Improve the Store Experience Category by Category WSL Has an Index to Help!

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WSL recently asked thousands of shoppers what they value most in a brick-store shopping trip and what makes a good shopping experience. The answers, we learned, vary by category. So we measured how well various retailers deliver what shoppers want, by category, and reported the results in our Retailer Performance Index. Here’s how we do ... Read more

How to Make Shopping an Experience – Category By Category

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Yes, we live in an omni-shopping world, but the store is still part of it. In November 2021 we reported that two-thirds of shoppers went into the store to shop after picking up their online orders; 78% chose to go to the store when they felt energized and upbeat, and half said it was easier ... Read more

The Role of the Store in Retail 5.0 Research Report

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The self-serve store has not changed since the 1950s. Tweaks have been made but the basic format of walking the aisles, squinting at the shelves to find the right item, and then waiting in line to pay has not changed in 3/4 of a century. The pandemic has drawn retailers’ attention to honing online ordering ... Read more

How 3 Big Retailers Link Sustainability to the New WELLness

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For many shoppers, wellness doesn’t end with their minds and bodies; it extends to the entire planet – the air they breathe, the water they drink and the open spaces and oceans that surround them. Our research shows that more shoppers expect companies to accept more responsibility for sustainability. Here are examples of how Dick’s ... Read more

New WSL Research: Shoppers Cutting Back, Not Doing Without

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Our just-released How America Shops® survey synthesizes what shoppers told us about how they are responding to rising prices, and it’s more positive than you might think. Read on to learn where they are trading down on brands, the stores they are willing to sacrifice and the savvy ways they are holding off across categories ... Read more

Is This Latest Pharmacy Trend an Opportunity, or a Threat?

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As pharmacists became distracted by other tasks that took them out-of-sight from behind the counter, shoppers increasingly turned to more accessible sources for advice. Our How America Shops® research explores the growing acceptance of online pharmacies, which challenge retailers to find their way back to their Rx shoppers. Shoppers Want Wellness Advice, But They Won’t ... Read more

Livestreaming in the U.S.A.? Learnings from China

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From Nordstrom to Petco, a blend of merchants hosted livestream shopping events in 2021, and the U.S. livestream sales were estimated to reach $11 billion by year’s end. Yet just 16% of U.S. shoppers purchased from livestreams in 2021, our How America Shops® research shows. In China, two-thirds of consumers said they bought something via ... Read more

You Want to Follow the Shopper Into 2022? Here Are Four Paths

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As 2021 passed the baton to 2022, we at WSL reflected on all the behaviors being passed along as well, and the directions these unfolding paths to purchase will take in 2022. Then we combed through our How America Shops® research and narrowed these paths down to four practices that we deem as Retail Safari® ... Read more

Gen Z is Waiting for You. Are You Coming?

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If retailers and brands want to keep the lucrative, tech-raised shoppers of Gen Z, they need to come all the way to them. Due to technological imprinting, Gen Z’s innate expectations as shoppers far exceed those of other generations, and it presents new challenges, our How America Shops® research shows. So, here are the opportunities.  ... Read more

The Clock is Ticking on Livestreaming and D2C. Are You In?

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How America Shops® surveys of thousands of shoppers and our most recent study reveal nearly half of young consumers have already purchased directly from a brand. We dug deeper into the implications of direct-to-consumer trips, including livestreaming, and discovered a territory rich in retail opportunities. We share examples, here. The Newest Channel in Retail is ... Read more

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