Groceryshop 2019 The Coresight Research team will be attending and participating in the Groceryshop 2019 conference, which runs September 15-18 in Las Vegas. The conference is expected to bring together over 3,000 attendees and more than 200 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. The event also covers the rapid shifts in how consumers discover, shop and buy — from the use of new technologies and business models to the latest shopper trends. Emerging Technology Spotlight Session This is the second year the Coresight Research team will support Groceryshop’s early-stage technology startup event: On September 15, Coresight Research CEO and Founder Deborah Weinswig will emcee the Emerging Technology Spotlight, which features 20 innovative technology companies presenting their solutions to solve major retail problems. Groceryshop selected the participating startups based on their solutions, looking for companies that solve for some of the most pressing challenges in grocery, e-commerce, food and CPG. All participating startups offer business-to-business (B2B) solutions. Over 130 companies applied to present at the event: From that group, we selected the 20 using a rigorous vetting process. These are some of the selection criteria:

• Early-stage, defined as pre-series A funding.
• Relevant to the grocery and/or CPG industries.
• B2B solutions (not consumer-facing).
• Scalable (good growth prospects).
• Highly innovative (deep differentiation).
• Important (solving a major industry problem).

The companies span several countries, although most are based in the US:

• US: 14
• Canada: 2
• Israel: 2
• Australia: 1
• Spain: 1

We categorized the 20 companies into four buckets of retail disruption: Data and Insights: Digital technology is creating new metrics and capabilities to glean insights and understand the best way to meet and exceed customer expectations. Improved Shopping Experiences: Shoppers demand intuitive and more seamless grocery experiences, both online and in-store. Grocery retailers face challenges in keeping their assortment up to date and in sync with fast-changing consumer demand. Next Generation Marketing: With so many different touchpoints and channels to reach consumers, engagement has become more complex than ever. And, there are rapid shifts in how consumers discover, shop and buy. New marketing technologies help grocery retailers and CPG’s engage and acquire customers. Operations and Supply Chain: Over the next few years, new omnichannel grocery offerings will likely go mainstream, giving consumers new experiences as well as more convenient delivery and pickup options. Simultaneously, technologies such as robotics, AI and IOT are changing how grocery items move from producer to store to consumer. Simplista at a Glance Founded in 2016, Simplista developed a cloud-based B2B product listing platform for grocery, pharmaceutical and hardline retailers. The company’s solution cuts the time between selecting a product and placing it on store shelves. The solution provides real-time information exchange between retailers and suppliers, thus, reducing costs, improving data integrity and increasing productivity. Simplista collects data attributes of each product, links the products with pre-defined rules and stores this information in its cloud-based data-end. It then automatically integrates supplier and retailer data, sends supplier datasets to retailers, then publishes a listing in the retailers’ back-end system. Supplier data is more easily captured and validated at source, retailer data is quickly and accurately integrated, and product changes are executed seamlessly. [caption id="attachment_96256" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Simplista[/caption]   What Problem Does Simplista Solve? Retailers want to speed the product listing process at their backend. The process is normally quite time-consuming, is prone to errors and delay. Simplista’s solution simplifies and automates product listing and item master management. Headquarters Toronto. Funding Stage n/a. Management Team Founder and CEO Evan Silver has a background in computer science and business intelligence. He is also founder and CEO of Bianix Technology. Market Potential According to research from Mordor Intelligence, the business process management market was valued at $3.18 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.26% until 2024, to $4.5 billion. Company Outlook/News Simplista plans to go into series A funding and enter the US market in 2019.