Introduction

Coresight Research is a research partner of Groceryshop 2026, which took place during September 22–24 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Groceryshop is an annual conference that brings together global retailers, brands and technology leaders to discuss trends, innovations and strategies shaping the future of grocery and consumer packaged goods (CPG).

The sessions at Groceryshop 2026 were categorized into six major themes, which we presented in our guide to the event:

• AI-Powered Shopping Experiences
• Transforming and Optimizing Business Operations
• Meeting Consumer Expectations
• Retail Media Opportunities and Challenges
• Unified Commerce and Omnichannel Marketing Strategies
• Winning and Engaging Customers

In this report, we present key insights from the third and final day of Groceryshop 2026, which mainly covered the topics of personalization, agentic commerce, value and affordability, health-focused grocery strategies, loyalty and membership models and private-label differentiation.

Groceryshop 2026 Day Three: Coresight Research Insights

1. AI and Personalization: Moving from Segments to individual Customer Needs

AI-driven personalization was one of the strongest themes across Day 3 discussions, with speakers exploring how retailers can move beyond traditional segmentation toward more contextual, individual experiences.

Sabrina McPherson, SVP at Publicis Sapient, described the next phase of personalization as the ability to “notice what one person needs, right when they need it.” She highlighted that AI is changing both customer engagement and internal workflows, but achieving this requires organizations to rethink ownership, governance and roles rather than simply adding technology.

McPherson outlined several operational implications:

• Manual processes slow down personalization
• Poor inputs create downstream challenges
• More effort does not always translate into better outcomes
• Organizations need to identify where AI can remove friction and where human judgment remains necessary

The panel discussion demonstrated that many companies are still transitioning from segmentation-based personalization toward true one-to-one experiences.

Cristian Arcangeli, VP, Marketing, Strategy & Digital Business at illy caffè, said companies are currently doing more segmentation than personalization. He noted that businesses may have moved from smaller customer groups to much deeper segmentation, but this still differs from understanding the individual customer. In illy’s case, approximately 80% of current efforts remain segmentation-based, although segments are becoming increasingly detailed.

Harshad Agashe, VP, Data Science & AI Product at Albertsons, emphasized that personalization should focus on customer outcomes. He described the importance of understanding not only what customers buy but also what they are trying to achieve, such as building a basket for a specific occasion while managing budget constraints.

Vinicius Oliveira, Tech Director at iFood, described a more advanced approach using AI models trained on transactional and ecosystem data. He explained that iFood is using its own large commerce model to create experiences based on the individual customer and context. Rather than simply recommending products, the model can adapt the shopping experience based on context. For example, it can understand that a customer’s needs differ between a weekday lunch order and a weekend evening order.

2. The Biggest AI Opportunity: Reducing Decision Fatigue

Although AI capabilities are expanding, Day 3 discussions repeatedly returned to the idea that consumers are primarily seeking easier shopping experiences.

During the Groceryshop Key Takeaways session, Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, summarized the consumer perspective: “The shopper is not asking for AI, they are asking for less work.” The implication is that AI adoption will depend less on whether consumers interact directly with AI and more on whether it makes shopping simpler.

Harshad Agashe described one example of AI helping customers express an intended outcome rather than search item by item. A customer could explain that they want to spend a certain amount for the week, purchase usual items and also host guests, with AI helping build the basket. He said removing mental effort could encourage customers to explore more, while recognizing that experimentation is still required.

The Groceryshop closing discussion also highlighted Instacart’s meal-planning examples. Weinswig noted that AI assistants could help customers solve common grocery challenges, such as planning a meal within a budget, shopping across retailers and managing food allergies.

3. Agentic Commerce: Retailers Must Protect Direct Customer Relationships

As AI agents become more capable, speakers discussed the potential shift in how consumers interact with retailers.

The Groceryshop Key Takeaways session explored whether AI agents could become a new layer between consumers and retailers. Chris Walton, President & CEO of Omni Talk, said expectations around agentic grocery have evolved, with greater attention now on how retailers maintain relationships if consumers increasingly rely on external agents.

Deborah Weinswig discussed the possibility of large language models becoming an “operating system” for commerce, allowing different vendors and retailers to connect through AI-driven interfaces. She noted that retailers are responding by developing their own agentic capabilities using their customer relationships, data and assets.

Ben Miller, Founder & Host of The GrocerTalk Podcast, highlighted the challenge around disintermediation: retailers need to determine how they avoid losing ownership of the consumer relationship while still benefiting from emerging AI capabilities.

4. Retailers Are Expanding the Definition of Value Beyond Price

Consumer affordability pressures remained a central theme, with speakers emphasizing that value now combines price, quality, convenience and trust.

Brendan Witcher, Global VP, Product & Content at Shoptalk & Groceryshop, framed grocery innovation through the industry’s approximately 2% profit margin. Unlike higher-margin industries, grocers have less capacity for failed experimentation, meaning technology and strategic investments must demonstrate clear business value.

Several retailers argued that competing purely on price is insufficient.

• Jeremy Gosch, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Hy-Vee, said Hy-Vee views price as “table stakes” and differentiates through service, quality and customer trust. The company developed 1,400 new private-label products last year and has invested in differentiated offerings such as its “Nothing But The Truth” health-focused brand.
• Katie Kobus, VP, Marketing at Save A Lot, similarly described value as helping shoppers feel confident about their purchases. She highlighted the importance of communicating local ownership, fresh-cut meat programs and private-label products designed to match national-brand quality.

Jeremy Gosch, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Hy-Vee
Source: Groceryshop

 

5. Private Label and Curated Assortments Strengthen Differentiation

Private label emerged as a major strategic theme, with speakers discussing how exclusive products and differentiated assortments could become increasingly important in an environment where consumers and AI agents can compare prices more easily.

Abhi Ramesh, founder and CEO of Misfits Market, explained that the company began by selling imperfect produce but expanded after identifying opportunities to sell excess and short-dated CPG inventory through e-commerce. One early example involved approximately 50,000 units of salad dressing with around 180 days of shelf life remaining. The product sold out online within approximately 30 minutes, helping validate expansion beyond produce.

Today, Misfits operates as a curated online grocery business with fewer than 2,000 SKUs across produce, pantry, deli, dairy, meat and seafood. Produce remains central, representing around half of units in the basket, while approximately one-third of the total basket remains connected to the original imperfect or rescued-produce proposition.

Its Odds & Ends private-label business combines:

• “Ends” — high-quality staple products sourced at attractive value
• “Odds” — upcycled products designed to reduce food waste.

6. Health and Food-As-Medicine Expand Grocery’s Role

Health was another area where retailers discussed creating deeper relationships with consumers.

Hy-Vee has built a broader healthcare ecosystem that includes:

• Grocery
• Pharmacy
• Pharmacy benefit management
• Telemedicine
• Direct primary care partnerships

Jeremy Gosch described healthcare as central to the company’s mission. It has also developed food-as-medicine initiatives using loyalty data, pharmacy touchpoints and dietitian support.

For example, one Nebraska pilot involved 575 high-risk diabetes patients. Participants received incentives to purchase fresh foods, engage with dietitians and track health outcomes. Gosch said many participants improved their A1C levels into the normal range, and 90% of participants who completed the six-month program continued healthier behaviors.

GLP-1 medications were also highlighted as a potential shift in grocery demand. Brendan Witcher cited research showing:

• 21% of US households now include a GLP-1 user, compared with 9% in 2025
• 54% of users have been on treatment for more than a year
• Grocery spending declined by 5.3% within six months for households with at least one GLP-1 user

Coresight Research data add depth to these findings. As of 2026, we identify 13.0% of US adults as GLP-1 users, with usage peaking among younger (about 18%) and Hispanic (about 21%) consumers. We regularly track GLP-1-driven behaviors, and our consumer data confirm that the biggest dietary shift is simply consuming smaller portion sizes, as part of a repertoire of changes in how GLP-1 users consume. We have pointed to the grocery basket rotating toward hydration, produce and protein—the categories that retailers should prioritize when curating GLP-1-specific assortments: retailers can reallocate shelf space and focus on health-forward categories like protein foods, hydration, vitamins and functional foods. Find more data and analysis in our reports What Will a Retail Health Offering Look Like in the Future, and How Can AI Support That? and Playbook: Strategic Responses for Brands and Retailers to the GLP-1 Consumer Boom.

7. Membership Evolves from Rewards Program to Relationship Platform

Membership programs were positioned as increasingly important tools for creating loyalty in a market where consumers can easily switch between brands and retailers.

A panel featuring Danielle Sheridan, Global Head of Membership & Loyalty at Uber; Reba Hatcher, Chief Commercial Officer at ButcherBox; and April Lane, Chief Merchandising Officer at Thrive Market, emphasized that successful membership models depend on sustainable benefits and deeper customer understanding.

Speakers distinguished paid membership from traditional loyalty programs. Paid models create commitment because customers have already invested, but businesses must ensure benefits generate enough value without becoming an unsustainable cost burden.

Thrive Market uses paid membership as part of its core business model, with April Lane explaining that longer-tenured members generally become more valuable and loyal.

Reba Hatcher described moving beyond basic recency-frequency-monetary segmentation by combining data with customer conversations, behavioral observation and diary studies to understand what benefits actually change behavior.

The panel also discussed membership’s potential role in an agentic commerce future. As AI agents influence purchase decisions, differentiated membership benefits could give retailers another way to remain relevant.

Left to Right: April Lane, Chief Merchandising Officer at Thrive Market; Reba Hatcher, Chief Commercial Officer at ButcherBox; Danielle Sheridan, Global Head of Membership & Loyalty at Uber; and Brendan Witcher, Global VP, Product & Content, at Shoptalk & Groceryshop
Source: Groceryshop