The Brave New Word of Retail

Odysseus had nothing on the American retailer. After all, the hero of Homer’s Oddyssey only had to endure 10 years of troubles. To hear some analysts talk about it, the retail landscape will never be the same—which will leave some players wandering alone in the wilderness.

“’The Great Recession’ and how shoppers responded to it have fundamentally changed the future of retail.The recession brought to an end one of the most transformational decades in our social, political, economic and shopping history,” said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Strategic Retail on the release of the preview of 2010 How America Shops MegaTrends study, The Odyssey Begins to the New Retail World.

“This recession wasn’t the beginning of a behavioral shift it was the end. After eight years of living through calamitous change that transformed the way Americans live and shop, the recession was the final curtain call,” Candace Corlett President of WSL Strategic Retail continued.

As a result, according to WSL Strategic Retail, there are several guideposts that mark the future of shoppers’ attitudes:

The End Is not Near: While some economists claim the recession is over, shoppers don’t believe it.The majority of those we surveyed believe their own personal recession will not end for at least one to two years.Discounting, lower-priced options, private label, smaller sizes, better value sizes, coupons, price-checking—anything that helps shoppers manage their weekly spending more effectively—will remain on their list.

Fear Is the Emotional Driver: Fear of the future is now a very powerful influence on how Americans live and shop. The optimism that defined Americans for decades is no longer embedded in the shoppers’ psyche.

Less Is More and It’s OK: Having had to make do with less, shoppers realize they don’t need many of the things they used to buy, and many of the cheaper brands they’ve tried are just as good as the pricier ones they once bought.Shoppers went from regretting what they couldn’t afford to accepting what they could, and feeling smart about it.

The Joy of Shopping Is Still Real (for some): A good number of shoppers (4 in 10) still enjoy shopping – or at least the thought of it in principle.The connection, the emotion, the experience of shopping is still valued by many who have been forced in recent years to cut back spending, avoid places they may be tempted to overspend, and not browse at all.

New White Spaces Emerge: Most exciting about this new retail era is the white space that’s materializing. We are no longer living in a shopping world where distribution means food/drug/mass/club for everyday products and department and specialty stores and malls for special things.

As the result of shoppers’ new attitudes, WSL Strategic Retail defines the 7 Rules of the New Retail World:

1. Hear and heed the “Less is More” message.

2. Make new retail rules.

3. Make people happy.

4. Restate value.

5. Reframe “What’s Worth it Now.”

6. Rationalize SKU rationalization.

7. Seize the white space.


“For over 20 years we’ve followed American shoppers to understand why, how and where they shop, and where and how they will shop next. The emerging retail world may look familiar but it is not.We’re about to embark on a journey into the retail unknown. An odyssey of almost mythic Greek proportions: where shoppers are totally in control; where purchase decisions begin at a different point; where ‘bricks’ and ‘clicks’ merge seamlessly with wireless shopping and ‘clicks’ define the road ahead.New white spaces are emerging upon which we can/will/must write a new shopping history. The journey begins now,” Ms. Liebmann concluded.

More info: WSL Strategic Retail at 212-924-7780 or visit www.WSLStrategicRetail.com.