If you’re running a product-based business, you know how tricky it can be to manage stock, set the right prices, and make sure your cash flow isn’t tied up in unsold inventory. But what if you could take the same strategic merchandising approach that big retailers use—without the huge budgets?

My guest this week is Sarah Johnson. With decades of experience across high street brands and ASOS, Sarah Johnson saw a gap to bring big-business merchandising to smaller retailers, in a flexible, affordable way. Flourish Retail was the result, an award-winning consultancy which helps brands harness their product data to scale sustainably, boost sales, cut costs, and drive profitability.

Struggling with pricing, stock management, or keeping up with retail trends? Sarah Johnson is here to help! In this episode, she reveals insider merchandising strategies that big brands use—so you can boost sales, cut costs, and grow your business with confidence.

We cover:

Retail Merchandising Demystified: What it really means, how it goes beyond visual merchandising, and why it's the key to business growth

The Smart Way to Manage Inventory: How to buy the right amount of stock at the right time—so you don’t tie up cash or end up with unsold products

How to Price Your Products for Profit: The biggest pricing mistakes small businesses make and how to avoid them

Retail Trends for 2025: What’s changing in the industry and how you can stay ahead, including the impact of pricing shifts, sustainability trends, and customer buying behaviour

Why Data is Your Best Friend: Sarah’s #1 tip for small businesses—how to use your sales data to make better decisions, avoid common pitfalls, and increase profitability

Plus: Sarah shares one powerful action you can take today that will make an immediate impact on your business—so don’t miss the end of the episode!

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Vicki Weinberg: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Bring Your Product Idea to Life podcast. This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling products or if you'd like to create your own product to sell.

I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product creation coach and Amazon expert. Every week I share friendly practical advice as well as inspirational stories from small businesses. Let's get started. Hi.

So today on the podcast I'm speaking to Sarah Johnson.

With decades of experience across high street brands and ASOS, Sarah Johnson saw a gap to bring big business merchandising to smaller retailers in a flexible, affordable way.

Flourish Retail was a result and an award winning consultancy which helps brands harness their product data to scale sustainably, boost sales, cut costs and drive profitability. So today we spoke a lot about.

Sarah Johnson: 00:00:47

Retail merchandising, what that is, what it means, how businesses can do their own.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:00:52

Merchandising, the kind of things you need.

Sarah Johnson: 00:00:54

To look, look at all kinds of areas.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:00:56

s predicted retail trends for: 2025

One thing that she suggested that you. Can do right now that will really. Help you out this year.

So please listen on for that and I would love now to introduce you to Sarah. Hi, Sarah. Sarah, thank you so much for being here.

Sarah Johnson: 00:01:28

Thank you, Vicki, for having me today.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:01:30

Well, you're so welcome. So can we start with you? Please give an introduction to yourself, your business and what you do.

Sarah Johnson: 00:01:36

Of course.

So I'm Sarah Johnson, I'm the founder of Flourish Retail and we're a merchandising consultancy that helps product based businesses to use their sales data so they can boost their sales, cut their costs and grow their profitability. So my background is the UK high street.

eventually landed at ASOS in: 2008

And so they didn't have any of the systems and processes in place that they needed to grow and scale. So what they did was they got a lot of merchandising people, people in at that time because they knew they needed to add some structure.

So we kind of all took our big business merchandising fundamentals with us and put that in place. And obviously they've grown to the size they are today.

So when I started Flourish, I wanted to do something similar and use those big business fundamentals for smaller brands. So that's what myself and my team now do. And we help smaller brands with their merchandising to make sure that they can also grow in the right way.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:02:48

Oh, that's amazing. Thank you.

And it must have been just what an experience to be ASOS right at the beginning, because I remember when they were sort of more of an up and coming brand. Do you know what I mean? I remember when they were new and they weren't, you know, nowhere near as big as they are today.

So that must have been really exciting to be part of that.

Sarah Johnson: 00:03:05

ll fit into one room. Back in: 2008

There was literally nothing in place, so we sort of had to pretty much write code to get any data out of the system and there weren't really any processes in place. So that was quite exciting because we got to go in and put all of that in and make sure that it was going to work for the business going forward.

So, yeah, it was really exciting to be able to start at that point.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:03:33

Yeah, it sounds it. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about merchandising.

So what does merchandising mean in really simple terms for someone who's perhaps heard the phrase but isn't quite sure?

Sarah Johnson: 00:03:44

So most people think merchandising is like visual merchandising, which is obviously really important and really key in retail, but ours involves quite large calculators and lots of numbers.

So we basically are the ones trying to get the right product in the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity and at the right price so that then you can grow your sales and also though focus really on your profit. So that's the key thing that merchandising does.

So it's all around sales planning and stock forecasting to make sure that you're buying the right products for your customers.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:04:20

When you were saying about the right products in the right place at the right, I was thinking that sounds to me a little bit like magic, because that's not. Those sort of things are definitely not my strong point. I'm assuming that involves lots of spreadsheets and formulas.

Sarah Johnson: 00:04:32

Yeah, there's quite a few spreadsheets involved, but we always try and make it as simple as possible. I think as merchandisers, we sort of think of it as quite common sense. But I know for some business owners it can be really daunting.

So that's kind of what we try and do now is take that sort of fear away from the numbers. Because the more you use your numbers in your business, the more helpful it becomes, the more you can feel confident in what you're doing.

So that's why I think merchandising is so important for product based businesses.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:04:59

Oh, definitely.

Because I mean, inventory is sounds like a big part of it and obviously not having enough stock or having too much stock both can cause you, you know, really big issues. So I can definitely see why it's so important. So for a small business, why or how would merchandising help us grow our businesses?

Sarah Johnson: 00:05:20

So in terms of merchandising for growing small businesses, it's very much around sales planning, so understanding how much cash you're going to take and sort of looking at it in product areas, so breaking your business down and saying, right, in each product area I'm going to expand, expect to take this amount of money. And it's using your data to kind of inform what you're seeing come through in terms of trends.

So that's things like fashion trends or, you know, color trends or all those sort of things that come through as well as sort of the macroeconomic trends that we have. So we know that obviously cost of living and things like that's been a really big factor.

So all of those trends play into kind of how we build up our sales plans and really understand how much money we're going to take. If we understand how much money we're going to take, then it means we know how much stock we need to buy.

And that's the really key thing I think with merchandising is that it can help you to understand how much stock you've got in your business currently and how much stock you therefore need to buy. And that means then you're not over buying products and ending up with problems later on down the line.

So once you've bought your product, you can then trade it and understand, right, that's slow. How am I going to get out of it but still maintain my profit? Or that's working.

How can I optimize it and make even more money and more profit from it as well?

Vicki Weinberg: 00:06:39

That makes sense. It sounds like there's a lot that goes into this because I'm assuming there's also other factors like time of year.

So if your product's seasonal or obviously quarter four, sales tend to go up. So there's obviously a Lot of points that we need to be looking at in order to work out how much stock we need for the next however many months.

Sarah Johnson: 00:06:59

Yeah, so with merchandising we take into account lots of different metrics. So obviously looking at sales and we're looking at stock, but we're also considering how much discount we might need to spend.

So obviously a lot of people will have a newsletter that they're running or something like that, or a subscriber email that they want people to sign up for and they might offer them 10 off each product. So we need to factor things like that in as well as promotions that you might run.

So you might say, for Black Friday, I want to run X promotion, 20 off or on selected products. So all of those things have to come into it as well. Then you have to consider things like returns.

So obviously when we get stock back into the business, that stock can often be resold again. So we need to make sure that we're considering that.

So all of these different things add up to basically say this is the pot of money that we have at the end. And like you said, we want to consider the seasonal element as well.

So actually, if I'm buying products specifically for Christmas, I don't want to go into January with loads of stock left because otherwise I've got to deal with that stock. And effectively, if your stock is there, it's tying up your cash flow.

So we want to make sure that we minimize the stock as much as possible whilst also meeting customer demand. And that's the tricky bit. That's the fine line that we have to have to cross. So that's where the merchandising bit comes in really helpfully.

So it means you can start to forecast your sales and understand when you're going to peak, when you need the stock in so that then it's sitting there ready for your customers to buy it.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:08:30

That makes sense. And does cash play a part in this as well?

Sarah Johnson: 00:08:34

Definitely, I think, because that is for a product based business, cash flow is sort of king. Because if you haven't got enough cash flow, you can't reinvest in your stock and therefore you're going to miss out on some sales.

So making sure you're buying into the right places is really important, which is why we're talking about that sales plan up front, so that we can say, right, these are the key areas that are going to really drive my business. That's what I want to focus on.

So by buying into the right areas, you've got your cash flow Tied up in the right areas, you haven't got it sitting in stock that isn't going to sell. If it's sitting in stock that isn't selling, you've got to then do something with it.

So you've either got to start to discount it, which means that then you're losing money effectively or you're not able to then go back and buy anything additional as well.

So you might have something that's before performing really well, but without your cash flow there to go and buy it again, you can't optimise those areas either. So the cash flow piece is really important and that's why the stock planning is. Is really key in forecasting what you.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:09:33

Need and when that makes sense. Because I could see that it would be very easy for all your cash to be tied up in stock.

Sarah Johnson: 00:09:40

Yeah. And that's often what we get to the point of.

We'll come into a lot of businesses and they've done a brilliant job because a lot of these businesses have sort of grown from absolutely nothing and it's always so impressive to see where they've got to, but they've kind of got to a point where their ranges might have got quite wide and they've got too many products in their business, which makes it difficult for them to manage. So you have to kind of rationalize that down. And that's the thing.

It's making sure that then you've bought into the right areas so that you're not giving too much offer for the customer and tying up in too much stock. So you need to make sure you've got that focus there. That's really important.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:10:17

Yeah. And that's really interesting what you're saying about having a wide range of products. So can that.

So is that something you wouldn't recommend, or would only recommend if certain? I don't know. Let's say conditions were met, if you see what I mean. Because it does sound based on everything.

You're saying that the more products you have, the more you have to consider in this big formula.

Sarah Johnson: 00:10:37

Yeah. So often what the issues are is that you've got the same products doing the same job.

So it's like if you had a range of dresses and you had three dresses in that range that were all black, you have to understand whether or not the customer is going to be able to. Is going to want to buy into all three of them or if it's just going to split your sales.

So there's kind of a sweet spot in the middle where you can sort of Start to add extra options and you'll still maintain the same rate of sale, as we call it. So how many units you're selling on each option.

Whereas you can get to a point where actually it goes, well, I want this one or I want this one, so I'm going to choose that one. And then that gives you an issue because you've got another product that you've got stock on that isn't going to sell.

So you start to build up stock on two products instead of being able to sort of channel it into one. So when you're doing your ranges, it's really important to look at it and say, right, is this offering a point of difference to the customer?

Can they see a reason to buy every product in my range? Is it doing a really good job? That's something to always consider. I think often a lot of people think that they can sort of.

They're sort of nailing jelly to a wall. It's like, you know, the more we throw at it, then the more will stick. But that isn't often the case.

And it can dilute your range and it can mean that then your customers can get quite overwhelmed.

And, you know, I know that from working at asos, we've sort of gone from having thousands and thousands of products to scaling it back, to growing it again, to scaling it back. So it's a constant battle that the brands have as well.

But I think if you've always got that focus around your product and the value it's delivering for your customer, then you're going in the right direction.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:12:19

That makes sense. And I was, as you were talking, I was thinking of an example where I was looking to buy something.

I was looking to buy, like a thermal top you look like for the winter. And I won't say where I was, where I was looking, but it was a big retailer.

But I actually got really confused because there were so many different options and each option had different colors. And it, for me, as a customer, I was just like, this is a bit much because I can't understand the difference between this one and this one.

Is it just the colors different or is there a difference in how it. You know what I mean? And I think it might be. It might not just have been about the fact there were so many options.

It also might have been about the way, you know, they were presented, because I honestly couldn't figure it out. And I think as a customer, that's quite frustrating.

And I know that I ended up going somewhere else because I was like, I just Cannot make sense of the options I've been given.

Sarah Johnson: 00:13:09

I think that's the thing. You kind of get overwhelmed. I think there's so much sort of sensory overload anyway, that often we just want.

You just want it to be the simplest route to get to the basket for your customer. So you don't want to be. Have so much choice that you're just like, oh, you almost get product paralysis, I think, don't you? So.

And like you said, you've gone somewhere else because actually it wasn't clear enough or you. And therefore you haven't bought into anything. So it's a really important one for people to remember.

And, you know, that's where I think small businesses are really good because they always do have that focus on their customer and on their product.

And I think that's where they have real strength because they are always focusing on that element to make sure that they're doing the right thing for their products and their brand.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:13:52

I think so.

And a lot of the small businesses I speak with when they're adding products to their range, often it is because of feedback from customers that they like something slightly different or a different option. And I think that's really good because they already know there's demand for it before introducing it.

Sarah Johnson: 00:14:09

That, yeah, that's a really important one.

So it might be that you've had a dress in the summer that worked really well, and you know, it was great because your customer feedback and your data showing you that as well. So you can adapt that and move it on for winter by adding sleeves, for example, or something like that, with colors and things as well.

Again, it's about, you know, what is on trend in terms of color, but also what sells well for you. It's not always about, we must follow that particular trend.

If your customers just don't want that particular color, then there's no point in you doing it just to. Just to satisfy a trend because you'll just end up with stock that won't sell.

But I do think that they often extend their ranges in the right way because they have had that feedback. But it's just to be mindful of not going too far the other way and ending up with issues.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:14:57

Yeah, that makes sense because I think if you created everything your customers wanted, that would also lead to problems. And it's interesting you mentioned trends, because I do want to ask you about those in a moment.

But just coming back to merchandising just for a minute, something else I'm curious about is if you're a Startup brand and you're just, you know, you're just launching now and you want to get ahead of things. You're thinking about your merchandising. How can you do this when you haven't got any sales data to go on?

Sarah Johnson: 00:15:26

So you can start to build up your range and start to think about how much you might sell and looking at it quite logically.

So I've done this recently for a client who they had a business previously and they sold that business and now they've come, they're going back to market with a new product. So we didn't really have any clue how it was going to sell, but we've still managed to build up a bit of a sales plan.

So we started to look at it quite logically and just sort of say, well, actually, how many could we sell? And it might be that you. You sort of go, does it feel right? What am I expecting? And your gut feel does come into that as well.

So there will be elements of that that should inform your decision making and then you start to gather some data. So you will always, once you're starting out, you will take a punt on something and it won't and it won't work.

But even in with seasoned merchandisers, we'll always go, this is going to be amazing.

We're going to sell loads of that, it's going to be great and it'll be a flop and something that we weren't expecting to be so good will be really excellent. So there's always something that's going to catch you off guard.

But I think if you're starting out, just start planning it out and it's saying, well, how many do I need to buy?

Because often that will be a key factor, because a lot of suppliers, if you're buying from a supplier, will have a minimum order quantity and that will often sort of dictate how much you need to purchase.

So think about that part of it and then break it down and sort of say, well, if how many would I need to sell per week in order to sell through that stock or to get to that point and see if it feels realistic. So go with your gut on some of it.

And then as soon as you start to get a read on things, look at your data and then you can start to play into that and say, right, that's working, I need to get some more, or I need to go in that direction in terms of my product. That one isn't working now, I need to just manage my way out of that stock. So that then it's not causing me an issue.

So that would probably be my advice on that one.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:17:21

That's really helpful. Thank you. I know something else you help with, Sarah, is pricing. So what advice do you have when it comes to pricing products?

Sarah Johnson: 00:17:32

So my main reason for starting Flourish was I started up making baby mobiles and name bunting after I left asos. Thought I'd do something a bit different for a while.

And so I was selling on platforms like Etsy and I could see from there that actually there were loads of businesses on there that weren't pricing their products correctly. And that's kind of why I wanted to start Flourish, because I knew that the pricing piece was so important.

And it's one of those five rights of merchandising that we talk about it being the right price. I think the main things are to obviously consider all of your costs. So everything it costs you to make that particular, particular product.

So if you're making it yourself or you're buying it from the supplier, you need to consider everything that in and that includes all of the shipping, duty, taxes to get that product to you. So what we call the landed cost. So you've got all of those included.

I think if you're making products, the most important thing is to factor in your time. You're not doing it for free. If you're a plumber, you wouldn't go and fix a basin for nothing.

So if you're making that product, you need to factor, factor in your hourly rate and understand how long it's taking you to make it. And also then factor in all the fees and things like that around selling.

So if you're selling on Amazon or you're selling on Etsy and places like that, there are all fees included. So you need to make sure that that's included in your pricing so that you're not getting hammered on your profit.

And then it is about factoring in a profit margin. So a lot of people, I think, forget that part that you should be making money, it's a business.

If you're not making money on it, really it's just a hobby. So you need to make sure that you're making a profit from what you're doing.

So the other thing to then do is sort of you've laid all of that out and you understand then what your selling price needs to be and then have a look around your competition. So have a look in the market and understand if I'm going to price my product here, how does that look against my competition?

Is There a reason why I should be priced higher? Because actually I've got a unique selling point that they just don't have.

I'm making it from better materials, it's better quality, it's got a different function or addition that they just don't have, which is why then you can charge more for it. So that becomes then your sanity check as to whether or not you've done it. But making sure you capture all of your costs is really important.

And consider everything in there that makes sense.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:19:53

Thank you. What would you do? I'm just, I'm just really curious on, on this. I've known this to happen with my clients who sell on Amazon from time to time.

Someone's looked at the cost of the cost of their product, they've looked at the fees and then they've gone. Actually, if I sell at the price I want to, I'm going to be so expensive that it's actually probably going to be prohibitive.

What would you rec, you know, advise a business to do when that happens? Because I'm sure that does happen. People calculate all the costs and I actually have to sell this for quite a lot.

What are some things people can do to address that?

Sarah Johnson: 00:20:26

So look back at your cost base.

It might be that when you're starting out, that cost base is higher because you're buying smaller quantities or volumes of things and therefore it makes it more expensive to start with. So actually look at it.

If you're then saying it's too high versus the competition, look at what you feel it should be versus that and then see where your profit is from it and have a look at further down the line.

So actually, if you can scale that product up and you can buy more volume of it or buy more of the componentry and volume, what would that do to your cost price later?

So that's an exercise I've just done with my client to say, okay, if we're starting out, this is what we think we're going to sell, this is how much we need to buy now. But as we scale further, what can those prices look like and is it sustainable in the long term? And that's a really good exercise to do.

There may be some points where you go, actually this product just isn't feasible. I just can't do it. And if you've got it within a range, then it is okay to kind of walk away from that product.

But also I think there's always a fixation on intake margin, especially around sort of clothing businesses and there has been for years that you must hit a certain intake margin.

So the amount of money that you're going to make off the garment, but it doesn't take into account whether that product's priced right or whether you're going to need to spend money on it in terms of discounting it later. Because if you don't set the price right in the first place, your customer is not going to buy it and you'll end up discounting it.

So actually the lovely intake margin that you've got is irrelevant because it's your sort of exit profit that you make at the end of it that's the important piece. So again, that's where the merchandising comes in to sort of see the effects of all of those things on each other.

So understanding, okay, if I have to spend this much discount on it, that's what's going to happen to my profit. So those, those two things together are really important. So, yeah, don't definitely don't get fixated on an intake margin.

Review your costs and see if there's anything else in their terms of scale so that you can then review it. And then if it's just not viable, then it might be something that you have to walk away from.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:22:30

That's really helpful, thank you. Because that's something I do see quite often. So thank you for that.

And yeah, I think that's really good to know that there isn't a fixed margin you should be aiming for as well. Because I also think most people get that in their head that the margin has to be a certain percentage.

Sarah Johnson: 00:22:48

Yeah, I think if you want to do wholesale and things like that, you need a decent margin. So you probably do need around a 65 to 70% intake margin to make sure that that's going to be viable for you to do. But I've often seen it in.

So it's definitely in bigger businesses where it's like, we must have a 70 intake margin, we can't deviate from it.

But actually some of my buyers might have come to me and said, I've got this amazing trend product, it's going to add some real interest to the range. But the margins, 56%.

And actually I know that if I look at my blended margin, so actually what I'm making across my whole range, I might have some products that actually making a 75% margin because I'm buying so much volume of it, so it can sort of negate that lower margin. So I think if you're too fixated on intake margin, you might miss out on Some product opportunities as well. So I think that's important to remember.

But that's again, it goes back to that piece of everything, goes back to looking at it holistically. If you look at it holistically, you can understand what's going to be workable then for your business as a whole.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:23:50

That's really helpful. Thank you.

And now something I'm really excited to talk about, Sarah, because we're recording this at the beginning, I suppose it's still the beginning of February20. I would love to know what are some of your retail predictions for this year?

Sarah Johnson: 00:24:04

Okay, so I think number one is actually price. So there's lots of retailers at the moment talking about increasing their pricing.

And so I think for smaller brands if, if you should be reviewing it regularly anyway. But I think that means it's a good way to put those prices up if you need to make it sustainable for yourself.

So people like Next have already said they're going to put up by 1% and a lot of that is around cost of raw materials because we know those have gone up over the last couple of years.

But also the national insurance contribution increase that's coming down the track is going to impact those bigger retailers, especially because they've got such massive staff bases.

So if you're a small product based business, sort of almost, if you review your pricing, have a look at it and if you need to put it up, then I would definitely do that now because it's going to be expected and it will be easier to absorb. And then the second one I think is it goes back to that whole rise of like circularity and sustainability.

So I think that is becoming more and more important to people.

So I think if you've got a USP in your product that supports that side of things, it's really important to shout about because consumers do seem to be caring hopefully a little bit more about what they're buying into, buying more consciously and buying into products that they know are better from an environmental perspective and everything else. And again that kind of links back to price that if you're charging that price for your product because ultimately that's what your product's worth.

And because you put, you know, you've got good ethics and things like that behind it, then it's something that you should really play into and sell it from a personal perspective. Definitely people are buying more into bit smaller businesses now I think because they've got a personal brand and story behind them.

So don't be afraid to kind of shout about that and talk about why your brand is so important and what it offers to the consumer as well.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:26:06

That's really good advice. Thank you so much.

And that leads me on very nicely to my final question, Sarah, which I ask everybody, is what would your number one piece of advice be for product businesses at the moment?

Sarah Johnson: 00:26:19

So my number one piece of advice is a very boring merchandising piece of advice of please use your data, so your data is there. You've got tons of it, so don't be scared of it.

Just start off small, start looking at your sales and look at it against your stock so that you can understand how your brand's performing. If you do that, you've got instantly more insight into what's working and what isn't.

And that means that you'll make much better decisions moving forward.

So if you can look at that and start small and then start to build it up and as you get more confident with it, then that will make a massive difference to your business going forward this year.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:27:00

That's brilliant advice. Thank you so much, Sarah, and thank you for everything you've shared.

I think we packed in such a lot into this episode and yeah, that's really useful. Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening right to the end of this episode. Do remember that you can get the full back catalog and lots of free resources on my website, vickiweinberg.com.

Please do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful. Thank you again and see you next week.