Technology

How Is Technology Changing Grocery Shopping?

This year’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends study took a deep dive into the world of technology to understand how the evolving digital world is changing how Americans shop for food and how that may impact food retailers. On the surface, when we decided ...

Technology, Loyalty and Millennials

Millennials continue to lead the way online in using the same-day and next-day delivery models but also in subscribing to meal kits and in taking advantage of online touchpoints for food service takeout or delivery....

Digital Relationships Forge Engagement with Shoppers

Influencers – humans and animals –live in a digital world where they have a strong consumer following based on lifestyle, humor, advice or even culinary skills. There are tiers among influencers; celebrities hold their own, but they can also embody ...

AI Powers The Customer Experience

Not a day goes by that I don’t find myself reading about grocery stores rolling out new technologies to engage shoppers. If you happen to Google “technology in grocery stores,” I guarantee you’ll find at least five pages of relevant, interesting ...

Could Tornado Alley be the Next Silicon Valley?

When the tech bubble burst at the end of 2000, I was working as a customer business manager at Kraft Foods. The following year, we integrated Nabisco and completed an initial public offering for the company, so we were laser-focused on reinforcing ...

Industry-wide Initiatives Are Hard, But That’s What Makes Them Great

Industry-wide voluntary initiatives are tough. It takes time to organize and implement change to get on the same page with partners. Inevitably there are bumps in the road, lessons to be learned and wrinkles to iron out. But the result is worth it—a ...

Five Questions Shoppers Ask About The Food They Buy

Technology and digital services can offer a viable solution to the information-hungry customer by providing access to the targeted information they want in the way they prefer to consume it. It’s also a way for grocers to provide transparent ...

New Technologies Drive Next-Generation Loyalty

This is not loyalty 1.0 – or even 2.0. Retailer loyalty programs are getting major upgrades in the wake of extreme retail competition and more demanding, tech-savvy ...

Solving Consumer Needs Requires Innovation and Relevancy

Today, the industry’s compass needs to be pointed directly on how to solve consumer needs. To do that, the future of grocery will employ technology as a tool to help shopper buy more ...

Virtual Reality: The Unsung Hero of Brand Packaging

If there’s one constant in the CPG industry, it’s that brands are always searching for the best ways to get their products noticed on the store shelf. It’s more important than ever to create packaging that can stand out in a (very congested) crowd. ...

It’s Time for Food Retailers to Take the Lead on Card Security

Here is what we do know; on its current trajectory U.S. payment fraud is expected to reach a whopping $14.41 billion by 2025, and as a country we are lagging behind our competitors. American consumers, retailers, financial institutions and our ...

Information the Way It Should Be

Our fascination with data has swiftly moved from a mere attraction to a determined expectation. Technology’s gift of speedy access to the facts and figures we want touches every aspect of our lives – including what we expect to know about the food ...

Shaping the Future of Couponing

According to U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2017 report, 52 percent of shoppers now use digital coupons while at the grocery store. That number increases to 68 percent of shoppers from households with kids indicating the convenience factor of digital ...

Technology Reinvents Retail − From Supply Chain to Store Shelves

In today’s food retail environment, emerging technologies − from blockchain to Internet of Things (IoT) − are beginning to produce clear gains. Retailers are leveraging new technologies to enhance aspects including supply chain, food safety, and ...

Three Tools for Independent Retailers on Ecommerce

For the past two years, FMI has been engaging our members in assessing their ecommerce capabilities and the digitally engaged food shopper. This has been a big topic of interest, in particular, to FMI’s independent retail members as they look to ...