If you are a regular reader of this newsletter than you know that we pride ourselves on taking risks. It’s what enables Nikki to make predictions about the coming year each January, or Paula to question some of the world’s largest retailers about their development plans. It’s also what enables Brian to take profoundly deep dives into technical and legal issues, and me to try to introduce new words to the retail vernacular (prang, for example).

But while this format serves as the place for our blog-style weekly musings, it’s important to note that we take our formal benchmark research dead seriously. It is what keeps us current. It’s what enables us to validate, or, just as frequently – refute – our going in assumptions on any given retail-related topic. And we like to take risks there, too.

For example, right around this time last year, when we were planning our 2013 Research Agenda, we of course made plans to repeat our annual mainstay reports: Pricing, Merchandising, The Store. But we consciously kept a few spots open for “TBD ” benchmarks – we did this to guarantee that when 2013 came around, we’d be asking about the things that mattered most in 2013.

So as summer starts to wind down and we start thinking about our 2014 Research Agenda, the question is simple: what do you think should be a topic we should investigate next year? One that no one else might dare to?

We’d love to have your input.