Coloring outside the lines

Crayola saw an opportunity to bring their creative expertise to a fast-growing audience of adult coloring enthusiasts shopping at Walmart. Using Scintilla, Crayola combined customer mindsets, behaviors, and sales performance insights to validate demand for its new All Grown Up line, helping pave the way for a chainwide launch. And the data also revealed a bigger opportunity: By looking beyond traditional product categories and aisles, Crayola uncovered a connected shopping mission that could reshape how customers shop the experience at Walmart.

The opportunity: Meet a growing adult coloring audience

As adult coloring gained momentum, Crayola saw an opportunity to reach Walmart customers in the segment. Before launching Crayola All Grown Up—a premium line of adult coloring books paired with alcohol-based markers—the team wanted to understand the audience, validate demand, and determine the role Crayola could play.

While adult coloring books and alcohol-based markers supported the same creative activity, they lived in two different Walmart departments: Stationery and Craft. For shoppers, completing one creative project could mean navigating multiple areas of the store to find everything they needed.

The approach: Connect customer mindsets, behaviors, and sales performance

Crayola used Scintilla to create a more complete view of shopper demand and behavior. First, they used Customer Perception to speak directly with verified Walmart shoppers who had purchased adult coloring books within the last 52 weeks. The findings validated the opportunity with 75% of shoppers saying the Crayola All Grown Up line felt like it was made for them. Before the line ever hit the shelf, Crayola had validated one side of the story: stated preference.

Next, Shopper Behavior helped Crayola understand who was already buying in the category. They uncovered a valuable Walmart shopper seeking screen-free, relaxing hobbies—primarily female, with an average basket spend ~30% higher than the category average. Shoppers also showed strong engagement, with two or more books appearing in 10% of baskets. Together, these trips generated nearly $100 million in associated Walmart spend, confirming the value of this audience.

One question remained: How were shoppers actually shopping the mission? Shopper Behavior revealed that shoppers weren’t simply buying a coloring book—they were building a creative experience. While the shelf was product-led, the shopper was mission-led. Alcohol-based markers were the top marker choice in baskets containing adult coloring books, while 28% of alcohol-based marker baskets also contained coloring books. Across markers overall, 25% of baskets included coloring books, reinforcing the connection between the two categories.

Finally, Crayola needed to understand the role the brand could credibly play when sharing their learnings with Walmart. Data from Report Builder and Shopper Behavior showed that Crayola led adult coloring in gross merchandise volume, had some of the most productive titles in the category, and attracted 36% more customers than the competition.

The results: Creating a strategy focused on the shopper

These insights helped Crayola bring the All Grown Up line to Walmart, resulting in a chainwide launch.

But the opportunity didn’t stop with the products themselves. Cross-category basket analysis from Shopper Behavior showed that adult coloring booking and alcohol-based markers were part of the same shopping mission. The Crayola team used those findings to work with Walmart on a new merchandising approach that brings the products closer together, creates a cohesive Crayola brand block, and organizes the experience around how customers actually shop.

That work is now shaping a new, connected adult coloring destination, including a fall 2026 debut in up to 2,600 Walmart stores.

What began as an opportunity to launch a premium product line ultimately helped Crayola make the case for a new way to merchandise the entire experience and drive cross-departmental growth.