Shoppers are Buying More Store Brands, But Brands are Muddy and May Not Know It!

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Private label goods, or store brands, have become so sophisticated in packaging and quality that shoppers might not even recognize they’re store-exclusive. As our How America Shop® research into rising prices continues, we find up to 45% of shoppers are now buying more of these store labels. Are national brands taking this brand “muddying” seriously ... Read more

Choosing the Right Wellness Products Is Exhausting

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Retailers and brands have responded enthusiastically to the shoppers’ preference for more wellness in their everyday products, with healthier options in food, personal care, beauty and health categories. But when the aisles deliver overwhelming choices, often with competing wellness promises on every shelf, has it become too much of a good thing? We have four ... Read more

What’s On Trend For Retail In 2022? Here Are 5 Predictions

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By Bryan Pearson on December 3, 2021  ||  Forbes If the past two years have taught the retail industry anything, it’s to meet the unexpected, eye-to-eye, with more of the unexpected.  Unexpected as in surprising channels, unpredictable brand partnerships and even a dose of the expected. Because consumer desires have not changed; they still want shopping to ... Read more

The Human Store: How Hy-Vee, Nordstrom, Victoria’s Secret and Camp Do it

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Among the reinvented retail formats we have seen that meet post-pandemic shopper expectations, few resonate as deeply as the efforts by some retailers and brands to create authentic, human experiences. What does this mean? From our recent Future Shop® podcast, WSL leaders explain what makes a “human store,” with boots-on-the-ground, Retail Safari® examples.  Your Store ... Read more

The MedMall Delivers the Convenient Healthcare Shoppers/Patients Demand

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As stores leave malls and shopper/patients demand more convenient medical care, what could be more convenient than healthcare in the local mall? The Big Business of WELL movement is becoming the anchor in malls across the country, seizing the opportunity presented by empty retail space. WSL runs a temperature check on “MedTail” to help you ... Read more

Gen Z Cares But Expects Retailers to Care More

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Members of Gen Z care about social issues, but they also demand that retailers and brands make sustainable, conscious consumerism easy to achieve. We pulled Gen Z responses from two How America Shops® 2021 reports and compiled the results, to reveal a telling pattern. Do You Really Know What Gen Z Cares About? WSL’s recent How America Shops® study, “The ... Read more

Are You Honest Enough for Shoppers? 5 Steps to Get There

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We asked shoppers to speak their truths about what they buy, how and why, and learned this: They expect the companies they purchase from to take responsibility for social change and to authentically PROVE it. In short, companies must “show” they are more sustainable, fair and community-focused – across all the media their customers use. Here ... Read more

The Store Shelf is a Huge Underused Media Center

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Retailers are over investing in stores of the future and digital technologies while the shelf, where 91% of consumer packaged goods sales happen, remains an emotional wasteland. Shoppers have emotional connections to the categories they buy, triggered by the benefits they expect from using a product, so why do retailers keep delivering transactional experiences? Engage ... Read more

Big Brands Still Matter – Stop Being So Defensive

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Small brands are gaining trust and influence on the store shelf, but can retailers just walk away from big heritage labels? Not likely. Shoppers want access to both small and big names, our research shows, but for different reasons. Here’s how adventure, and even self-expression, factor in, and how some merchants are responding. Bigger Brands ... Read more

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