MISALIGNED:

The 2026 State of Retail Communication and Execution

How the HQ-Store Disconnect Fuels Lost Revenue, Low Morale, and Operational Waste

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What 227 Retail Leaders Across North America Really Think

There’s a widening chasm in the retail landscape—one that execution, frontline retention, and a whole lotta money is getting lost in. 

In the fall of 2025, we partnered with Retail Dive and Studio by Informa TechTarget to ask 227 anonymous corporate and frontline leaders about their day-to-day realities. And misalignment was at the root of almost every barrier to doing great work and keeping great employees. 

The good news? Now that we understand core problems, we can focus on core solutions.

Get Notified First: 
Ground-Level Insights to Uplevel Operations

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The survey reveals a defining retail truth for 2026: alignment is everything. Sign up to get all of the nitty gritty numbers, candid feedback, summarized themes—and how to turn what we know now into what drives success from now on—sent straight to your inbox when the report goes live. 

INSIDE THE REPORT:

Real Takes, Raw Data:
Revealing a Path to Store Success

Get your free 2026 State of Retail Communication and Execution report for eye-opening insights into what’s working (and what’s not) at HQ and store levels. Covering execution, communication, organizational alignment, and steps to make 2026 an A+ on all fronts.

  • The great perception gap: Why HQ leaders give themselves a 9.13 out of 10 for clarity—while store managers give them a 5.67

  • Fragmentation fallout: Key areas of misalignment and their true business cost in execution, sales, and staffing

  • Broken feedback loops: Why 70% of store leaders feel they don’t have a clear voice

  • Task (mis)management: Tackling confusion and burnout from disjointed processes

  • Communications chaos: Why teams needed clearer comms—and how to solve for it

And how retail organizations can use these insights to boost execution, accountability, and morale as we head into 2026. 

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“Give teams clarity and support that reflects their time and expertise, and they’ll do what they’ve always done best: show up with confidence, take great care of customers, and bring your brand to life in a way no one else can.”
- Melissa Wong, Co-Founder and CEO of Zipline

 

Get Ground-Level Insights to Uplevel Operations

The survey reveals a defining retail truth for 2026: alignment is everything. Get your free report to see all of the data, unfiltered feedback from the retail pros doing the work, and how to turn what we know now into what drives success from now on.