3 Game-Changing Insights from WD Partners’ NRF ’25 Presentation

How Retailers Can Win Back Online Shoppers with Quality, Fundamentals, and What We’re Calling the Slow Retail Movement

 Lee Peterson

Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

NRF Presentation: Jan 14, 2025, 10:30am, Javitz Center North, Level 4, Klaviyo Stage, NYC

Our research presentations at NRF have always centered around one key question: In this age of consistently increasing online shopping, what should retailers do to get customers to visit stores more often? Because, after all, stores are significant investments, and seeing them underutilized leads to two negative outcomes: high-cost closure and diminished brand exposure.

In previous years, we've explored everything from used merchandise to treating every store like a flagship to "Amazon Can't Do That", and more. This year, we're adding to that library of action items, but this time, with a new approach. Instead of asking all consumers broad questions about their shopping habits, we focused specifically on those that prefer to shop online (68% of over 3,000 across the US). We asked those online fans:

• Why do you prefer online to stores?
• What are stores doing wrong?
• What can they improve on to make you prefer in-store shopping?
• If you did shop in stores now, where would that it be?

The results were not exactly daunting. As a matter of fact, they were very actionable.

Here are three key takeaways from the aforementioned research, which we'll go over in detail at NRF in January.

Speed Kills

When asked why they prefer shopping online over in stores, the top response was that it "takes too much time & effort." That's not good for stores. But from that answer, you can see why the behemoths of retail (Amazon, Walmart, etc.) keep speeding up their delivery times, to the point of 'same day' in many cases. They are effectively taking stores (in Amazon's case, that they don't have) out of the equation by eliminating the 'get it now' advantage that stores have had.

But for most retailers, big and small, that's a losing proposition cost-wise. So, from our research and our own retail experience, we are concluding that most retailers shouldn't compete on speed. You're throwing your valuable profits right out the proverbial window. There are many other things consumers listed that would get them back in stores other than speed.

Ultimately, we're asking retailers to focus on the opposite of speed in terms of how they think about their stores and their store experience. We say, think quality over speed. We're seeing pent-up demand for exactly that. We recommend, as the Japanese proverb says, that The Opposite Side Has an Opposite Side. And that opposite side is about delivering a quality-first experience.

Table Stakes

So, yes, our research showed time was a crucial factor for consumers, but other issues ranked just as high. The 'fix' list included:

• Messy stores
• Difficulty finding items
• Slow (not self) checkout options
• Poor customer service (our pet peeve of all time)

If you're a retailer, especially if you're a big one, those are not only 'fixes,' they're downright embarrassments! Yet, somehow, instead of improving those 'table stakes' issues, many retailers seem intent on enacting efforts no consumer wants, like locking items up, installing self-check-out (ie: cutting labor) and putting up ineffective technology. So, retailers, take it from consumers and from the likes of (sports metaphor alert) Vince Lombardi: focus on the fundamentals first!! If you can't get the basics right, no amount of flashy innovation will make up for it.

Changing Minds

As the Rolling Stones once famously sang, "Time waits for no one." But our research suggests that in physical retail, that's not necessarily true. Using the philosophy of the Slow Food Movement, who's premise is about focusing on quality vs speed and on doing things right vs doing them fast, we recommend that retailers slow it down. Welcome to the Slow Retail Movement.

When asked, "What would make you prefer shopping in stores vs online?" some of the answers were the opposite of why they didn't prefer stores, like cleaner stores, easier to find merchandise and better associates, but a couple of new things showed up too. Those being new, exciting merchandise and better store design. Although those are both more difficult to execute than the 'table stakes' in terms of immediacy, they are certainly very do-able in short order. As a matter of fact, there are some prominent retailers doing just that right now.

Bonus Time

In January, we'll spend time discussing where the online preference customer would like to shop… IF they actually shopped in stores. This teaser is just a glimpse – you'll have to join us at NRF to get the full story.

See you at NRF! Let's get the Slow Retail Movement rolling!

Come and see us at NRF in NYC, Jan 14th, Javits Center North, Level 4, Klaviyo Stage