The golden rules of crisis comms
I’m starting this with the C-word – Christmas. As festive stock starts appearing on the shelves, it’s clear we’re heading into the busiest time of year for retailers. With Black Friday and the season of giving on the horizon, the comms stakes are higher and even the smallest blunder can quickly spiral. A website crash, a supply issue, even a single incident in-store can snowball into a full-blown reputational crisis.
I started out working in retail, and while I don’t spend my days on the shop floor anymore, I still find myself using many of the lessons I learned there in crisis comms today. Fast-paced decisions, clear communication, and the ability to keep calm when things are unravelling – they’re just as relevant behind a comms plan as they are behind a till.
Here are my golden rules of retail crisis comms.
1. Reputation is everything and silence isn’t golden
In retail, reputation and trust aren’t just nice-to-haves – they’re survival. Lose trust and you don’t just lose one sale, you lose repeat custom, word of mouth and the loyalty that makes retail tick.
That’s why 71% of global consumers say trust is the deciding factor in the brands they choose, and why UK shoppers on average belong to three loyalty schemes. Loyalty is powerful, but fragile – once it’s gone, it’s hard to win back.
In brand PR, it’s tempting to celebrate the wins and go quiet when things go wrong. But silence is rarely golden. Acknowledging the problem, explaining what you’re doing about it and keeping customers in the loop is always better than leaving a void for speculation.
2. Keep it human
Retail taught me that people buy from people – and crisis comms is no different. When Marks & Spencer was hit by a cyberattack in late May 2025, it wasn’t the corporate statement that caught attention, it was the CEO’s handwritten message. Calm, personal, and signed with his first name, it showed empathy and accountability in a way a faceless press release never could.
In the middle of a crisis, customers want to feel like someone is speaking directly to them. It could be a CEO, a store manager or a named spokesperson – but it needs to sound real. The human touch cuts through the noise and helps to rebuild confidence at a time when customers are questioning whether to stick with you.
Take the recent “kiss cam” CEO scandal. It wasn’t a corporate failure at first, but a personal moment that quickly became a reputational issue once it went viral. The lack of a clear, authentic response in those early hours meant others filled the silence – with speculation, misinformation and even fake statements. The lesson? In a crisis, a timely, human response helps you retain control of the narrative before it runs away from you.
3. Speed counts – but accuracy matters more
Retail is all about speed. Stock runs out, trends change overnight, and if you hesitate, you’re left behind. Crisis comms carries the same urgency. The quicker you can reassure people, the less chance misinformation has to take hold.
Social media is both the best and riskiest tool here. It lets you speak to thousands instantly, but if you post too quickly without thinking it through, you risk adding confusion to an already tense situation.
The golden rule: move fast, but make sure the facts are right and the tone is measured.
4. Always plan ahead
You can’t predict every problem, but you can prepare for how you’ll handle them.
A good plan maps out every scenario – from supply issues to cyber breaches – and sets out who does what. That includes:
- Key contacts – your chain of sign-offs, from legal to HR
- Impact scenarios – what could realistically happen, inside and outside the business
- Action plans – how to respond proactively vs reactively
- Approval chains – so you don’t waste time debating when minutes matter
- Pre-approved statements – templates ready to adapt in a hurry
I often joke about my middle name being “worst case scenario” – but honestly, that mindset is part of the job… am I a doomsayer? But you really do need to think ahead. A plan is like a retail calendar: not glamorous, but essential to staying on track when the pressure’s on.
The takeaway
Crisis comms in retail isn’t just about putting out fires. It’s about protecting the reputation and customer base you’ve worked hard to build, keeping your response human and credible, and being prepared for the unexpected.
Customers won’t just remember the issue that caused a crisis – they’ll remember how the brand made them feel throughout it. Get it right, and you keep their loyalty. Get it wrong, and they’ll take their shopping bags elsewhere.
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