a place to let off steam (so you don’t do it at home)

As the membership grows, we hope to invite monthly speakers from across the wellness industry. Mental health matters. We will make it a priority for our community.

Experiment with Digital/Tech

Technology and AI are transforming the customer experience – both in-store and on their devices. When you have a holiday customer who is likely to be in your area for a week or two, there is value in cultivating a relationship that may see them browse on day one and gradually buy (a lot) as their holiday goes on. If Seatailers go out of their way to enhance their customer’s holiday experience, they will be rewarded with loyalty.

However, with rapid advances in tech, the short holiday season offers little opportunity for experimentation. It is tough for seaside retailers to decide where to make their technology investment. Much of their winter downtime might be spent trialling various options, but a sample size of one is not useful. That is where the Seaside Retail Community comes in.

Our Digital Lab will be fizzing with customer-centric experimentation. Exploring technology options as a community means that Seatailers will make informed choices. We will be running the following initiatives:

  • Winter Masterminds – POS, inventory, digital, omnichannel, CRM, etc
  • A/B Test Lab – Seatailers share feedback on technology experiments
  • Monthly digital newsletter – technology-led customer engagement
  • AI Consultancy – Paul Drury advises on the latest developments

The high street is evolving and experience-led seaside retail is here. Delighting your customers will mean that they talk about you long after they leave the shop. Having been a writer for a decade after my initial retail career, I am passionate about how AI can transform customer engagement. When a small retailer integrates engaging comms with a compelling omnichannel product offer, customers will keep coming back.

Social Media Influence

I spent ten years accumulating a following of 40,000 on LinkedIn. My first blogs went viral in 2014. It has been a fun journey. After an initial career in retail, I was a ghostwriter and community builder for executives for a decade. I now combine the best of both worlds.

People followed me because of my personal content. In those days, it wasn’t possible to buy followers and engagement pods were non-existent. Social media is also an essential ingredient for any omnichannel seaside retailer. But it is vital that they build an organic audience in the right way.

Too many retailers are chasing vanity metrics by purchasing followers and seeking artificial engagement. While the numbers look impressive, they rarely translate into sales. Alluring shop windows are only effective if they entice the right customers into the store.

Seatailers can take a different approach. As they support each other in building their social media presence, they will organically acquire followers from each other. Someone who follows a Seatailer from Falmouth may engage with content from a Seatailer from Ventnor. And one of their friends may be going to the Isle of Wight on holiday next year.

Building an organic and authentic social media audience is easy when Seatailers collaborate to support each other. Reciprocation is an inevitable consequence of making friends within the community (but will never be obligatory).

My personal experience of social media influence is why I am a cheerleader for Seatailer brand advocacy on socials. The “Seatailer Social” room will power your content. When you increase your visibility, you become part of the holiday planning hype.

Belonging

I hope that you have heard enough to want to join the Seaside Retail Community by now. But, if not, I have left the most important reason until last… Belonging. Becoming a Seatailer means that you will be part of something bigger. You will join a group of shop owners with the same challenges and the same ambitions. A shared purpose will (hopefully) bring you closer.

You know that jumping into the community for five minutes and sharing your opinion on the latest topic might help someone else. Just as you will doubtless learn from those with experience in different areas. That is the power of belonging to a diverse community – everyone has something to contribute.

During those lonely winter days you can join a call with a few Seatailer friends and moan about how quiet it is. As you wander on the beach on a summer’s evening after an exhausting day on the shop floor, you can exchange pictures of the sunset with people who are doing exactly the same thing.

That is what I hope Seatailer belonging will feel like (and why I am excited about this journey).

Hope you might want to join us.

All the best, Paul