In our second annual report, we reveal which retail and restaurant brands customers say are resonating with them most through the physical experience.
The Eight Forces That Matter Most in Retail
March 23, 2026
In Chain Store Age, we break down the eight forces that matter in retail today.
Most brands measure experience backward. They track satisfaction. They monitor Net Promoter Score. They review post-visit surveys. Those tools tell you how a visit ended. They do not tell you whether the brand gained momentum.
ChangeUp’s inaugural Experience Report evaluated 200 retail and restaurant brands across eight proprietary dimensions. Not to create another ranking system. But to isolate the forces that determine whether customers seek a brand out, talk about it with friends, and choose it again when they didn’t have to.
The premise is straightforward: customers don’t remember stores or restaurants the way operators think they do. They remember how a visit made them feel. And those feelings are not random. They move in patterns.
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