Future Shop Podcast with WSL

In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Norm de Greve, Global CMO of General Motors, and former CMO of CVS Health, about transforming industries, retailers and companies, and the role marketing plays.

They discuss:

• How to keep the shopper with you as you manage dramatic change
• The importance of protecting the shopping experience during transformation
• How not to become a victim of short-term profitability while investing in change
• How to keep your eye on the product and the experience it delivers
• The importance of creating distinctive innovation – be it health care or cars
• The role of digital and CRM in personalizing the experience – for cars or for care.
• How transforming cars and health care is not that different

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Jacqueline Windsor, partner in Strategy and Deals for the Consumer Market and UK Head of Retail, PwC, London about the differences and similarities between the UK and US consumer and retail markets, and where to find growth in the coming years.

They discuss:

• Unlocking the power of consumer tribes vs. demographic segments.
• The role of the store (a clue: it’s no longer a transactional channel alone).
• How to build a successful omni strategy; how many stores you need, and what a profitable digital model looks like.
• Reassessing category management: where private brands fit, and the role legacy brands.
• What personalization really means to shoppers.
• How to navigate “vibecession”.
• The framework for growth for the coming years.

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to WSL’s president, Candace Corlett about the emerging Gen A population, and other opportunistic shopper segments that can drive much needed retail growth in the near future.  

They discuss: 

• The size of the Gen A cohort.  What makes them unique.
• Whether Gen A is ready for prime-time shopping or merely influencers.  At least for now.
• Why the 50+ population is the bigger opportunity today – and ripe to drive retail growth.   
• Immediate opportunities to support Caregivers – younger and older shoppers stressed by their new everyday roles – and drive traffic and sales growth
• Implications for brand and retail trust and loyalty, reflected in the current fractious political and social environment 

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In this episode Wendy Liebmann talks to Michael Wysong, CEO of Care Pharmacies about the challenges and opportunities to deliver health care at retail in the future.

They discuss:

• How to deliver more personalized, local health care the way people need and want it in times of great complexity 
• Learning from diverse operators, with unique propositions
• Using technology, including AI, to enhance the relationship with patients 
• How to create intimacy in retail relationships in order to deliver more personal care
• The opportunity to support the fast-growing population of caregivers 
• The implications of medical innovations such as GLP-1s, the solutions they provide, and the challenges they create

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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. 
  
  

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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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