Our innovative research captures the complete shopper experience, from what drives their choices to what inspires them in-store & online

What ensures your retail strategy stands apart goes beyond data. WSL Insights continuously bring you retail innovation trends from around the world to inspire new thinking and growth. We help you predict where your shoppers are headed and build solutions to meet them there.

Make Every Display Work Harder:
New Retail Safari® Newsletter

What if the secret to better retail isn’t bigger stores or flashy tech — but simply making it easier for shoppers to get what they need, faster? This month, we’re exploring groundbreaking innovations across categories.

WSL‘s Top Innovations

Take a world tour of the retail innovations that inspire new thinking. Here’s WSL’s Hot List of the best innovations our Retail Safari^® global scouts have recently uncovered.

Barnes & Noble

Father’s Day is coming, and Barnes & Noble won’t let you forget it. The revitalized retailer highlights books as go-to gifts via email, with something for every dad—sports, thrillers, hobbies, and beyond.

Elf Cosmetics

Elf Cosmetics raised prices—but just by $1—and addressed it head-on. With messaging that spoke their shoppers’ language, they showed gratitude and transparency, even amid the heat of tariff-driven price hikes.

Five Below

Pickle mania has arrived. Five Below leans hard into the trend with pickle cotton candy, chips, sunflower seeds, candy, and quirky pickle merch, turning snack culture into shelf spectacle.

Walmart

Graduation season is in full swing, and Walmart is ready. Stores feature multiple displays of celebration must-haves—think cards, tumblers, photo frames—making it easy to honor grads in one festive sweep.

Publix

Suncare with smarts: Publix goes beyond summer shelf-stocking by adding signage that advises shoppers to “apply at least one ounce”—a clever nudge that turns product placement into sun safety advocacy.

Duane Reade

Duane Reade taps into summer travel mode by spotlighting minis in the checkout zone. Ideal for last-minute grabs or new-product trial, it’s a savvy play on seasonality and convenience.

Revolution x Clueless

To celebrate Clueless’s 30th anniversary, Revolution launched a throwback collection with palettes shaped like phones and VHS tapes—and pom-pom-topped eye & lip pencils just like Cher’s. Nostalgia-forward, and perfectly on-brand.

WSL Top Innovator featuring Marshall's Beauty Bar pop-up at JFK airport

Marshalls – JFK Airport

Memorial Day travelers got a surprise upgrade: Marshalls opened The Upgrade Lounge at JFK, offering lounge experience with a beauty bar, snacks, and complimentary amenities—all while showcasing the latest travel must-haves.

Whole Foods

Whole Foods highlights women’s wellness right by checkout. Multivitamins, probiotics, skincare, and feminine care all share shelf space with water bottles—creating a convenient, holistic endcap for total body care.

Retail Safari® What it is, How it works.

WSL Retail Safari^®creates a culture of innovation in your organization. It inspires new thinking, identifies new opportunities and creates new solutions, fast…

How We Help You Win

Stay Ahead – Our global scouts uncover game-changing retail trends before they go mainstream.
Customized for You – Whether you need quick inspiration or deep strategy, we tailor Retail Safari® to your goals.
Actionable Insights – Grounded in shopper research, we connect innovation to real consumer behavior.

The opportunities are endless – let’s build the future of retail together!

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Our Retail Safari® Tools

At WSL Strategic Retail, we don’t just track trends—we reveal what’s next and help you act on it. Our Retail Safari® Toolkit offers curated journeys into the world’s most innovative retail concepts, turning insights into actionable strategies to keep you ahead.

Retailer Immersions

An exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at how retailers are shaping the future. With immersive, on-location experiences, you’ll gain insider insights into strategies, store concepts, and shopper engagement tactics you won’t find anywhere else.

Retail Safari® In a Box

Call it the DIY Retail Safari®. We develop everything for you: expert-curated insights, must-see stores – and other locations, step-by-step guidance so you know what to look at, and a map so you can conduct your own in-market Retail Safari®.

Retail Safari® Virtual

This brings curated, topic-specific innovation to you virtually through an interactive presentation, designed to inspire action and drive results from you desktop. Option to include a workshop session to develop practical takeaways for your business.

Retail Safari® Live

A customized, in-person Retail Safari® built around your business needs. We take you to the most relevant, inspiring retail spaces – physical and digital, where you’ll experience cutting-edge concepts. Includes a facilitated workshop to develop practical takeaways for your business.

`Our Retail Safari^® Newsletter empowers you to anticipate the future of retail` through emerging, relevant retail concepts from around the world.

Each edition of our Retail Safari® Newsletter is curated around your interests and the challenges you want to solve. Explore standout global, physical, and digital breakthroughs in retail innovation that spark fresh thinking and inspire new ideas. Plus, access to our searchable photo library.

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Get our latest thinking on what’s next with shoppers and retail.

The Retail Safari® is a much smarter way to tour stores. We go to stores that make us think outside our walls and using the Retail Safari® guide map taught my team how to look at the elements of a store that impact shoppers. It’s a productive tool to find new ideas we can take to retailers to impact our brands in their stores.

VP Sales // Health Care Company

You used innovative tools to help us create really smart ideas to drive the Bath & Body Works business. The Retail Safari® was efficient, productive and won the respect of our team and senior management.

VP Consumer Insights // Bath & Body Works

Thank you for your leadership during our Retail Safari® last week! You did a fantastic job setting our path and keeping us focused and on track. The debrief at the end is the most important part and while we were all spent at the end of the day, you were able to get a strong list of action items out of us! We were all impressed that you were able to get us to 9 stores in one day and it didn’t feel overwhelming. Great job!

Director, Category Management // Keurig Dr. Pepper

I love your virtual safaris. It’s a way to get in touch with retail innovation in a time-effective way. I learn something new or I’m prompted to think about an initiative in a new way every time I am with you all-thank you!! Great presentation – was very value-added.

Retail Safari® Virtual Event // Attendee

Target is well-known for terrific marketing, but we also know the power of smart ideas from external sources, and that is when we call WSL Strategic Retail.