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

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

Powerful Partnerships: What Makes Retail Alliances Work

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More big retailers are exploring alliances, with the anticipation that doubling up will double the cachet, more than double the size of the shopper basket – and create a second reason to come into the store. WSL sent its Retail Safari® scouts out to see what works and does not toward this bigger-basket goal, and ... Read more

Shopper Expectations Have Accelerated. Ready to Meet Them?

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People have emerged from their COVID cocoons, and this presents retailers with an unparalleled opportunity to reacquaint themselves. Here is how retailers can alter their foundations to support the accelerated expectations of more tech-enabled shoppers, who think online first and trip to the store second. Have You Met the 2021 Shopper? She’s the Same, But ... Read more

Recession, Poof! WSL Research Shows 70% are Fiscally Upbeat

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WSL’s How America Shops® research shows more than 70% of shoppers are secure or optimistic about their finances. And as the weather warms, vaccinated shoppers are more eager to return to brick stores. Here’s what retailers can do to meet the shopper’s pent-up passion to go out and spend. Talk About a Shot in the ... Read more

Beauty Spending Will Look Different in 2021

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By Allison Collins on February 26, 2021  ||  WWD “They’re calling it the she-session. That’s going to affect beauty sales, that’s going to affect the quest for value."  New year, new beauty shopping habits? For several months, industry insiders have whispered predictions of a “trade down to mass,” insinuating that consumers who have been hurt by the economic fallout from ... Read more

What Will Stick for Retailers Post Pandemic and What Won’t

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During the months of the pandemic we have seen an acceleration of shopping behaviors that were already underway, while other more traditional practices are slipping away. One finding is clear: Retailers have proven how effectively they can adapt, and there is no going back. Keep Improving, Retail. The Bar is Rising. Just as no good ... Read more

20 New Shopper Trends Retailers Should Know for 2021

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As we look forward to a 2021 full of hope, we decided to look back on what shoppers have taught us this year, which is what retailers and brands will need to deliver next. Here are 20 of the most significant findings from WSL’s 2020 archives. Determination. In the WSL Dictionary of Retail and Shopper ... Read more

WSL’s Retail Caring Scores: What Matters to Shoppers?

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WSL asked shoppers to rate retailers based on measures that show how much they CARE about their customers in the midst of the pandemic. The results: Being cared for means keeping shoppers WELL, not just with sanitizers and masks, but encouraging the purchase of healthier choices and creating happy, low-stress experiences. When it Comes to ... Read more

It’s a 2020 COVID Christmas, Are People Feeling the Spirit of Giving Gifts?

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We know the Internet will win a bigger share of holiday shopping, but at WSL we turned our attention to whether the spirit of making lists and giving gifts is thriving -- or not. Financially Speaking 2/3 of the US shoppers are feeling financially secure or even optimistic, creating a large pool of shoppers with ... Read more

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