From 28 September to 1 October 2025, US-based events organiser Shoptalk held its annual Groceryshop conference in Las Vegas. Across four stages hosting presentations and panel discussions, thought leadership focused on the impact of AI, the challenge of serving customers across digital and physical channels, the currently fragmented but promising retail media space, and declining sales volumes.
Technology creates opportunity and complexity: AI and the fragmented landscape of social media
The impact of AI on the grocery industry was a recurring theme. Uber’s Global Head of Delivery, Susan Anderson, anticipated a not-too-distant future where conversational platforms, enabled by agentic AI, would not only shop but also request delivery for the consumer. A key question for Anderson was how mobility could play a role in anticipating consumers’ needs, and, in turn, how that dynamic could fuel Uber’s expansion into the grocery space as an intermediary player. CEO and founder of Ocado Group, Tim Steiner, talked about Ocado’s success in applying robotics to e-commerce fulfilment to reduce the cost of delivery, especially for the BOPIS model. For Bobby Watts, SVP Ahold Delhaize Retail Media & Digital Merchandising, AI offered the potential to build multiple versions of compelling marketing content based on different consumer profiles.
As grocery retailers and delivery providers look to diversify their revenue streams in the face of declining volumes, numerous sessions were devoted to the topic of retail media. A conversation featuring executives from Ferrero, The Coca-Cola Co, Bayer, and the Havas Media Network proposed that TikTok Shop is already considered the third largest global retail media network, behind only Amazon and Walmart. As many of the participants pointed out, however, the retail media sector is still in a formative stage; with over 250 networks, the landscape is highly fragmented, so it can be difficult for brands to navigate.
Several speakers noted the currently underserved area of the physical store when it comes to retail media, a salient point given the amount of grocery shopping that still happens in-store. Mapping shopper behaviour in-store was a topic for Sam’s Club Vice President of Digital Merchandising, Rina Hurst, who described the retailer’s “Scan & Go” technology as a way to understand not only what the consumer buys but how they move through the store.
Grocery has relatively low penetration when it comes to e-commerce.
In 2024, online sales in the US accounted for just 11.5% of total grocery retail sales
Source: Euromonitor International
However, e-commerce as a proportion of grocery expenditure continues to grow, suggesting opportunity for retailers that build their business model around it – if the value message is clear. Nick Green, CEO and co-founder of Thrive Market, a pure play e-commerce grocer, spoke at Groceryshop about Thrive Market’s focus on making healthy grocery choices affordable for consumers across a breadth of dietary platforms. Thrive Market’s interest in a specific consumer segment has helped offset the challenge of scaling the fresh side of its business without physical stores, a situation that Amazon knows all too well. Indeed, for the moment, given the wide leads that Walmart and intermediary Instacart have over Amazon in grocery e-commerce sales, it is clear that understanding the relationship of bricks-and-mortar retail to a grocer’s online channelcontinues to be critical to amassing significant grocery market share in the US.
Read our strategy briefing, The World Market for Fast-Moving Consumer Goods: Outlook and Opportunities, for a deeper dive into the evolving dynamics of retailing fast-moving consumer goods. For a broader view of the global retail landscape, read our strategy briefing, The World Market for Retail.