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

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 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

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

WSL’s Virtual Retail Safari® Reveal Reimagined Stores

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The year 2020 not only redefined shopping, it helped re-engineer what stores look like now. WSL Retail Safari® scouts explored some of the most forward-looking changes in the physical store. Following are concepts worth watching, from our recent tours. What Kinds of Stores are Your Shoppers Returning To? The physical store was changing long before ... 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

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