Retail market research
Retail market research that reflects how people really shop
Retail market research is how retailers and brands understand how people actually shop, what draws them in, what makes them hesitate or switch, and what makes them buy or walk away, in store and online. Basis runs it across the US, UK and globally, turning shopper behavior into strategy for experience, pricing, journey and brand.
Retail is no longer just about what happens in store. Shoppers jump between channels without thinking, comparing prices in the aisle and on their phones, questioning claims, scanning reviews, and abandoning baskets whether they’re holding them or clicking them. Every part of the experience matters, from layout and signage to pricing, UX and brand perception.
Retail is everywhere, but trust is in shorter supply
Retail no longer begins on your homepage or inside your store. People shop through TikTok. They buy from peers on platforms like Vinted and Depop. And they shape opinions about your brand through reviews, ratings and third-party sources, often before they’ve even seen what you have to say.
At the same time, trust is getting harder to earn. Shoppers question product claims. They pause in store to scan barcodes for health scores. They search online to compare prices, read reviews and check community feedback.
In our recent work through Organic Intelligence, which reads real-world, unprompted behavior at scale, over 1,200 people a month now search for trustworthy brands. With 106.8 million people in the US shopping on social media, peer validation often matters more than anything you say directly, and searches for how to start a TikTok shop are up 400% year on year.
This isn’t just more noise. The people shoppers trust are becoming the people they buy from. Influence and commerce are converging, control is shifting, and trust has never been more valuable. We help brands see where trust is being built, where it’s breaking down, and how to show up in the spaces that matter, turning credibility into loyalty.
What great retail research delivers
The job of retail research is to decode what drives decisions, detours and drop-offs, and turn it into sharper strategy across every part of the business.
We help retailers and brands:
- Unpack shopper insights across in-store and digital environments
- Identify category opportunities and whitespace
- Understand how different audiences perceive price and value
- Test comms, signage and promotional messaging
- Optimize the retail UX across every channel
- Track loyalty drivers and perception shifts over time
- Map the customer journey and pressure-test new concepts, products or partnerships
- Explore sustainable and ethical decision-making
How a retail study comes together
We build every retail project around a real commercial challenge, then choose the tools that answer it. Our approach blends commercial focus with cultural depth.
That usually means omnichannel journey mapping, tracking how people move between platforms, channels and brands and where the experience falls short. In-the-moment qualitative work, mobile diaries and experience testing to see what shoppers actually do, not just what they say. Cultural and category context, blending behavioral insight with social and market signals to understand what shapes expectation. And segment-level clarity, so you can design for the moments that matter most.
Whatever the method, the output is action-first: frameworks and retail playbooks built to travel across teams and guide confident decisions.
Retail market research FAQ
What is retail market research?
Retail market research helps brands and retailers understand how people shop, what drives their decisions, and where they lose customers. It covers in-store experience, pricing, omnichannel journeys, category performance and brand perception, with insight designed to improve conversion and loyalty across every touchpoint. Basis runs it across the US, UK and globally, in store and online.
Why is shopper behavior research important for retailers?
Retail no longer begins on your homepage or inside your store. Shoppers compare prices in the aisle, question claims on their phones, and decide based on peer reviews and social recommendations before they’ve engaged with your brand at all. Research helps retailers understand where trust is built or broken, and where to show up with the right message at the right moment.
What retail research services does Basis offer?
Basis covers shopper insight and journey mapping, pricing and proposition testing, in-store and ecommerce experience research, segmentation, UX optimization, brand tracking, creative and messaging evaluation, sustainability perception and loyalty strategy. Every project is built around your specific retail challenge rather than a fixed template, in store and across digital channels.
How does retail research improve conversion?
By identifying where shoppers hesitate, switch channels or abandon, and what is driving those decisions. Basis uses a blend of behavioral data, in-the-moment qual, journey diaries and cultural insight to show not just what shoppers do but why, so changes to experience, messaging or pricing are grounded in real evidence rather than assumption.
How should you approach omnichannel retail research?
Retail is channel-agnostic from the shopper’s point of view. Basis maps how people move between platforms, stores and digital touchpoints across their journey, including social commerce and peer-to-peer channels, and identifies where the experience creates friction or loses momentum, so investment goes where it changes behavior.
How is Gen Z changing retail behavior?
Gen Z shops through social media, trusts peer recommendations over brand messaging, and holds brands to higher standards on sustainability and authenticity. Basis tracks Gen Z behavior at scale through Organic Intelligence and Basis Signals, giving retailers early visibility on the shifts that reshape category dynamics before they hit the mainstream.
Which markets can Basis run retail research in?
Basis runs retail market research in the US, the UK and globally from a single team, rather than stitching together separate local suppliers. That means consistent method and comparable results across markets, with local nuance where it matters, useful for retailers and brands managing shoppers across regions and channels.
Retail research in action
Finding direction in a changing high street
An ethnographic study across 200+ shoppers and industry experts built a 360° view of the retail experience, guiding John Lewis’s retention and attraction strategy across the business.
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Uncovering what drives shopper love
Immersive in-store research across Eataly’s North American stores defined what makes the experience special, feeding a store-by-store strategy that lifted footfall, repeat visits and basket size.
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Staying ahead in an evolving landscape
Project Pulse gave Avon a flexible, always-on insight system guiding smarter decisions across global innovation, marketing and product development.
Learn more →Let’s move your retail strategy forward
Whether you’re launching a new line, rethinking your omnichannel experience or refreshing your segmentation, we help you stay aligned with how people actually shop, so you can act faster, spend smarter and grow with confidence.
Featured insights
Tools, guides, and fresh perspectives to help you read shopper behavior and sharpen strategy.
