It’s a privilege to be part of the issue that celebrates Eight Who Made a Difference. WSL Strategic Retail applauds the honorees and how they have chosen to make a difference. The decisions made by these eight leaders impact the retail industry and the millions of shoppers they serve, and today, more than ever, shoppers have made their expectations of retail leaders and brand manufacturers very clear.

Shoppers have core values that they apply, sometimes subconsciously and sometimes purposefully, to what they buy and where they shop. Having conducted How America Shops research for many years, we know that shoppers’ values evolve with changes in society, technology and the economy, and certainly almost two years of pandemic living has had an impact.

2020 and 2021 have been startling on many fronts that go well beyond accelerated online shopping for CPG basics. Everyone has been impacted by the fear for our health; many have experienced climate disasters from raging fires to floods, hurricanes and nor’easters; and the movement for inclusion. All have triggered a growing sense in shoppers of what is fair and who is ­responsible.

Here is the voice of the shopper telling us how pandemic living has defined what’s important to them now. It is these topics that the Eight Who Made a Difference will need to pursue as they continue to lead the industry.

Shoppers are tired. Aren’t we all? However, living through traumatic months has created clarity around the “truths” that are important to people. Here are four of the New Shopper Truths (“The New Shopper Truths,” a How America Shops report conducted by WSL Strategic Retail, August 2021) that shoppers will live and buy by for the foreseeable future.

Fairness is the No. 1 truth that 71% of shoppers expect of corporations that make and sell the brands shoppers buy. Fairness is a big umbrella that covers humane treatment of workers, sharing rewards with employees who contribute to the profits, and fair pricing of value-based brands so all shoppers can afford healthier and eco-friendly choices.

Sustainable is defined by shoppers. We were not surprised to learn that almost half of shoppers feel the words “sustainable” and “environmentally safe” have been reduced to buzzwords overused by marketers. Here is how shoppers define sustainable — and do not try to greenwash them!

Realism shifts responsibility to corporations. Shoppers are tired of bearing the burden to save the planet, one recycled bottle at a time. They are asking, how much difference can one person make compared to a big corporation? Shoppers expect you to make it easier for them to make a difference — 52% say corporations need to offer more products that are better for the environment, and retailers need to showcase those brands to make them easy to find in stores.

Activism: Half of shoppers have daily habits that they say make a difference, but only one-third can easily find products that let them live by their truths. Shopper activism is summed up by the success of “disruptor” brands and retailers over the last decade. The disruptors give shoppers what they want, take market share from big brands and chains, and are then acquired by big corporations.

Companies often assume shoppers are accepting of what they can have, not what they want. However, new companies will continue to emerge to disrupt the orthodoxy of traditional ­companies.

Take action now

These Eight Who Made a Difference, and the next ones in 2022, 2023 and beyond, need to take action, break some rules, and do not wait to be perfect (you will be left behind). When you take the right steps, be transparent, communicate with stories that shoppers will watch, and shout how you are helping your shoppers live their truths.

Candace Corlett is president of WSL.