shoppers Archives - WSL Strategic Retail

Unpacking the Nuances and Needs of the ‘New Value’ Shopper

March 27, 2025March 17, 2025 by Maryann Javier

Amid post-pandemic shifts in how consumers buy goods, stubbornly high prices and a squad of ankle-biting retail competitors, WSL Strategic Retail has been researching how today’s shoppers think about “value.” Specifically, how their definition of value guides what they spend their money on – and won’t – as well as where they will spend it. ... Read more

How Consumers Use Their Heads and Hearts When Shopping

November 24, 2023June 14, 2023 by WslAdmin

Blog banner featuring one side with a woman selecting juice and the other side with a young mother consulting her daughter on soda

Today’s post-pandemic, inflation-weary consumers aren’t just shopping for products, they’re shopping for joy. Our consumer research shows that most are balancing this joy of shopping with the need to be frugal. Brands and retailers need to learn how they can help shoppers walk that line. Are Retailers and Brands Marketing Enough Joy? It’s not a ... Read more

Beauty’s Big Brand Opportunity Is Older than 50

November 24, 2023June 1, 2023 by WslAdmin

Beauty Over 50 Blog banner featuring three older women smiling with shopping bags

Sure, there is a high number of Gen Z and Millennials buying cosmetics and skin care products. But the smart beauty brands are looking at a different figure when catering to 50+ women, which includes Gen X – their trillions of dollars in spending power. Our How America Shops® research breaks down beauty by age. ... Read more

Meet the Struggling Shopper – It’s Not Who You Expect

November 24, 2023June 20, 2022 by WslAdmin

Collage of young people struggling while online shopping banner

Nearly two-fifths of adult shoppers are having trouble buying the basics while covering their bills, our latest shopper research shows. This may be expected, due to a price crisis, but what we didn’t expect was the broad scope of their demographics. Retailers and brands, meet what may be the greatest challenge of 2022: The Struggling ... Read more

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

February 7, 2023June 13, 2022 by WslAdmin

Hand placing stars down to represent categories banner

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

The Role of the Store in Retail 5.0 Research Report

February 7, 2023May 12, 2022 by WslAdmin

Digital connections overlaid on shoppers at the mall banner

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

Retail Consulting Services

November 24, 2023August 13, 2021 by WslAdmin

Many of the world's biggest retailers and consumer brands use retail consulting services to drive their shopper-centric strategies. Whether to optimize the customer experience through focused workshops, develop new strategies or adapt to the changing retail industry, brands across channels and subsectors can benefit from retail consulting. When you work with a retail consultant, you ... Read more

Kroger Health President Talks ‘Food as Medicine’ Strategy

February 7, 2023March 22, 2021 by WslAdmin

Health foods pouring out from a medication bottle - banner

Wendy Liebmann, WSL CEO, Interviews Kroger Health President, Colleen Lindholz, on Kroger’s Health Strategy. When the supermarket giant Kroger decided to embark on its “Food as Medicine” strategy, it did not overthink it. In fact, its companywide approach is disarmingly simple, explains Kroger Health President Colleen Lindholz: It answers three basic questions with affordable solutions, ... Read more

Beauty Spending Will Look Different in 2021

December 14, 2022March 2, 2021 by WslAdmin

Teal background with blue satin wallet wrapped in gold chain and lock - banner

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

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

February 14, 2023November 24, 2020 by WslAdmin

WSL COVID Holiday Gifting - In The Words of Shoppers Banner featuring person in black shirt handing someone a gift with a red bow

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