The squeeze on grocer and CPG margins continues as tariffs and inflation increase costs. On a microeconomic level, grocery markets worldwide are also seeing increased competition from grocery upstarts, established online grocers, and omnichannel retailers from adjacent verticals. Despite a tough economic climate, sound strategies, smart technology investments, and an exceptional understanding of consumer behavior can help retailers and CPGs address rising costs and win and retain shoppers. Via new research, this session provides the latest on economic forces shaping grocery and supplies organizations with the necessary insights to counter economic headwinds.

With consumer spending slowing, growth across grocery has gotten tougher. However, smart strategies and investments in technology have come to the rescue, serving as critical pieces for unlocking profitable growth. In this panel conversation, senior grocery retail executives will discuss the role of digital commerce, innovation, personalization, and seamless shopping journeys in drawing new customers, driving purchases, and growing basket sizes.

Price-conscious shopping? Increasing. Health and wellness? Trending. Convenience? Thriving and expected. Today's retailers and consumer brands must deliver on a growing list of consumer preferences and use consumer insights to adapt their playbooks. In this session, a leading analyst will deliver a research presentation highlighting the most important consumer trends and shopping habits.

Price-conscious shopping? Increasing. Health and wellness? Trending. Convenience? Thriving and expected. Today's retailers and consumer brands must deliver on a growing list of consumer preferences and use consumer insights to adapt their playbooks. In a Track Keynote session, a leading retail executive shares the most important consumer behaviors they're observing and provides actionable takeaways on how to balance various shopper preferences and demands.

Leading CPGs have shifted from a reliance on price increases to a focus on boosting volumes to drive growth. They are developing omnichannel marketing strategies that drive demand, curating engaging content for the digital shelf, implementing revenue growth management tactics, and rebalancing their portfolios to match consumer preferences. In this track keynote, we spotlight C-suite executives from CPGs focused on volume-led growth. They will share how their strategies are manifesting across DTC, online retailers, and wholesale partners.

Amid today's AI gold rush, grocers and CPGs have an array of tools at their disposal to help automate operations and deliver more engaging shopping experiences. Technologies in the consideration set of retailers and consumer brands include AI agents for marketing, demand forecasting solutions, tools enabling dynamic pricing, and software to mitigate shrink. This fast-paced, game-show style session will feature leaders from retailer and consumer brands responsible for evaluating new technologies. These executives will race against the clock to share their perspective on solutions they believe are overhyped and tools they foresee transforming the grocery shopping experience and business operations.

Retailer-brand relationships remain predicated on aligning goals and strategizing on how to deliver the best offerings and experiences for the consumer. Technology and data serve as an accelerant for win-win growth, with CPGs bringing their direct-to-consumer data to the table and retailers providing insights from loyalty programs, ecommerce, physical retail, and retail media. In this panel discussion, C-suite leaders from retailers and brands discuss the evolution of retailer-brand partnerships and strategies that strengthen their relationships.

In response to higher prices, consumers globally are shopping at multiple stores, switching to lower-cost brands, and seeking out more deals. While the primary drivers behind these shifting preferences are external forces—inflation, product shortages, and other economic headwinds—grocers must take on the responsibility of delivering more value to their customers. Tactics include retooling promotional plans, personalizing shopping experiences, and expanding private label offerings. This session begins with the latest research on the value-obsessed shopper, followed by a panel discussion where retailers and consumer brands detail how they are meeting the needs of these shoppers.

Despite a slight deceleration in growth, retail media’s rise continues, as more retailers launch their own networks and advertisers shift more spending towards performance marketing. As retail media matures, enticing capabilities such as onsite targeting and closed-loop measurement has become standard and expected offerings. Standout networks must provide a unique value proposition, deliver capabilities that unlock marketing across the funnel, and offer advertising tools that enhance the shopping experience. This session begins with an in-depth research presentation on the state of retail media and the capabilities that can take networks from standard to best in class. The presentation will then be followed by a panel conversation with leading retailers discussing the investments they are making in their networks and how they are partnering with brands to address their pain points and deliver return on investment.

From shelf-monitoring robots to in-store retail media, grocers are making significant investments in physical retail that tackle inefficiencies, align with evolving shopping behaviors, and keep customers returning. Whereas previously grocery retailers crafted stores laser-focused on efficiency or tailored towards inspiring shoppers, next-generation stores must deliver both simultaneously. This session kicks off with research on the future of stores. The session continues with a panel conversation tackling how grocers build retail environments that blend engagement and efficiency.

Startup Pitch is back with a new class of early-stage startups that are enabling innovation in grocery and CPG. The 12 participating companies are split into two groups of six. During this session, CEOs and founders from our first cohort of startups take the stage and share how their solutions are significantly enhancing shopping experiences. They have three minutes to pitch their product offerings to an esteemed panel of judges and the audience. After each pitch, the audience and judges cast their votes.

While some shoppers are becoming more price-conscious, a growing cohort of consumers are willing to pay more for products that deliver quality. With this green light, grocers are offering elevated, five-star experiences, and brands are investing in premium, high-quality products. In this collection of case studies, three retailers and brands take the stage to share how they are successfully serving up high-end offerings and experiences that serve their current consumer base and attract new customers, all amidst tightening purse strings.

No longer a drop in the bucket or an experimental investment, retail media has quickly become a major type of advertising for consumer brands. With plans to increase their retail media ad spend, CPGs are challenged with identifying which teams should own retail media and how to reallocate marketing budgets. In this panel discussion, three executives from consumer brands share how they are developing holistic marketing and sales strategies that include retail media. They will also share how they align internally on goals and work cross-functionally across teams for a coordinated retail media investment.

In addition to streamlining store operations and delivering engaging shopping experiences, retailers are also investing in technology that benefits store associates. Whether it’s automating menial work, helping with prioritizing tasks, or facilitating communication with team members, technology can immensely reduce workloads for store associates and enable them to offer better customer service to shoppers. Through a series of case studies, three senior retail executives will share how they are arming their workforce with technology that drives productivity and satisfaction.

Startup Pitch is back with a new class of early-stage startups enabling innovation in grocery and CPG. The 12 participating companies are split into two groups of six. During this session, CEOs and founders from our second cohort of startups take the stage and share how their solutions deliver significant cost savings and efficiencies for retailers and consumer brands. They have three minutes to pitch their product offerings to an esteemed panel of judges and the audience. After each pitch, the audience and judges cast their votes. Then, the audience and judge scores for each of the 12 startups are combined to determine the top five contestants who move to the final round.

Here’s the skinny: The global GLP-1 market is expected to grow significantly, and the drug's current adoption is already being felt by retailers and consumer brands. Health-conscious consumers who leverage GLP-1 medications for weight management and improving their overall wellness are shifting their actions in the aisles by opting for smaller portions and seeking healthier products. In this session, a research analyst will deliver new research on GLP1's impact on grocery and highlight how retailers and consumer brands can adapt to shoppers’ preferences for less food consumption and more nutritious offerings.

Here’s the skinny: The global GLP-1 market is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2031, and the drug's current adoption is already being felt by retailers and consumer brands. Health-conscious consumers who leverage GLP-1 medications for weight management and improving their overall wellness are shifting their actions in the aisles by opting for smaller portions and seeking healthier alternatives. This Track Keynote will address GLP1's impact on grocery and how a large food and beverage company adapts to shoppers’ preferences for less food consumption and more nutritious offerings.

"

Originally serving as a way for advertisers to drive online sales, retail media offerings have since expanded to include marketing opportunities earlier in the shopper journey and advertising that influences offline purchases. Through off-site partnerships across social, search engines, and connected TV, today’s retail media networks can assist with targeted messaging that drives brand awareness and consideration. Additionally, with most grocery transactions occurring in physical locations, retailers are bringing retail media solutions to physical stores. This session features two presentations from CPG marketers and an interview with the leader of a prominent retail media network. Executives will share how they build unified retail media campaigns across channels, with an emphasis on off-site and in-store activations. 

In recent years, retail theft has elevated in many cities across the U.S. and has reached all-time highs in countries such as Australia and the UK. Short-term solutions to tackle this problem have included locking up products, retrenching on self-checkout, and other tactics that add friction to shopping experiences for everyday shoppers. In this panel conversation, retailers discuss new technologies that mitigate shrink and exchange strategies for delivering a seamless in-store experience that protects shoppers, associates, and merchandise.

And then there were five! Startup Pitch’s Final Round features founders and CEOs with the best pitches from the first round of the competition. In this session, each finalist participates in a short interview where they are asked tough and pointed questions about their business and solutions. Once each interview concludes, the judges and audience record their scores. The company with the highest score from the judges is crowned the Judges’ Choice winner and the presenter with the best audience score is crowned the Audience Choice winner.

While a clever quip or sleek image could hold its own in the past, effective storytelling is critical in cutting through the noise and building brands today. With shoppers prioritizing convenience, value, and personalization, marketers must prove their brands align with these needs. They must experiment with engaging and immersive formats—from influencer-led video content to branded activations in virtual environments—and leverage data and analytics to tailor brand communications. In this session, retailer and consumer brand executives take the stage to share their innovative approaches to building brands and crafting content that resonates with consumers.

Online grocery is here to stay, resonating with consumers who seek convenience and different grocery shopping modalities: pick up, delivery, or building a grocery list online ahead of shopping in store. Scaling and growing this part of the business requires investment in digital capabilities such as AI-powered search, personalization, easy product substitutions, and shoppable recipes. Other considerations include decisions to partner with marketplaces that can drive new customers, fulfillment and delivery strategies that can scale as your ecommerce business grows, and loyalty offerings that keep customers returning. In this Track Keynote, a C-suite retail executive shares best practices for scaling online grocery and ecommerce's role in fueling omnichannel growth. They will also share more on digital capabilities that improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Online grocery is here to stay, resonating with consumers who seek convenience and different grocery shopping modalities such as pick up, delivery or building a grocery list online ahead of shopping in store. Scaling and growing this part of the business requires investment in digital capabilities such as AI-powered search, personalization, easy product substitutions, and shoppable recipes. Other considerations include decisions to partner with marketplaces that can drive new customers, fulfillment and delivery strategies that can scale as your ecommerce business grows, and loyalty offerings that keep customers returning. In this panel conversation, two senior ecommerce leaders share best practices for scaling online grocery. They will also share capabilities and ecommerce strategies that can drive operational efficiencies and better shopping experiences.

Due to fierce competition and changing input costs, proper pricing and promotion strategies are critical in helping grocers stay competitive and adjust to trends and evolving consumers. Predictive analytics, machine learning, and generative AI tools are supporting operations, merchandising, and pricing teams by unlocking agile pricing and promotion at a product and store level. Through a series of case studies, retailer and brand executives will walk through efforts by their organizations to scale AI-powered electronic shelf labels, build engines for personalized promotions, and leverage real-time data to optimize pricing.

From smart carts with interactive displays to shelf-monitoring robots, many grocery stores are investing in cutting-edge technologies that improve operations and elevate the shopping experience. In this session, leaders at retail tech companies will discuss technology's role in enhancing stores and strategies for introducing technology upgrades to physical retail.

From leveraging data clean rooms to collecting first-party and zero-party data, today’s retailers and brands have various tools to help uncover consumer insights. Simultaneously, consumers now expect companies to leverage data to address their unmet needs and deliver more targeted marketing. Through three case studies, brands and retailers will share how AI and consumer data can fuel successful products launches, uncover new audience segments, and deliver the personalized marketing that shoppers value.

With pressures limiting margin expansion in its core business, grocers and CPGs are seeking new revenue streams that drive growth. A key tactic for many retailers and brands has been the development of in-house technologies and offering these services to other organizations. From retail media networks to logistics-as-a-service, this session will address how retailers and brands are becoming providers of technology services with the launch and scaling of various B2B businesses.

The annual costs associated with overstocked and understocked goods is $1.7 trillion globally, and volatile consumer demand makes it increasingly challenging to address this problem. Thankfully, new tools and strategies are helping retailers and brands better understand demand signals, adjust their assortment accordingly, and even bring new products to shelves. In this Track Keynote, a senior merchandising and supply chain leader discusses the processes, technologies, and data needed to monitor and respond quickly to consumer demand. The session includes examples of critical changes to product assortment to better meet customer preferences.

The annual costs associated with overstocked and understocked goods are $1.7 trillion globally. Volatile consumer demand makes it challenging to address this problem and offer the right inventory that matches demand. Thankfully, new tools and strategies are helping retailers and brands understand demand signals, adjust their assortment accordingly, and even bring new products to shelves. In this panel conversation, senior merchandising and supply chain leaders discuss the processes, technologies, and data needed to monitor and respond quickly to consumer demand. The session will include examples of critical changes to product assortment to better meet customer preferences.

AI agents are quickly becoming best friends to executives across grocery and CPG. While there’s potential for these tools to run fully autonomously, they currently serve as helpful companions who democratize data across the organization, offer informative insights and recommendations, and execute tasks related to demand forecasting, marketing spend, pricing, and promotions. This session features four founders and CEOs developing agentic AI solutions for various job functions. They will each present the problems their businesses are addressing and rejoin the stage together to discuss how retailers and brands best implement and leverage agentic AI solutions.

Offering commerce in-store and online has quickly become table stakes. However, delivering a truly unified and seamless shopping experience across these channels can help grocers and consumer brands stand out. Unified commerce efforts for grocers and food retailers often include building smart mobile apps, loyalty programs, and other digital experiences that help bridge online and in-store shopping. For brands, it’s all about delivering consistent marketing across channels and providing the proper nudges in a shopper journey that is no longer linear. In this Track Keynote, a consumer brand executive will explore the capabilities, technologies, and strategies necessary for unified shopping experiences.

Offering commerce in-store and online has quickly become table stakes. However, delivering a truly unified and seamless shopping experience across these channels can help grocers and consumer brands stand out. Unified commerce efforts for grocers and food retailers often include building smart mobile apps, loyalty programs, and other digital experiences that help bridge online and in-store shopping. For brands, it’s all about delivering consistent marketing across channels and providing the proper nudges in a shopper journey that is no longer linear. In this Track Keynote, a retail executive will explore the capabilities, technologies, and strategies necessary for unified shopping experiences.

Traditional business models for grocery and CPG are fading. New playbooks are needed, and models must evolve to bring in additional revenue. Through three case study presentations, retailers and brand executives will walk through pivots and strategic initiatives that have unlocked growth. Examples include CPG brands that have uncovered new sales channel and white space opportunities, grocers that have significantly boosted private label offerings, and retailers that have launched membership and subscription models.

Modern consumers require grocers and brands to have a thorough understanding of their preferences and serve that expertise in a palatable way. However, consumers are simultaneously more protective of their personal information than ever before. In this session, four founders and CEOs of technology companies spend five minutes showcasing their personalization solutions, and then they will participate in a fast-paced panel discussion to expand on their insights.

Shoppers today stumble across new products as they scroll on their favorite social media platform or tune into their favorite influencers’ livestreams. Given the rise of AI-powered chatbots and voice assistants, shoppers also expect retailers and brands to offer conversational experiences that enable better search and discovery of products. In this panel conversation, executives from retailers, consumer brands, and social platforms discuss the evolution of search and discovery and how this part of the shopper journey can be enhanced to meet consumers' growing expectations. They will share how they are investing in conversational and AI-powered search, making their products more easily discoverable, using consumer data to offer personalized recommendations, and trialing new initiatives in-store that foster discovery.

To keep up with today’s pace of change, it is vital for businesses to launch and scale new technologies quickly and bring products to market fast. Unlocking speed, agility and innovation often requires a review of organizational structures, processes and goals. This session begins with a detailed framework for spurring innovation in large organizations. The session continues with leaders of transformation sharing how they are helping their organization embrace innovation by adopting practices that accelerate the discovery, piloting and scaling of new ideas.

Across CPG categories, competition online is stiff, and standing out amongst a sea of products can be challenging. Consumer brands are monitoring their presence across ecommerce platforms and adjusting accordingly to boost their visibility and drive digital sales. In this session, a senior research analyst will present the capabilities leading CPGs are prioritizing to win at digital commerce. Following this presentation, three ecommerce executives will also take the stage sharing their strategies for improving search rankings. delivering engaging and relevant content on product detail pages, managing product availability, and other key efforts to optimize their presence on the digital shelf.

Social media, livestreaming, AI-generated chatbots, and immersive gaming experiences have evolved significantly. While they are still used primarily for consuming content and fielding questions, they are also essential mediums for brands to engage with consumers and enable shopping. Smart organizations are rethinking their online presence and experimenting with activations on these platforms that are both engaging and shoppable. This session kicks off with a research presentation highlighting the evolution of commerce across social, chatbots, virtual assistants and immersive environments. Following this presentation, executives from retailers, brands and social platforms will participate in a panel conversation addressing today’s collapsed shopper funnel and the use of emerging channels to drive engagement and facilitate commerce.

Data silos, conflicting priorities, and inefficient communications serve as major barriers to growth, hindering data-driven decision-making and collaboration. As part of their digital transformation journeys, organizations are attacking these challenges head-on by building centers of excellence to help aggregate data, adopting agile methodologies to drive cross-functional collaboration, and crafting aligned goals across teams. In this session, retail and consumer brand executives will take the stage to discuss the tools, workflows, and strategies that are helping break down silos and enable a more unified organization.

Executing grocery online is a tall order, as costs rise and consumers show reluctance to delivery fees and increases in prices. However, technology and proper fulfillment and delivery strategies are assisting with reducing costs and powering efficiencies. In this panel conversation, three retail executives share how they are embracing automation in fulfillment centers, implementing smart picking paths and pick to light technology in store, and using route optimization tools for last-mile delivery. Additionally, they will each provide their point of view on improving grocery operations.

Loyalty is never guaranteed, especially amidst today’s economic uncertainty. Over three-quarters of global consumers are taking measures to offset price increases by trading down, seeking private label products, and spending less. With these loyalty hurdles in mind, retailers and brands must revisit their strategies and programs to retain shoppers and encourage repeat purchases. Whether it’s rewards programs with challenges and quests, or tailored promotional offers, three leading retailers and brands share how they’re turning to gamification and personalization to drive loyalty.

Numerous technology solutions are emerging that can deliver gains in efficiency and improve shopping experiences. However, rigid legacy infrastructure in large organizations can often prevent the adoption of new technology and stifle growth. As a solution, organizations are replatforming to make their tech stacks future-ready and more flexible. Through an in-depth analyst presentation, this session will offer best practices for designing a tech stack that powers long-term growth. The presentation will be followed by a conversation with senior retail and brand leaders who share their journey towards headless commerce and their approach to adding complementary pieces to their tech stack.

It’s the final countdown! As a wrap-up to 50+ sessions across four days, the Groceryshop content team will take the stage to discuss the show's most important themes, topics, and takeaways. This rapid-fire, quick-hitting session will help ensure you pick up everything on your list before checking out of Groceryshop.