Retail transformation only creates value when it changes what happens in stores.
Retailers are investing heavily in AI, automation and new operating models. These investments are changing how stores run, how colleagues work and what customers expect. But much of their value will be determined by the people who make them work day to day: Store Leaders.
Much of the value of those investments will still depend on the Store Leader on the shop floor: the person managing a delivery running late, a queue building at the till, a colleague asking for help and a sales target slipping - often at the same time. Technology can give Store Leaders better information, but they still need to interpret what is happening, decide what matters most and bring their team with them.
Store Leaders make retail work. They turn strategy into everyday action, support colleagues through change and shape the customer experience.
Yet they can too easily be treated as the route through which transformation is delivered, rather than as a capability that needs deliberate attention. That is retail's transformation blind spot.
As stores become more automated, data-rich and experience-led, the role of the Store Leader will become more complex: more signals to read, more decisions to make in real time and more pressure to translate strategy into what happens in the store that day.
Store Leaders will need to make increasingly complex operations run well, lead colleagues through new ways of working and create the experiences that bring customers back - all under today's intense commercial pressure.
The question for retailers is clear: what will exceptional Store Leadership require by 2030, and how ready are today's Store Leaders to meet those demands?
This question sits at the heart of Project Future Store Leader 2030, a new industry-led research programme from Performology's Future Retail Labs, in partnership with World Retail Congress.
The project is chaired by Judith McKenna, former President and CEO of Walmart International. Her experience of listening to Store Leaders, and recognising the difference they make, will help keep the research closely connected to the realities of running stores.
“Retail has always reinvented itself, and AI and automation are creating significant opportunities. But if we focus too intently on technology, we risk giving too little attention to the people who will make it work in practice. This project gives retailers the opportunity to get ahead of what that means for Store Leadership and start building that capability now.” Judith McKenna, ex-CEO Walmart, Chair Future Retail Labs
The research will bring together senior retail leaders, Store Leaders, behavioural scientists and industry partners to build a clearer picture of how the role is changing and what exceptional Store Leadership will require in the future.
Research partners across different markets, formats and service models will ground the work in retail reality. Selected Store Leaders will then take part in realistic future-store simulations, generating observable behavioural evidence of how they interpret information, make decisions, lead and perform in the moments that matter.
Retailers often know who their strongest Store Leaders are. They can see the results they deliver and the reputation they build within the business. What may be less visible are the specific behaviours, mindsets and capabilities that differentiate those leaders - and whether the same qualities will be enough for what comes next.
Some capabilities will remain fundamental. Others may become more important, take a different form or need to be applied in situations Store Leaders have not encountered before. The first phase of the research will combine qualitative insight from senior retail leaders with wider quantitative research to build a clearer profile of what exceptional Store Leadership will require by 2030.
The simulations will then bring those demands to life, showing how Store Leaders make decisions, lead and respond when the situation changes.
“Understanding which capabilities may matter in the future is only part of the picture. What really matters is how Store Leaders show up in the key moments: the decisions they make, how they lead and how they respond under pressure. By bringing those moments to life in realistic future scenarios, we can build a much stronger view of future readiness.” Amy King, Co-Founder Performology
The aim is not simply to describe future-ready Store Leadership. It is to give retailers practical evidence: a clearer view of where capability is already strong, where development is needed and what to build for what comes next.
As a research partner, your senior retail leaders will contribute their perspective on how retail and Store Leadership are changing. Selected Store Leaders will take part in the behavioural research. In return, you will receive organisation-specific insight into strengths and future-readiness priorities, considered alongside the wider research findings.
Retailers that understand what the future will demand of their Store Leaders - and start building that capability now - will be better placed to turn transformation investment into stronger performance.
If you are interested in participating in this research project, we invite you to register your interest: https://research.performology.global/project-future-store-leader-2030
