The Ocally blog
Grow every store, one week at a time.
Plain guides, templates and research for people who run retail chains and franchise brands. A new post every week, from the team building Kai.
FeaturedField notes · Running a chain
Every store deserves a flagship’s attention. Here’s how we work.
Why I started Ocally, what we believe about local stores, and the principles we hold ourselves to, written down so you can hold us to them too.
The short answer
Ocally exists so every store gets the attention a flagship gets. Kai, our AI growth agent, does the work each store needs and nobody has time for, and two people from Ocally work beside your team. We hold ourselves to a few rules, starting with these: each store gets its own plan, nothing goes out without your yes, and your data stays yours.
Read it 6 min read
Every post
Sell more
Electronic shelf labels, explained for owners: cost, labor and the law
Walmart is putting them in every US store, New Jersey is pausing new ones, and a vendor wants a meeting. Here is what the labels change in a store, and how to price them with your own numbers.
9 min read
Get found
Ask Maps now picks stores for shoppers. Test whether it picks yours
Google Maps now answers whole questions with its own picks. Here’s what changed this year, what Google has and hasn’t said about how it chooses, and a 15-minute test to run on each store.
10 min read
Stay in sync
Holiday hours sign templates that match every listing, plus a checklist
Copy a door sign for Thanksgiving week or December, then put the same dates and times on every listing. Built for whoever sets holiday hours, for one store or twenty.
9 min read
Engage customers
How to remove a Google review, and what Google won’t remove
You can’t delete a bad Google review. You can report one that breaks Google’s rules, and appeal once. Here is what qualifies, the exact steps, the FTC rules to stay inside, and a weekly log for 20 stores.
10 min read
Be local
Small Business Saturday is November 28. A three-week plan for your stores
Whether your stores qualify, what to do each week from November 9, offers that keep your margin, a neighbor to team up with, and 15 ideas for a neighborhood store. Plus a post, a sign and an invite to copy.
9 min read
Running a chain
Every store deserves a flagship’s attention. Here’s how we work.
Why I started Ocally, what we believe about local stores, and the principles we hold ourselves to, written down so you can hold us to them too.
6 min read