It’s tempting, almost comforting, to pin sluggish sales on the big, external forces everyone is talking about: a shaky economy, rising tariffs, higher costs of goods. Those factors are real, but for many retailers, they’ve become convenient scapegoats that hide a more uncomfortable truth: the real issue isn’t Washington or Wall Street.
Everyone loves a good villain. In 2025, the usual suspects are the economy, inflation, and tariffs. Sales are down? Must be the latest trade policy. Traffic’s sluggish? Blame consumer confidence. It’s an easy story to tell investors, employees, and even at times ourselves. The trouble is, for many brands, those macroeconomic factors are just convenient cover for a far more damaging truth: you’ve drifted away from your customers.
Let’s get into it……
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