Future Retail Labs

What is Future Retail Labs?

Future Retail Labs (FRL) is our global R&D arm exploring the next generation of store leadership and team culture.

The future of retail will be powered by technology but won through people. Stores will remain the heart of the customer experience and brand connection, making store teams more critical than ever.

Future Retail Labs is chaired by Judith McKenna (ex-CEO, Walmart International) and in partnership with the World Retail Congress. We run global research projects with many of the world's leading retailers, turning evidence into practical insights.

Judith McKenna

ex-CEO, Walmart International, Chair of Future Retail Labs

Our Approach

Built on what
actually works

We ground every decision in behavioural science and psychology, powered by data. But we don’t stop at reports: we translate our findings into pragmatic change that fits your context and gives you a clear path to deliver.

How do we do it?

Explore

Push past the obvious. We decode bold ideas about the future of retail — from formats and digital innovation to shifting consumer behaviours — and translate them into the human skills and leadership moves that make vision real.

Research

Grounded in behavioural science, we uncover what truly drives thriving leaders and high-performing teams. From field studies to future modelling, we link behaviours directly to store performance and benchmark across sectors, geographies, and cultures.

Experiment

We don’t stop at ideas. We trial, test, and stress-check innovations in live environments — proving what transforms customer experience, boosts performance, and redefines what great store leadership looks like.

CONNECT

We embed the habits, systems, and leadership practices that make high performance repeatable at every level of your business. We work with you to translate strategy into behaviour change — building a culture that delivers at scale today and adapts for tomorrow.

Current research topics

REIMAGINING
STORE LEADERSHIP FOR
A DIGITAL WORLD.

RESEARCH TOPIC

Decode how manager behaviours shape store performance — today and tomorrow

We’re decoding which behaviours drive today’s KPIs, what skills will define tomorrow’s high-performing managers, and how AI, automation, and omnichannel shifts will reshape the leadership that matters most.

Get Involved

Step into the Lab.  
Shape what’s next.

Future Retail Labs is the testbed for retail’s future: where human performance, cultural insight, and emerging technology collide.

We bring together the greatest minds across industry to decode what makes stores thrive and design the next era of high-performance retail.

Become a  
Partner

We welcome a diverse mix of consumer focused organisations to participate and get involved. Meet like-minded trail-blazers and helps us shape the future of retail together.

Get involved

Become a Researcher

We welcome curious minds, expertise and pragmatism to our approach. Whether you’re an academic or a someone starting out in research, we want to hear from you.

Get involved

Become a
Sponsor

We welcome sponsors to support and promote the research and insights. In return, we give back to you too.

Get involved

DecodinG THE FUTURE OF RETAIL LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE

Built on what
actually works

Decode how manager behaviours shape store performance — today and tomorrow

Step into the Lab.  
Shape what’s next.

Download the reports shaping retail’s future.

DecodinG THE FUTURE OF RETAIL LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE

Built on what actually works

Decode how manager behaviours shape store performance — today and tomorrow

Step into the Lab. Shape what’s next.

Download the reports shaping retail’s future.

Built on what
actually works

Step into the Lab.  
Shape what’s next.