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).

This year, Groceryshop attracted more than 4,000 retail professionals, including senior leaders and executives from more than 1,300 retailers, brands and technology providers.

At this event, Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, emceed the Startup Pitch competition and served as lead judge. The competition, held on the second day of the event, saw 12 early-stage retail-technology innovators compete within two categories: “Technologies Boosting Revenue and Conversion” and “Technologies Driving Cost Savings and Efficiencies.” Within each session, the judging panel narrowed the field to two finalists, and the audience then cast the deciding vote to crown that session’s winner.

The winners were:

• Technologies Boosting Revenue and Conversion Winner: Shelflife
• Technologies Driving Cost Savings and Efficiencies Winner: Perfect Store Group

For more information on the competition, see our Day Two report; and for more details on the startups, see our preview report.

Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder, Coresight Research
Source: Groceryshop

 

In this report, we present our top insights from Groceryshop 2026 centered around six key themes in CPG and grocery retail:

1. AI-Powered Shopping Experiences
2. Transforming and Optimizing Business Operations
3. Meeting Consumer Expectations
4. Retail Media Opportunities and Challenges
5. Unified Commerce and Omnichannel Marketing Strategies
6. Winning and Engaging Customers

Groceryshop 2026 Wrap-Up: Coresight Research Analysis

1. AI-Powered Shopping Experiences—Moving Beyond Item Search to Understanding Intent

Sessions highlighted the theme of a shift from search by item to intent- and mission-based shopping, which also reduces the mental load of shopping.

Several retailers described moving beyond retrieving recommendations to creating an entire basket fitting an expressed need. Instacart CEO Chris Rogers commented that AI is particularly suited for grocery because the category combines high frequency and high complexity. Consumers will, for example, request “a healthy meal my kids will eat under $40,” rather than build a cart item by item. Kroger discussed its customers using AI assistants to create baskets from photos, recipes and personalization signals, and Albert Heijn (Ahold Delhaize) is expanding its assistant from meal inspiration into higher-value tasks including personalized meal planning, pre-filled baskets and coupon activation. Grocery discovery is moving from product-search toward mission-based shopping to solve tasks such as meal planning, event preparation and budget-based shopping.

Speakers also discussed the value of AI in reducing decision fatigue. Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig commented, “The shopper is not asking for AI; they are asking for less work.” Harshad Agashe, VP, Data Science & AI Product, Albertsons, described that a consumer could state a weekly budget, request usual items and add a request to host guests, with AI assembling the basket rather than requiring an item-by-item search. This activity follows the move from segmentation to one-to-one personalization in marketing, where AI is used to understand consumer intent and the shopping occasion, rather than only to predict likely purchases.

Chris Rogers, CEO, Instacart (Left); and Ben Miller, Founder & Host, The GrocerTalk Podcast (Right)
Source: Groceryshop

 

2. Transforming and Optimizing Business Operations—Through Data, Fast Reaction and a Focus on Profitability

Sessions described AI moving from isolated pilots into the processes that set a retailer’s execution speed and cost structure.

Mustafa Bartin, General Manager, Migros Grocery, described how AI is reducing the time between detecting a shift in local demand and acting on it, which is essential in the highly competitive Turkish grocery market (the home of quick commerce retailer Getir). Bartin said AI-enabled workflows now identify low demand in a neighborhood to launch a targeted campaign within minutes, which previously took days [Day 2 Write-Up]. Further, other functions such as inventory, pricing and supply-chain processes need to operate. Migros evaluates customer adoption, associate adoption, technology maturity and regulatory considerations before scaling any new capability, and consumer concerns about dynamic pricing informed its cautious rollout of electronic shelf labels.

One common theme at Groceryshop and elsewhere is the need for solid data foundations for reliable results from AI. Schnuck Markets found an effective AI assistant required substantial data preparation, such as improving nutritional information and promotion data plus turning internal expertise into structured knowledge, which was for an assistant to reliably answer consumer queries. Germán Loewe, Founder and CEO of Shalio, described a shift in digital shelf management, where AI agents are moving dashboards toward continuous detection and root-cause analysis across millions of data points spanning multiple retailers and SKUs, with decision-making and execution the next steps to be automated.

There was also discussion centering on applying operating-model logic to online-grocery profitability. The panel moderated by Daryl Porter, Senior Partner, TOMORROW, targeted profitability within four interconnected factors: basket size, order frequency, reliability and quality, and fulfillment density and cost per order. Panelists commented that different models can be successful depending on the alignment of those factors. Petr Lizner, Director of Strategy and Growth, Rohlik Group, said its pure-play fulfillment model requires a basket size large enough to cover fulfillment, last-mile delivery, marketing and overhead costs, in addition to a 95% “perfect order” rate that linked to a 90 NPS. Guilherme Cardoso, Head of Ecommerce, MC Sonae, said that the retailer evaluates e-commerce using a fully loaded profit and loss statement, leveraging its around 400-store network, rather than relying on dark stores, operating only one in higher-density Lisbon.

3. Meeting Consumer Expectations—To Accommodate Stretched Budgets and Consumer Interest in Health and Wellness

Sessions discussed consumers redefining value as more than just price and grocery retailers extending their value proposition into health.

Nicole Collida, SVP and Managing Director, US Retail, NielsenIQ, sees a segmented consumer base in which “strugglers” account for approximately one-third of consumers and “thrivers” for around 9%. Rather than just seeking promotions, consumers are finding value in different ways: approximately 40% are switching to lower-priced brands, around one-third are shopping value channels and around one-third are buying private label. Myron Frazier, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer, Sam’s Club, summarized the retailer’s proposition as “a great item, at a disruptive price, delivered as only Sam’s Club can.” Jeremy Gosch, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Hy-Vee, cited price as “table stakes” and pointing to the 1,400 new private-label products launched in the past year, including a health-focused “Nothing But The Truth” brand, as the basis for differentiation.

Health emerged as a fast-growing area where retailers are extending the broader value proposition. Hy-Vee has built a healthcare ecosystem spanning grocery, pharmacy, pharmacy benefit management, telemedicine and direct primary care. Gosch described a food-as-medicine pilot in Nebraska in which high-risk diabetes patients received incentives to buy fresh food, work with dietitians and track outcomes. Many participants brought their A1C levels into the normal range, and 90% of those completing the six-month program continued those healthier behaviors afterward. GLP-1 also represents a meaningful health category. Coresight Research data identifies 13.0% of US adults as GLP-1 users, with usage peaking among younger consumers (approximately 18%) and Hispanic consumers (approximately 21%). The most common dietary change is smaller portion sizes, with shopping baskets orienting towards hydration, fresh produce and protein.

Myron Frazier, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer, Sam’s Club (Left); and Chris Walton, President and CEO, Omni Talk (Right)
Source: Groceryshop

 

4. Retail Media Opportunities and Challenges—Highlighting the In-Store Opportunity and the Importance of Identity

Sessions described retail media evolving from being advertising inventory to connected ecommerce platforms that need to prove a return.

Brian Monahan, SVP, Retail Media, Albertsons Media Collective argued that in-store media is a major opportunity since it can offer sponsored content at the moment of shopping. Leanne Gibson, SVP, Loblaw Advance believes that retail media should connect digital and physical experiences rather than disrupt them, with the customer journey being the starting point. CVS considers its physical footprint as a key advantage, with 9,000 locations, 67% of customers visiting weekly. The retailer is multiple in-store formats including, waiting-area screens in the pharmacy section, front-store displays and point-of-sale (POS) advertising, and the use of displays has expanded to 50% of its fleet.

Bobby Watts, SVP of AD Retail Media, Ahold Delhaize USA, sees the opportunity in combining customer identity, first-party purchase history and offsite and onsite media activation to reach consumers with a higher likelihood of purchasing. He further argues that retail media should connect awareness, consideration and purchase, rather than being restricted to lower-funnel conversion. Matt Knust, VP, Practice Lead (CPG), InMarket, argued that impressions, clicks and reach are delivery metrics, rather than the incremental demand that marketers actually need: traditional campaign reporting often arrives six to 10 weeks after a campaign ends — too late to optimize while it is still running. His response is a guaranteed iROAS (incremental return on ad spend) product, which sets a minimum incremental return before a campaign begins and measures performance against it while the campaign is active, enabling in-flight optimization.

Left to Right: Andrew Lipsman, Independent Analyst & Consultant, Media Ads + Commerce; Brian Monahan, SVP, Retail Media, Albertsons Media Collective; Parbinder Dhariwal, VP and General Manager, CVS Media Exchange; and Leanne Gibson, SVP, Loblaw Advance
Source: Groceryshop

 

5. Unified Commerce and Omnichannel Marketing Strategies—Success Derives from Choosing Which Channel to Pursue and Which Functions to Automate

Sessions centered on how omnichannel growth now depends on channel discipline rather than channel coverage, and this discipline is also changing how marketing content itself gets produced.

In the session “Designing a Multichannel Commerce Strategy,” Eric Le, VP of Growth Marketing and Insights, Siete Foods, argued that omnichannel success does not mean pursuing every available channel: brands need to define the role of each channel and invest accordingly. He continued, saying Siete Foods remains retail-led despite a strong digital community because stores continue to drive discovery, with owned digital channels used, rather, to learn about highly engaged consumers, test innovation and build relationships with superfans. Suman Nag, Head of Ecommerce, Freshpet, added that operating models shape these decisions directly: its refrigerated product requires strong physical retail execution, and therefore expansion into additional channels requires considering infrastructure, economics and customer expectations before committing. The panel agreed that channel expansion requires product adaptation, since a product architecture built for one channel cannot simply be copied into another, and assortment, packaging and formats need to reflect the purchase mission and economics of each environment.

This same discipline extends to producing marketing content. Andrew Pearson, Head of Content, North America, Diageo, argued that teams should determine what should be automated, what should be redesigned and what should remain human-led, rather than be automated simply because it is possible. Pearson continued, saying the goal was not reducing creative headcount, but rather freeing teams to spend more time on higher-value creative and strategic work. Brand safety, privacy and governance were identified as the key requirements for deciding which workflows to automate.

6. Winning and Engaging Customers—Maintaining the Relationship in an Agentic World with Memberships and Other Benefits

Sessions centered on the risk to customer relationships: as AI agents take on more of the shopping process, retailers need to keep consumers directly engaged, and membership programs are one of the strongest tools for accomplishing this.

The Groceryshop Key Takeaways session explored whether AI agents could become a new layer between consumers and retailers.

Chris Walton, President and CEO, Omni Talk, said expectations around agentic grocery have shifted towards how retailers will maintain relationships if consumers increasingly rely on external agents. Deborah Weinswig described large language models could become the “operating system” for commerce that lets consumers and retailers connect through AI-driven interfaces, and retailers building their own agentic capabilities around their customer relationships, data and assets. Ben Miller, Founder and Host, The GrocerTalk Podcast, framed the core challenge as disintermediation: retailers must determine how to benefit from emerging AI capabilities without losing ownership of the customer relationship.

Panelists in the session “Gaining a Competitive Advantage through Membership Programs” argued that membership is one concrete answer, provided the model is built on sustainable benefits and a deeper understanding of the customer. The panel distinguished paid membership from traditional loyalty programs: paid models create commitment because customers have already invested. April Lane, Chief Merchandising Officer, Thrive Market outlined that its longer-tenured paid members generally become more valuable and more loyal, whereas Reba Hatcher, Chief Commercial Officer, ButcherBox described moving beyond basic recency-frequency-monetary segmentation by combining data with customer conversations, behavioral observation and diary studies to understand which benefits actually change shopper behaviors. In an agentic commerce future, differentiated benefits could give retailers another way to remain relevant as AI agents influence more purchase decisions.

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

 

What We Think

This year’s Groceryshop conference focused more on the application of AI technology, rather than lauding it. Many of the keynotes centered on using AI chatbots to create shopping lists that follow the needs and concerns of today’s consumers such as hitting nutritional targets, staying within a budget and meeting the needs of GLP-1 users. The power of the chatbots is a boon for consumers, as they can easily compare the price of shopping baskets across retailers.

However, we view AI as having much greater potential application across grocery retail and CPG, and we consider meal-planning/basket-building convenience to be a relatively narrow use case. Higher-impact applications include demand forecasting, inventory management, pricing, merchandising and supply chain planning. In our view, the greater opportunity lies in applying AI to the wider set of decisions and processes that influence sales, loyalty and profitability. According to a 2026 Coresight Research survey of US retail professionals, customer service leads AI adoption among retailers (83% of surveyed retailers have deployed this in production), but other prominent use cases include fraud and loss prevention (77% have deployed), supply chain optimization (72%) and in-store operations (63%)—see our new IMPACT Playbook for more analysis.

Notes and Methodology

Data and conclusions in this report are as of September 26, 2026.

Companies mentioned in this report are: Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE: ACI), ButcherBox, CVS Health Corporation (NYSE: CVS), Diageo plc (NYSE: DEO), Freshpet, Inc. (NasdaqGM: FRPT), Getir, Groceryshop, Hy-Vee, Inc., InMarket, Instacart—Maplebear (NasdaqGS: CART), Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (Amsterdam: AD.AS), Loblaw Companies Ltd. (Toronto: L.TO), MC Sonae, Migros Ticaret A.S. (Istanbul: MGROS.IS), NielsenIQ, Omni Talk, Perfect Store Group, Rohlik Group, Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart Inc. (NasdaqGS: WMT), Schnuck Markets, Inc., Shalio, Shelflife, Shoptalk, Siete Foods, The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Thrive Market, TOMORROW, Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER).