Groceryshop 2018

The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2018 conference, which runs October 28–31 in Las Vegas. The team behind the Shoptalk retail and e-commerce conference founded this new event, which will cover the disruption of the grocery, CPG and related industries. Coresight Research has previously partnered with Shoptalk to host that conference’s annual startup pitch competition. Groceryshop is expected to bring together 1,000 attendees and more than 150 speakers. Discussion topics will include the transformation of the retail industry, including convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in the production and distribution of CPGs across multiple retail verticals. Additionally, the event will cover the rapid shifts in how consumers discover, shop and buy—from the use of new technologies and business models to the latest trends in consumer behaviors, preferences and expectations. According to Zia Daniell Wigder, Cofounder of Groceryshop and Chief Content Officer of Shoptalk, Groceryshop was created to meet the needs of a sector on the verge of a massive shift. The percentage of grocery sales made online in the US is only 2%–3%, significantly lower than for other categories such as apparel and electronics, where e-commerce accounts for about 20% of sales, Wigder said. Over the next few years, new omnichannel grocery offerings will likely go mainstream, providing consumers with new experiences as well as more convenient delivery and pickup options. Digital platforms that offer the best mix of price, selection and convenience will see increased transaction volume, while physical stores will experience change and likely play a key role in online order fulfillment.

Startup Pitch Competition

On October 28, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee a startup pitch competition featuring 12 innovative, early-stage technology companies that provide solutions to solve major problems in e-commerce, grocery retail, and/or the food or CPG sector. Each company will present its business to a panel of judges from the investment community and to the audience. Two winners will be announced, one chosen by the panel of judges and one by audience vote, and each winner will be awarded $10,000. Groceryshop curated the participating startups based on their solutions to some of the most pressing challenges that grocery, e-commerce, food and CPG companies are facing. All of the participating startups have less than $3 million in funding, provide business-to-business (B2B) solutions and were founded in 2014 or later. We categorized the 12 companies into four buckets of retail disruption:

• Sourcing, Merchandising and Cataloging: Shoppers are demanding more grocery choices than ever before, and grocery retailers face challenges in keeping their assortments up to date and in sync with consumer demand.
• Enabling Grocery E-Commerce: Providing engaging and personalized online experiences while meeting consumer expectations regarding fulfillment and delivery is crucial for retailers.
• Improved Shopping Experiences: Shoppers are demanding intuitive and more seamless grocery experiences both online and in stores.
• Tracking, Measurement and Insights: Digital technology is creating new metrics and capabilities for gleaning insights for grocery retailers and CPG manufacturers.

Below, we profile Packyge, one of the companies participating in the startup pitch competition at Groceryshop. We categorize Packyge as being in the Enabling Grocery E-Commerce group.

Packyge

Company Description

Packyge provides an e-commerce solution for complex grocery products, offering analytics, services and APIs that enable consumer interactions with stores. Packyge’s patent-pending technology uses consumers’ mobile phones, data and browser-based, retailer-facing screens to facilitate interactions for both retail associates and shoppers. The company’s white-label software solutions simplify food-related e-commerce, enabling the fulfillment of complex grocery orders such as custom-decorated cakes, high-end butcher cuts or made-to-order deli platters. Packyge’s cloud software helps companies assemble e-commerce orders in-store for consumer pickup or delivery and for ship-to-store and return in-store operations. The software is also designed to integrate with or implement retailers’ loyalty programs by building add-on sales around interactions using client data, artificial intelligence and analytics.

Market Overview

Online grocery sales represent a relatively small part of the overall grocery retail market, but e-commerce is among the fastest-growing channels in grocery. Most online suppliers in the US already provide same-day delivery options. In recent years, more and more firms have tried to enter the e-grocery industry, where existing operators include AmazonFresh, FreshDirect, NetGrocer, Safeway and Walmart. According to Nielsen, in as few as five to seven years, 70% of consumers will be grocery shopping online. By 2022 or 2024, US shoppers are expected to spend an estimated $100 billion, or $850 per household, per year on online grocery purchases. The retail business environment has become multichannel, and the increased volume of marketing and merchandising data that companies must process in order to make crucial decisions has increased demand for cloud services in the retail market. Market research firm Mordor Intelligence expects the global retail cloud market to grow at a CAGR of 20.61% from 2018 to 2023, to reach $40.75 billion.

What Problem Is the Company Solving?

As more food ordering moves online, grocery stores and traditional meal providers risk losing share to food delivery companies and national quick-serve restaurant chains, both of which often provide rich digital interactions to consumers. Grocers can’t afford to be noncompetitive in this experience-driven segment, especially in higher-margin, experiential retail categories. Packyge provides cloud-based analytics, services and APIs that enable consumer interactions with the store as a hub. The company’s solutions integrate with a retailer’s existing e-commerce, in-store and loyalty systems to create engaging experiences within the retailer’s brand context that rival those offered by restaurants and food delivery services.

Headquarters

Naperville, IL

Funding Stage

Preseed, angel

Business Model

Packyge clients pay for a full-service implementation of the company’s SaaS platform, and then pay $50/month/store for the functionality provided by the platform. Store rollout is predicated on jointly owned, predefined success outcomes that align the interests of the client and Packyge. The company is open to other performance-based pricing models that may work for clients.

Management Team

Cofounder and CEO Abhi Dhar has spent 20 years in corporate environments in the US and as an expatriate in the UK. He has worked in the digital space since 1998, most recently running technology and digital operations for a Fortune 50 retail chain. Cofounder and CTO Chandra Shetty has been a founding member of multiple ventures and previously spent more than eight years at Cisco Systems engineering three brand new product lines. Head of Product Management Chhaya Dave has more than 20 years of experience building product strategies and creating software products.

Company Outlook

Packyge is integrating its platform with popular e-commerce solutions such as Shopify, Magento and Commerce tools as well as with industry standard ERP platforms such as SAP. The company will extend and improve these integrations as it adds clients. Using real-time data, Packyge is implementing prediction-based insights for supply reordering, trend anomalies, and client experiences and satisfaction. The company also intends to connect to home delivery companies, so food orders can be delivered to consumers’ homes on demand.