First of all,I agree with azura84's suggestion in
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...29-Suggestions

And I have something to add.
When you want ppl choose using retainer,you should give them reasons,not leave them no choice but to use it.After we have Auction House,why we would still choose using retainer?
The reason now we use retainer :
1. 100+ storage
2. able to sell or seek for things in wards

Can we have more reasons? Yes we can:
3. Delivery service.(Add ward counters in each camp so ppl can buy things from there, and of course with additional dilivery fee.Delivery can be instant or with short delay,deliver destination can be player or his retainer.So the sellers will be happy,the buyers will be happy and I believe SE will be happy too.)

4. Auto-buy function.(When you set your retainer seeking for something at certain price in bazaar,they will also automaticly seek it in the ward, find the lowest, and auto-buy it at the price you set,and maybe with some delay.)

5. Basic synthesize assist.(The retainer can help the player to do some boring basic non-finished item synthesize,which requires the player have at least 15rank above the recipe rank tho)