The most recommended books about retail

Who picked these books? Meet our 6 experts.

6 authors created a book list connected to retail, and here are their favorite retail books.
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Book cover of Merchant 101

Flora Delaney Author Of Retail The Second-Oldest Profession: 7 Timeless Principles to WIN in Retail Today

From my list on retail managers and owners.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a retail consultant and former executive, I work with retailers like Whole Foods, Best Buy, Tractor Supply, and others across the globe who want to transform and improve their business. Fundamentally, all retail is the same. But how that gets done can separate multi-billion dollar dynasties from “everything must go” banners. I help retailers prioritize their investments and create loyal shoppers. I would do this even if I wasn’t earning a living from it…I guess I'm a retail junkie. We are all shoppers and when people have a great retail experience, it really is memorable. I want more people to have that experience and more workers to feel proud of the work they do. 

Flora's book list on retail managers and owners

Flora Delaney Why did Flora love this book?

Dan Moe is a savvy former buyer and in this book he explains all of the analysis and decision points that good buyers consider. A great basic primer to help new buyers gain skills or experienced buyers hone their instincts. The examples throughout the book make every concept easy. And it’s a short read at ~140 pages.  

By Daniel J. Moe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Merchant 101 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

1000 WORD EXCERPT Retail is detail. I don


Book cover of Makeover: How Mobile Flipped the Shopping Cart

Miya Knights Author Of Amazon: How the World's Most Relentless Retailer Will Continue to Revolutionize Commerce

From my list on for winning with the modern consumer.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having managed to convert a passion for shopping and curiosity about digital technologies into a 25-year-long career as a journalist and publisher, and analyst and research director latterly, I’m lucky to have been able to bring my knowledge and experience to bear in advising retailers and their technology providers on strategy and best practice. So, it was a natural progression for me and my co-author to research and dissect their biggest disruptor, Amazon, as a subject for our own book. The books I’ve recommended here are some of those I felt really helped me understand the dynamics shaping today’s shopping experiences and their impact on the wider world we live in.

Miya's book list on for winning with the modern consumer

Miya Knights Why did Miya love this book?

If Amazon has revolutionised commerce by making it easy for us to shop online, Makeover is the best book written yet on what this means for the physical shopping experience and traditional brick-and-mortar retail store or mall. It examines the changing dynamics of retailers’ business and consumer relationships while showing how mobile is transforming those relationships and the ways in which retail can and must adapt to thrive. 

By Stephan Schambach,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Makeover as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Retail is in the midst of a head-to-toe makeover. The customer has already evolved - she has left the world of channels and platforms and now seeks to engage with her preferred brands on the go through a device in the palm of her hand. Retail, of course, must change with her. But while the customer simply changed her habits, retail as an industry must engage in a full makeover. Retailers must look at all their relationships and reassess, reconfigure, relaunch. This book examines the web of retail relationships, shows how mobile is transforming those relationships and the ways in…


Book cover of Reengineering Retail: The Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World

Dario Sipos Author Of Digital Retail Marketing: The Essential Guide to Low-Cost, Successful Content Marketing

From my list on help retailers learn and apply digital marketing.

Why am I passionate about this?

When you have online influence, you have the ability to transform minds, behaviors, and outcomes. Dario Sipos is a Digital Marketing Strategist, Branding Expert, Keynote Public Speaker, Business Columnist, and Author of the highly acclaimed books Digital Personal Branding and Digital Retail Marketing. Dario has spent significant time working all over the World in the digital field, helping clients and developing brands. He helps leaders influence positive outcomes in all directions, even under the most difficult, changing conditions. Dario will help you build your influence in all directions of your online presence.

Dario's book list on help retailers learn and apply digital marketing

Dario Sipos Why did Dario love this book?

This book introduced me to the concept of a complete reinvention of retail, from brick and mortar to online shops, including changes in how consumers shop. Retail is considered slow and without the possibility for any drastic improvement. Reengineering Retail explores the revolution in retail by giving a glimpse into future developments. This book is the only one where the author’s vision is a future where every part of the existing retail experience will be transformed. The author bravely discusses the change of core economic revenue models, which helped me to understand a new potential roadmap to the future.

By Doug Stephens,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Reengineering Retail as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Since the release of Doug Stephens' first book, The Retail Revival, change in the global retail sector has accelerated beyond even the boldest forecasts. As predicted, online giants like Amazon and Alibaba.com are growing at a dizzying pace. Hundreds of well-known brick and mortar retailers have closed their doors, and brands and retailers across categories are struggling to understand the shifting needs and expectations of a new consumer.

Picking up where The Retail Revival left off, Reengineering Retail explores the coming revolution in the global retail and consumer goods market, offering sales and marketing executives a roadmap to the future.…


Book cover of Omnichannel Retail: How to Build Winning Stores in a Digital World

Dario Sipos Author Of Digital Retail Marketing: The Essential Guide to Low-Cost, Successful Content Marketing

From my list on help retailers learn and apply digital marketing.

Why am I passionate about this?

When you have online influence, you have the ability to transform minds, behaviors, and outcomes. Dario Sipos is a Digital Marketing Strategist, Branding Expert, Keynote Public Speaker, Business Columnist, and Author of the highly acclaimed books Digital Personal Branding and Digital Retail Marketing. Dario has spent significant time working all over the World in the digital field, helping clients and developing brands. He helps leaders influence positive outcomes in all directions, even under the most difficult, changing conditions. Dario will help you build your influence in all directions of your online presence.

Dario's book list on help retailers learn and apply digital marketing

Dario Sipos Why did Dario love this book?

Mantra “omnichannel” is one of the most common terms that retailers throw around, yet not many understand it truly. The physical retail experience needs an urgent revamp as users shift rapidly to internet shopping. While the majority of purchases are currently still done offline, the majority of customers seek content and advice online before buying goods in-store. I recommend this book to everyone that wants to truly understand omnichannel retail because it describes opportunities for the brick and mortars stores that can be taken from the digital revolution.

By Tim Mason, Miya Knights,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Omnichannel Retail as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

FINALIST: Business Book Awards 2020 - Sales and Marketing Category According to many reports, the physical retail experience is in crisis as more and more consumers shift to internet shopping. Despite this, the majority of global purchases still happen offline, from 90% of sales in the US through to 92% of sales in the UK and 94% in China. The big change is that today's shopper seeks content and advice online before buying in store. Omnichannel Retail celebrates all the advantages of the physical shopping experience, from its sensory selection through to try-before-you buy, and its potential for providing an…


Book cover of Crafting Luxury: Craftsmanship, Manufacture, Technology and the Retail Environment

Christopher J. Berry Author Of The Idea of Luxury: A Conceptual and Historical Investigation

From my list on answering the question, what is ‘luxury’?.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an academic my work is in the area of political theory and my interest in ‘luxury’ came from the awareness that it involved questions of history (why was it seen as a threat to the Roman republic) and socio-political issues around inequality and consumerism. I was awarded a grant to start the investigation and my university (Glasgow) published it along with other awards and it got picked up by the media with the consequence I had my ‘ten minutes of fame’ as I was interviewed by newspapers and on the radio.  My book is the eventual fruit of that study which has, in the words of more than one author, been judged ‘seminal’. 

Christopher's book list on answering the question, what is ‘luxury’?

Christopher J. Berry Why did Christopher love this book?

What is especially good about this book and what I found stimulating was the diversity of both its contents and the differing backgrounds of the authors. It succeeds in bringing together the perspectives of both academics and practitioners which together provide a book that is not only readable, informative, and up-to-date but which also puts forward a point of view. Its very breadth and occasionally provocative arguments will excite anyone with an interest in luxury whether producer, consumer, or critic. References to my book recur in acknowledgment of its benchmark status. 

By Mark Bloomfield, Shaun Borstrock, Silvio Carta , Veronica Manlow

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Crafting Luxury as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The idea of luxury has secured a place in contemporary western culture, and the term is now part of common parlance in both established and emerging economies. This book explores the many issues and debates surrounding the idea of luxury.

This new research addresses contentious issues surrounding perceptions of luxury, its relationship to contemporary branding as created by the marketers, and the impact this has on the consumer and their purchasing habits.

Crafting Luxury considers work within the field of luxury and luxury brands, encompassing established companies with a long heritage: from conglomerates and small independents to 'new' luxury and…


Book cover of FYI: For Your Improvement, A Guide for Development and Coaching

Flora Delaney Author Of Retail The Second-Oldest Profession: 7 Timeless Principles to WIN in Retail Today

From my list on retail managers and owners.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a retail consultant and former executive, I work with retailers like Whole Foods, Best Buy, Tractor Supply, and others across the globe who want to transform and improve their business. Fundamentally, all retail is the same. But how that gets done can separate multi-billion dollar dynasties from “everything must go” banners. I help retailers prioritize their investments and create loyal shoppers. I would do this even if I wasn’t earning a living from it…I guess I'm a retail junkie. We are all shoppers and when people have a great retail experience, it really is memorable. I want more people to have that experience and more workers to feel proud of the work they do. 

Flora's book list on retail managers and owners

Flora Delaney Why did Flora love this book?

As a retailer, you are often critical in a young person’s career. FYI, gives excellent advice for managers looking to give direct feedback and coaching to their team. With outstanding suggestions for how to write clear feedback and suggested development plans, it is the best resource I know when writing performance reviews. 

By Michael M. Lombardo, Robert W. Eichinger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked FYI as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Updated forth edition of the 1996 title (see ISBN 0965571203 for further information)


Book cover of Finna

Xan van Rooyen Author Of By the Blood of Rowans

From my list on trans and non-binary characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a genderqueer non-binary person who always felt alone and invisible, it has been incredible to see the change taking place, particularly in YA, as more and more trans and non-binary authors get to tell their stories. Had I been able to read even one of these books as a teen, I might’ve avoided many years of unhappiness. Also, I’ve always been drawn to fantasy and science fiction, perhaps due to my need and desire to escape mundane reality, but I truly love how these genres let the imagination run riot, particularly when authors imagine kinder and more accepting worlds for LGBT+ people.

Xan's book list on trans and non-binary characters

Xan van Rooyen Why did Xan love this book?

I hate Ikea stores. To me, they are hellish landscapes and this book—set in a fictional store modelled after Ikea—just gets me! This novella is a hilarious romp through the multiverse, balancing swashbuckling adventure with quiet yet razor-sharp insight into the ebb and flow of romantic relationships. This story shows that navigating love can be even more complicated than navigating interdimensional wormholes!

By Nino Cipri,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Finna as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A magical anti-capitalist adventure.” ―Annalee Newitz

Nino Cipri's Finna is a rambunctious, touching story that blends all the horrors the multiverse has to offer with the everyday awfulness of low-wage work. It explores queer relationships and queer feelings, capitalism and accountability, labor and love, all with a bouncing sense of humor and a commitment to the strange.

When an elderly customer at a Swedish big box furniture store ― but not that one ― slips through a portal to another dimension, it’s up to two minimum-wage employees to track her across the multiverse and protect their company’s bottom line. Multi-dimensional…


Book cover of The Roman Retail Revolution: The Socio-Economic World of the Taberna

Ray Laurence Author Of The Roads of Roman Italy: Mobility and Cultural Change

From my list on the archaeology of Roman Italy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in London and became interested in history from multiple visits to the British Museum and the Museum of London, but it was on an undergraduate trip to Pompeii that I realized that I was capable of explaining archaeological remains. That realization led me back to Pompeii and then Rome, but also to tracking down the archaeology of Roman roads. Writing has become important to me, perhaps, because I’m dyslexic and I’ve had some struggles to write in the past. Yet, as a dyslexic professor, working at Macquarie University (Sydney), I think I can offer students and readers explanations of history that reflect my ongoing passion for studying the past.  

Ray's book list on the archaeology of Roman Italy

Ray Laurence Why did Ray love this book?

I adore this book because it explains the development of streets lined with shops that we see in Pompeii and identifies this phenomenon as a key development in the Roman empire. Steve shows that shops develop as part of the façade to what were houses of the elite in the second century BCE, but then proliferate in the towns of Italy. Ultimately, he shows how shops also spread to the towns of the provinces. The implications for a fundamental change in urban life were immense. The book is full of archaeological data and painstaking study, which is concisely presented to the reader in an accessible manner.

By Steven J. R. Ellis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Roman Retail Revolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tabernae were ubiquitous in all Roman cities, lining the busiest streets and dominating their most crowded intersections in numbers far exceeding those of any other form of building. That they played a vital role in the operation of the city, and indeed in the very definition of urbanization in ancient Rome, is a point too often under-appreciated in Roman studies, and one which bears fruitful further exploration.

The Roman Retail Revolution offers a thorough investigation into the social and economic worlds of the Roman shop, focusing on food and drink outlets in particular. Combining critical analysis of both archaeological material…