What: Asset Strategies Group finds that shoppers are increasingly switching retailers rather than brands, making value a CEO-level strategic issue that discounting cannot solve.

Why it is important: The divergence between Bloomingdale's and Macy's namesake stores shows that shoppers are rewarding clarity of proposition, not depth of discount.

Asset Strategies Group's 2026 report argues that value-seeking has become structural and spans every income level. Among US households earning more than $100,000, 75% consider store-brand grocery quality equal or superior to national brands, according to Alvarez & Marsal. Consumers economise where products seem interchangeable and protect spending where performance, identity or emotional reward matter.

The more serious threat is retailer switching. Between Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, the share of grocery shoppers intending to switch to cheaper brands at their current store fell from 49% to 35%, whereas those planning to change retailers but keep their brands rose from 16% to 27%. When a customer leaves, the retailer loses the basket, customer data, loyalty participation, retail-media exposure and cross-category purchases.

The report treats promotions as a trap: frequent discounting teaches shoppers to wait for deals and undermines the credibility of regular prices. Trader Joe's, by contrast, offers no coupons, membership cards or special discounts. Winners such as Walmart, Costco, Aldi and TJX share a clear proposition funded by real operating advantage. The report urges boards to ask how much of their value proposition rests on that advantage and how much is borrowed from future margin.

IADS Notes: The value reallocation described by ASG is already visible in US department store market share, which has fallen below 3% as off-price operators such as TJX, Ross and Burlington and resale platforms capture value-driven demand (Retail Dive, May 2026). Walmart's performance through the tariff year supports the report's argument that value must be funded by structural advantage: scale, supplier leverage, private label expansion and Walmart+ membership income allowed it to maintain competitive pricing and profitability at the same time (Reuters, May 2026). The promotional trap is equally apparent in beauty, where overlapping discounts across Amazon, Sephora, Ulta and TikTok Shop risk training shoppers to wait for deals and weakening prestige brand equity (BoF, July 2026). Within Macy's Inc., the divergence the report cites as evidence of the power of clarity persisted into the second quarter of fiscal 2026, with comparable sales up 11.3% at Bloomingdale's and 6.2% at Bluemercury against 1.1% at the namesake stores (BoF, September 2026). Tony Spring's turnaround of the namesake banner has meanwhile drawn explicitly on Costco's model of private label, operational consistency and investment in top-performing stores (Bloomberg, December 2025).

The great value reallocation