Retailers say they’re shopper first but their aisles tell a different story

 

When I travel, I can’t resist a store walk. Some people sightsee, I head to the supermarket. I call them a curious safari and for me they’re a window into how retail is evolving. What experiments are happening on the shop floor, how brands and retailers are working together, and ultimately, how shoppers are being served.

 

On a recent trip to France, what stood out wasn’t the cheese or wine aisles, but how common cross-category collaborations were. From ready-to-eat meals paired with drinks, to seasonal bundles that solve whole shopping missions in one stop, retailers are far more willing to break down silos and think the way shoppers actually think.

 

Back home, I shared some examples with clients. Their response was the same every time: “Yes, we pitch these kinds of ideas all the time. The buyer loves it… then it just disappears into the too-hard basket.” And that’s the frustration. Everyone agrees these activations make sense, yet, in Australia and New Zealand, very few ever make it from pitch deck to shelf.

 

At its core, cross-category collaboration means creating solutions that mirror how shoppers actually shop. Consumers don’t wander through stores thinking in terms of brand blocks or category management structures. They shop occasions. They’re solving problems. What’s for dinner tonight? What do I put in the kids’ lunchboxes? What will we need for a weekend barbecue?

 

That’s why collaborations work best when products are clustered around missions. The retailer benefits through bigger value baskets. The brand benefits by becoming part of the solution rather than just a product on a shelf. And importantly, the shopper gets a faster, easier, more relevant experience.

 

So why do so many of these initiatives fail to get off the ground? The barriers are systemic.

 

First, buyers are measured on category performance. Success metrics don’t reward collaboration across silos, so even if a cross-category idea makes sense for the shopper, it often doesn’t for the KPIs. Second, shelf space is a political battlefield. Deciding which category ‘loses’ space for a joint display can stall even the best ideas. Third, retailers are risk averse. Planograms (drawings or plans for displaying merchandise in a store to maximise sales) feel safe, even if they’re uninspiring. Shopper-first ideas can be dismissed as ‘too risky’.

 

And finally, infrastructure is a huge barrier. Great ideas often require flexible fixtures - chilled endcaps, modular displays, dual-temperature shelving, that many stores don’t have. Without investment in the basics, concepts die before they ever reach trial.

 

The Australian Retailers Association has long argued that the future of shopper marketing lies in occasion-led, cross-category activations, but admits most execution is still siloed. The Retail in Focus 2025 report from Arktic Fox notes how collaboration remains difficult as key business units within retailers, such as marketing, eCommerce, loyalty and operations continue to operate independently rather than holistically. 

 

Finally, research from Publicis Sapient finds why consumers are increasingly demanding connected, available and personal shopping experiences across all touchpoints; only around half of shoppers believe those expectations are being met. The disconnect is real.

 

I’ve seen what’s possible when you flip the lens to focus on the shopper. Years ago I worked collaboratively with a retailer and brand to reimagine the baby aisle. Traditionally, everything was grouped by brand: nappies here, formula there, baby food in another block.

 

But research told us time-poor new mums don’t shop by brand, they shop by life stage. Infant for Formula, nappies and bottle, toddlers for solids, toilet training etc.

 

We reorganised the aisle around those missions and the age of the child. The results were significant. The brand I worked with jumped from number three to number one in the category. The retailer saw happier shoppers and began inviting the brand into more conversations, granting preferential shelf space.

 

Shopper-first thinking, combined with test-and-learn pilots helped make the shopper journey for new mums easier and quicker meaning they shopped across other categories in the store doing their weekly shop. This proves it can work here, it just takes courage.

 

Globally, these ideas are routine. Tesco’s Meal Deal's bundle a sandwich, chips and drink at a single price, co-funded by brands, with each item located within proximity to each other. Target in the US curates back-to-school zones with stationery, snacks, and lunchboxes, while Pepsi and Doritos don’t just advertise together, they dominate game day displays, pairing drinks and snacks around the sports occasion.

 

These aren’t just promotions, they’re shopper solutions and they deliver measurable results in bigger baskets and deeper shopper engagement.

That brings us to the key question, who needs to step up? Retailers hold the floor space, shopper data and infrastructure budgets. Brands bring shopper insights, creativity and co-investment. Overseas, the most effective models are partnerships, where both sides share accountability and upside.

 

Locally, there are encouraging signs. Olivia Wirth’s turnaround strategy at Myer is built on reimagining the shopping journey across categories, not just within them. But brands also have a responsibility: to bring insight-led occasions to the table, backed by shopper data, and to push for pilots that prove the value.

 

The good news is that breaking through doesn’t require sweeping change. It requires small, deliberate steps. Start with pilots in a handful of stores. Align KPIs around joint outcomes like basket size or penetration, not just category growth. Invest in flexible, modular infrastructure that allows displays to evolve. Use the data from early trials to build confidence and scale. It’s about building proof points and showing that shopper-first collaboration isn’t risky, it’s rewarding.

 

The question isn’t whether cross-category collaboration works. Globally, it already does. From France to the UK to the US, it’s reflected on shelves every day in the way retailers and brands build missions, not silos.

 

Here, it too often ends up in the too-hard basket. The opportunity is wide open, but it won’t be unlocked by courage alone. It will take perseverance from brands, and a willingness from retailers to challenge the way things have always been done.