When you’re driving 75 miles per hour down the freeway, you only have time to safely glance in the rearview mirror to be aware of your surroundings.
If you take your eyes off the road ahead for very long, the consequences can be significant.
Retail works much the same way. As the owner of two retail stores, I know firsthand the tension between staying focused on what’s ahead and occasionally glancing back to see where I’ve been.
For years, I was so driven by the next display, the next event and the next season, that I rarely paused to ask what had worked, what hadn’t and why. Eventually I learned that there is a “sweet spot” — a balance between looking back and moving forward — that creates clarity, confidence and growth.
The end of a year and the start of a new one is the ideal time to find that balance. It’s a chance to pull over, put the car in park and take an intentional look at the road behind you.
Reflection doesn’t have to be complicated. Most point-of-sale systems today come equipped with robust reporting features. In Shopify, for instance, I can ask the built-in AI to surface my top vendors, bestselling products and year-over-year comparisons in minutes.
One of my go-to reports is the list of top 25 revenue-producing vendors and products. Those names at the top are always affirming, but the real gold often lies at the bottom. Which products quietly took up shelf space without pulling their weight? Which vendors required more effort than the partnership delivered in return? Retail space is too valuable — both physically and financially — to let underperformers linger. As one of my favorite sayings goes: “Knowledge is power.”
You can’t change the past, but you can use it to shape the future. Once you have the data, it’s time to put the car back in drive and chart your next course. The easy temptation is to double down on what already worked, repeat last year’s top promotions, reorder the bestsellers and run the same events.
There’s nothing wrong with consistency — in fact, your customers often appreciate it. But growth doesn’t come from simply hitting copy and paste. It comes from layering in something new. For example, one year I realized a long-running event in my store, while still drawing a crowd, had grown stale. It was comfortable — like hitting the Staples “Easy Button”— but I could feel the energy fading. Instead of repeating it yet again, I challenged myself to design something fresh. The result? A completely new event that required more planning and risk but ultimately created excitement, buzz and a noticeable sales lift.
Not every new idea works, but the willingness to try is what keeps a business vibrant. Forward planning is also about buying smarter. Walking into market season with reports in hand is like carrying a GPS. I’ve been guilty of buying with my heart, falling in love with a product that looked great in a booth but ended up gathering dust on my shelves.
Now, armed with clear data, I know where to focus and where to hold back. Sometimes the best decision is what not to buy. That discipline saves money, saves space and sharpens my product mix for the future. Also, don’t overlook tools beyond analytics. Customer feedback — whether captured through surveys, social media or simple conversations at the register — offers a lens on what shoppers are craving. Technology can guide you, but your customers are still the ones driving your success.
Finding the sweet spot between looking back and moving forward also means building reflection into your rhythm, not just once a year. In my stores, we do quarterly check-ins where we review sales patterns, talk through what’s working in merchandising and brainstorm new opportunities.
Personally, I keep a digital folder where I jot down event outcomes, vendor wins and “never again” lessons. That combination of reflection and vision fuels my planning and keeps me from repeating avoidable mistakes. Of course, looking back has its limits. You can’t undo a miscalculated order, a poorly attended event, or a marketing campaign that missed the mark. What you can do is decide how to respond, adjust and grow. That’s where the forward-facing vision matters most.
As retailers, we are in the business of momentum. Each season arrives whether we’re ready for it or not. Success comes from taking the best of what we’ve learned, leaving behind what didn’t serve us and leaning into the future with creativity and confidence.
So as this year unfolds, I encourage you to pause long enough to study the road behind you — not just with a quick glance in the review mirror but with the intentionality of someone who wants to learn from it. Then, put the car back in drive, step on the gas and move forward with clarity. Because while hindsight can teach us valuable lessons, growth depends on vision and forward momentum. As C.S. Lewis so wisely said: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
Beth Rich is the owner of Mix it Up Gift and Mix it Up Home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
