Future Shop Podcast with WSL

In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Debbie Kelly, WSL’s director of insights, about the latest How America Shops® research that reveals how often unrecognized populations shifts can drive traffic and volume growth.

They discuss:

• How marketers need to look beyond traditional demographic stereotypes for growth in the future.
• Why single-person and multi-generational households provide some of the biggest traffic and volume opportunities now -- and will in the future.
• How weekly shopping trips and locations are quickly being transformed.  Walmart is leading the way.
• The implications for everything from product size and packaging, to the places that people now shop offline and online – and will.

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Wendy Liebmann, WSL’s CEO and Chief Shopper and Justin Honaman, Head of Worldwide Retail & CPG, GTM & Segment Leader for Food & Beverages for Amazon Web Services, continue discussions about emerging technology and the implications for the future of retail.

They discuss:

• The tension points at retail: prices, efficiency and where to invest.
• AI: is it hype or not? New and different ways to use AI to become more efficient
• Personalization and composable commerce, and what that looks like from a modernization perspective
• Increasing investment in tech in new store openings
• Retail media – what’s next?  Who’s winning? 
• Not throwing the baby out with the bath water. How to maintain the best of the old while adopting the new. 
  
  

Visit our website for transcripts and video podcasts. Subscribe and rate us with your favorite podcast app!

Visit our website for transcripts and video podcasts. Subscribe and rate us with your favorite podcast app!

In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Sri Rajagopalan, co-founder and co-host of The GPG Guys and founder of Think Blue, about the fast-changing dynamics of retail, what’s plaguing board rooms,  and what retail leaders needs to address right now.

They discuss:

• Retail’s number one problem post-Covid: driving volume
• How digital influences virtually every purchase 
• Why the role of the in-store end cap is significantly diminished now
• The urgent need for marketers to get away from their data and their desks to see what’s going on at the shelf (and why DSD companies have the edge because they’re in the stores all the time)
• The erosion of national brand shelf space (by smaller and private brands)
• Why (old world) full-funnel marketing is more essential than ever.  (Lower-funnel is not the answer.) 
• How consumer-centricity is key to all decisions.  (No argument from us!)
• Why investing in innovation is more important than ever.

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Reema Jweied-Guegel, Director, AARP Enterprise Strategy Group about the growing population of caregivers, who they are, the challenges they face, and how retailers and brands can support them.

They discuss:

• WSL’s latest How America Shops® research which indicates that 6/10 Americans take care of someone’s health other than their own, 
• That a growing number of caregivers are Gen Z and younger Millennials.
• What the caregivers’ lives of perpetual juggling are like.
• What caregivers need to make their lives easier, less stressful, more affordable; from expert advice to convenience to value, and the role technology can play.
• That caregivers also need to take care of themselves, and the opportunity to provide empathy, and support.
• The role retail, brands and organizations like AARP can do to support the caregiver of the future.  It’s a growing commercial opportunity.

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Claudia Lloreda, founder and general manager of Blush-Bar, the Latin American beauty specialty retailer about creating a unique beauty experience for Gen Z shoppers.

They discuss:

• How to create a unique beauty retail experience for Gen Z, by challenging the established order
• Why sustaining a clear shopper-led vision – and passion – is so critical to success
• The importance of creating an experience that reflects the values and needs of younger shoppers (e.g., sustainability, mental health)
• The importance of the in-store beauty advisor and service for younger shoppers
• The role of social media and ecommerce in building Blush-Bar
• How to adapt the product focus to different LatAm beauty cultures
• Learnings for Hispanic beauty shoppers in the US, and
• The power of pink bunnies

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Lindsey Braun, Vice President of Research & Operations at HABRI (the Human Animal Bond Research Institute) about the power of pets to positively impact the health and wellbeing of people – and retail.

They discuss:

• The science behind the pet–human connection and the power pets have to change lives.  (It’s real.)
• How having a pet can improve overall health and wellbeing, including mental health, autism, and medical outcomes
• With the ageing of America, the role pets can plan in reducing loneliness, even caregiving
• The positive effects of pet friendly workplaces
• Why retailers such as Walmart, Petco and others continue to enhance their pet services

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann, WSL’s CEO and Chief Shopper talks to Helena Foulkes, current board member of Costco & Harry’s, former president of CVS Pharmacy and CEO and Board Member of the Hudson’s Bay Company, amongst other roles.  

They discuss:

• Her reflections on the pandemic: What she has learned about retail, leadership and the future.  
• How and why the power dynamic shifted from manufacturer to retailer to technology -- and now to consumers.
• The lasting effects of the pandemic. (It’s not technology.)
• The power of community, and the role retail.  
• How companies can prosper in times of paradox and complexity.
• The big opportunity in the consumerization of healthcare. 
• What makes for future retail winners and losers (a clue: people and innovation, not AI).

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann, WSL’s CEO and Chief Shopper talks to Mara Sipzener, General Manager of Loyalty at CVS Pharmacy about what’s driving all the recent activity and upgrades to retail loyalty programs.  

They discuss:

• What shoppers expect to be loyal today
• Why CVS, Walmart, Target Bath & Body Works, and others have upgraded their programs recently
• How loyalty programs need to focus on not only delivering affordability (discounts) but also convenience and personalization
• How the new shopper journey (and all the many touchpoints) needs to be part of a meaningful program
• Best-in-class loyalty programs (a hint: REI is one)

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Wendy Liebmann, WSL’s CEO and Chief Shopper and Justin Honaman, Head of Worldwide Retail & CPG, GTM & Segment Leader for Food & Beverages for Amazon Web Services, continue discussions about emerging technology and the implications for the future of retail.

They discuss:

•  How quickly companies are integrating generative AI into operating systems
• Efficiency plays that are delivering better access to information and images faster
• The intense focus on stores and how new technologies are impacting in-store experience, through physical store technology 
• The implications for loyalty programs and retail media
• Overall, the importance of unified commerce to create a truly meaningful customer experience

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Craig Dubitsky, founder of Happy™ products, about his recent launch of Happy™ Coffee, his partnership with Robert Downey Jr., and how philanthropy is embedded in reinventing the category at retail. 

They discuss:

• What it takes to be a serial entrepreneur (a clue: it’s being obsessed with people)
• How to disrupt massive, CPG categories, including home care, lip care, oral care and now coffee
• Building a unique business model based on bringing happiness to everyday categories at affordable prices
• Finding the right retailers who understand and can articulate the emotional opportunity on the shelf
• How to embed philanthropy into a brand to make a real difference to people’s mental health and wellbeing
• The importance of design in creating something people want and use everyday 
• Forgetting the usual business buzzwords and focusing on – and articulating – what people want and need to be happy

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