The Coresight Research team is in Las Vegas this week to participate in Groceryshop 2019, being held September 15-18. The event will cover the transformation of consumer packaged goods (CPG), grocery and related industries and features over 200 speakers. More than 3,000 industry professionals will meet to participate in 70 sessions. Key themes this year include the transformation of retail across convenience stores, supermarkets and e-commerce, and changes in production and distribution processes in CPG across multiple verticals. Participants are also talking about the rapid shifts in how today’s consumer discovers, shops and buys; how they use new technologies; innovative retail business models; and, the latest trends in consumer behavior, preferences and expectations. Groceryshop 2019 Opening Remarks Groceryshop Founder and Chairman Anil Aggarwal said in his opening day remarks that “Consumers are empowered with information and technology, more than ever. Shopping is more than just a trip to store.” The changing consumer expectation will fuel innovation in grocery and CPG industries. Groceryshop’s goal is to provide an ecosystem for innovation. Emerging Technology Spotlight Weinswig kicked off the event by emceeing the Emerging Technology Spotlight session, in which 19 innovative companies had four minutes each to present to a panel and the live audience. Coresight Research categorizes the nineteen startups into four solutions: Improved Shopping Experiences; Data and Insights; Next Generation Marketing; and, Operations and Supply Chain.   We profiled the 19 participating companies in detail in the following reports: Adrich, Datasembly, ShopperMotion,Simporter, Oriient, Pick 'n' Watch, SuperUp, Tastry, Tiliter Technology, BrandChat, CoupDog, Datasembly, Gather AI, Leaf, Macondo Ventures, MeisterDish, Oriient, Pick ‘N’ Watch, Leaf Logistics, Retail Aware, Shopperations, Shoppermotion, Simplista, Superup, Tastry and Tiliter. The table below gives a brief profile of each participant, see the full reports (above) for more detailed information. [caption id="attachment_96391" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   After the presentation, each company had a brief Q&A with Deborah Weinswig, during which the audience voted for the companies they liked using the Groceryshop app or site. As the voting process continued, Weinswig shared her insights on current trends in grocery, much driven by Coresight Research proprietary surveys and data. These are the top ten key points:

1. More than 1/3 of US consumers buy groceries online.
2. Consumers buy only small amounts of groceries online.
3. Walmart is narrowing the gap with Amazon for the most-shopped retailer.
4. Amazon shoppers spend less of their grocery budget online than shoppers at multichannel retailers.
5. Collection has a slight lead over delivery.
6. Online grocery shopping peaks among older millennials.
7. Consumers are ready to purchase from direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands.
8. Amazon, the largest DTC company, has consistently raised consumer expectations.
9. Grocery retailers can use AI to drive experiences and efficiency.
10. Zero waste helps processes from manufacturing to packaging to consumption.

Who came out on top? After the votes we tallied, the innovators (as selected by the audience) were:

• Gather AI
• Meisterdish
• Oriient
• Simplista
• Shopperations

Notably, Simplista was also the winner in Groceryshop 2018 Startup Pitch Competition last year. [caption id="attachment_96392" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Left to right: Hannah de Boer (Cofounder and CEO, Meisterdish), Olga Yurovski (Founder and CEO, Shopperations), Joe Laszlo (VP Content, Groceryshop), Evan Silver (Founder and CEO, Simplista ), Micky Balter (Cofounder and CEO, Oriient), and Deborah Weinswig (Founder and CEO, Coresight Research).[/caption]   Target Keynote Stephanie Lundquist, SVP and President of Food and Beverage at Target, shared the following insights:

1. New owned brand launches lift the entire category, benefiting national brands, too.
2. Consumers want the ease of drive-up, delivery, in store and more.
3. Personalization and customization can be technology- and personal-interaction driven.
4. Supply chain can be a retailer’s super power since it is highly differentiated.
5. Retailers often need to customize technology for particular use cases to drive efficiency.

The future of Discovering and Buying Beauty Keynote Krystina Gustafson, VP Content at Groceryshop, interviewed Amy Shecter, CEO at Glamsquad, in this session. Glamsquad offers on-demand beauty services. Amy Shecter shared that consumers today are increasingly interested in personalized products and services, and that they are the best form of advertising. Social media has become a strong force in attracting new customers – the company is looking into Tik Tok to target younger customers.