Researchers have tracked Tweets to see which part of the country is happy or if our mood changes during the week. Here is evidence that retailers will use sales information to change the way merchandise in their stores is organized. I think this is how Wal-Mart “realized” consumers were having stay-cations.
At the height of the recession in 2008, Wal-Mart Stores realized that consumers were “cocooning” — vacationing in their yards, eating more dinners at home, organizing family game nights. So it responded by grouping items in its stores that would turn any den into an at-home movie theater or transform a backyard into a slice of the Catskills. Wal-Mart wasn’t just selling barbecues and board games. It was selling experiences.
