Future Shop Podcast with WSL

In this issue:

Wendy Liebmann talks to Debbie Kelly, the new Director of Insights at WSL, about WSL’s latest How America Shops® study, entitled Leading Shoppers From Troubles to Joy.  

They discuss:

• After three years of the pandemic, how shoppers are making different decisions about what brings them joy, and what’s still only about the lowest price.
• What makes for joyful shopping in these inflationary times.
• New shopper segmentation based on how shoppers consider what’s a “head” category versus a “heart” category.
• How companies – brands and retailers -- need to market accordingly.  
• Who’s getting it right.

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Dawn Clark, Executive Creative Director, SVP, Global Design Studio for Starbucks, noted retail architect, who runs Osean Studios, and was most recently director of design and construction for Amazon, where she led the design of the new Amazon Style concept store, and prior to that Nordstrom.

They discuss:

• How to create a “human” store, and how that has changed since Covid
• Why many retail environments are designed to showcase products rather than create an emotional connection with shoppers
• Why it’s so critical to understand the context of the shopper’s life not just what you want to sell
• The interweaving and translation of technology in physical spaces, where search tools and algorithms can add value to an in-store shopping experience but where flashing digital screens often do not
• How to bring together the right team – architects, construction, technology, merchants, marketers, sales personnel – to create innovative, shopper-lead environments
• And why one-eighth of an inch really matters

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks with Lisa Paley, president of Haleon, NA, formerly GSK Consumer Health, about how to build a modern consumer healthcare company.

They discuss:

• Critical requirements of a modern organization, including purpose, a founder mentality, and agility.  
• The three C’s of success: delivering for the consumer, the retail customer, and colleagues.
• How to integrate established brands into a new purpose-driven organization
• Not to sweat the little stuff, recognizing that everything doesn’t stick, and that sometimes change management requires you to go back to move forward
• How essential it is to get out into the market, to following emerging trends, stay close to business partners, and stay open to change
• Ultimately, the need to balance purpose with performance

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks with Candace Corlett, WSL’s president, about the current state of planned disruption that shoppers have created for themselves, and the resultant impact on brands and retailers.

They discuss:

• How shoppers have created new and dynamic ways to shop
• That there is no longer an orderly path to purchase
• The implications for supply chain of people now buying in 40% more places than they did in 2014, including the metaverse
• That companies can no longer assume they own the customer.  There is no “my customer”.  
• The role of the physical store now as the place to find the newest products and services, and the implications on store design and merchandising
• How companies need to plan their own disruption – utilizing what they learned throughout the pandemic

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks with Dan O’Connor, founder of the Future Commerce Initiative and Executive in Residence at the Harvard Business School, about the future of commerce and retail.

They discuss:

• How retail is fast moving into a 50:50 (in-person vs. not-in-person) world.
• The dramatic complexity of the retail landscape with some 70 different store types around the world and 15 digital models.
• The implications for CPG companies and large retailers.  
• How space in stores will need to be redeployed.
• The impact of conversion marketing channels like Tiktok and Instagram, and the power of Instacart. 
• What Amazon’s disappointing sales results mean for it, and the future of e-commerce.
• And how data digitalization will be critical to support supply chain, localization, and personalization in order to deliver a highly improved shopper experience. 

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In this episode Wendy Liebmann talks to Chris Perry and Oskar Kaszubski of Firstmovr, a Center of Excellence for CPG eCommerce Education & Change Management about how to build and educate companies to constantly adapt to the new digital retail landscape.

They discuss:

• The ever-expanding digital eco-system, and the need for constant learning across all areas of organizations
• The multi-dimensional capabilities now required by CPG employees rather than what was a linear approach
• How companies must keep the shopper at the center of their e-commerce capabilities
• How to overcome the struggle to find insights in a world of so much data 

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks to Justin Honaman, head of Worldwide Retail & Consumer Goods, Go-to-Market at Amazon Web Services, and worldwide segment leader for Food & Beverage.

They discuss:

• Immersive retail, the power of personalization, frictionless retail and where the Metaverse is already having an impact
• The role of the physical store, and the impact AI can have on curating more meaningful shopper experiences. 
• Retail media and how, if done correctly, it can deliver a “triple win”
• How to develop and execute a Consumer 360-view that can drive loyalty – not just discounts
• How retailers and brands are behind in the cloud journey and the urgency to catch up

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In this episode, Wendy Liebmann talks with Joi Pratt, Senior Consultant for Shopper Activation, at WSL Strategic Retail, about how the WSL team brought the future of retail to life in real time through a customized Retail Safari®. 

They discuss:

• The 5 Health & Wellness trends that were the focus of a two-day event conducted in collaboration with the Kroger Company in Cincinnati. 
• The diversity of retail that inspired 30 CPG attendees – from robotics at the Ocado Shed that enable fast seamless delivery, to immersive experiences at Jungle Jim’s, to the passion of REI associates, to the Kroger Marketplace and urban format, and more.
• How bringing people together encourages new thinking and partnerships to deliver what shoppers want now.  And will.

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In this episode Wendy Liebmann talks with Mindy McKnight, CEO of M-Star Media Inc., content developer and founder of Hairitage by Mindy, about how to build a successful CPG brand today.

They discuss:

• The essence of building a successful multi-million dollar brand without losing its founder soul, and its solution driven reason-for-being
• The keys to creating a modern business collaboration: a partner with the right intellectual capital, a retailer [Walmart] eager to experiment, a digital expertise, and a willingness to let the consumer/shopper be part of brand building  
• The value of real-time consumer feedback that comes with having a devoted, engaged digital community
• How new social platforms, including the metaverse, will make for exciting retail times in the future
• How a successful content-driven, social brand will make them laugh, cry, teach something or make their life easier

Watch this video episode on our YouTube channel.

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In this episode Wendy Liebmann talks with Jenny B. Fine, executive editor of WWD and Beauty Inc., about the transformation of the beauty industry and how it has and will change over the coming decade. 

They discuss:

• Younger, Generation Z consumers and how their beauty priorities are based on not only looking good but also doing good
• How wellness is being fully integrated into beauty, with more to come
• How social media platforms like TikTok and Flip are changing the rules of engagement, especially with younger generations of shoppers
• The explosion of ways to buy beauty that are leaving luxury retail behind, while new experiences are emerging in mass and specialty retail

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