Why the brick-and-mortar store experience matters more as commerce gets more automated.
By: Jennifer Shawgo, Senior Director, Technology Strategy & Programs, FMI
For grocery, human connection has a physical address: the store.
That makes brick-and-mortar more than a legacy channel. It is grocery’s experiential advantage in an increasingly automated commerce environment.
As ecommerce grows, AI-enabled shopping expands and agentic commerce begins to emerge, more of the grocery journey will be shaped by digital systems before a shopper enters the store. That shift makes the physical experience more important, not less. The store is where freshness is proven, trust is reinforced, discovery happens and local connection becomes tangible.
FMI and NIQ project total U.S. online grocery sales will reach $452 billion by 2028, representing 25.5% of grocery-related sales. While stores currently represent about 80% of grocery sales, ecommerce is expected to drive most of the growth over the next several years.
That growth will reshape how grocery demand is created, captured and fulfilled. It should also reshape how retailers think about the store experience.
The strategic question is not simply how to protect stores from digital change. It is how to be more intentional about the store as the place where grocery remains human, sensory and trusted.
The store is where grocery becomes real
Grocery is different from many retail categories because shoppers still make decisions with their senses.
They look for the right color in produce. They smell fresh bread. They choose a cut of meat or seafood. They feel whether an avocado is ripe. They notice a prepared meal that solves dinner. They sample something new and put it in the basket.
Those moments carry more value as shopping becomes more digital and automated.
Algorithms can recommend. Digital shelves can personalize. AI agents may eventually help plan baskets and manage routine purchases. But the physical store is where shoppers can see quality, ask questions, discover something unexpected and feel connected to the food they are buying.
That is grocery’s advantage. The industry should treat it like one.
Human connection needs intentional design
Human connection in grocery does not happen by accident. It is created through store conditions, staffing, training, fresh execution, assortment decisions and the judgment of associates who understand the food and the neighborhood.
The produce manager who knows what is in season. The deli team that remembers a regular order. The store leader who understands local preferences. The associate who helps a shopper choose the right ingredient.
These moments may feel small, but they are the lived experience of the brand.
As more shopping activity moves through digital systems, these human moments become easier to dilute. Not because retailers stop caring about them, but because complexity creeps in. More channels. More tasks. More digital touchpoints. More operational noise competing for the same space, labor and attention.
That is where intentionality and investment meet. Retailers need to be clear about which parts of the store experience they want to preserve and strengthen: fresh departments that feel abundant and cared for, service that helps shoppers make better choices, sampling and education that make discovery easier, local assortment that reflects the neighborhood and store teams with more capacity for customer-facing work.
Automation should strengthen the experience
AI and automation can improve forecasting, reduce out-of-stocks, support merchandising and remove repetitive work from store teams. The efficiency case is real. The strategic question is what retailers do with those gains.
If automation only makes the business faster, grocery leaves value on the table. If it creates more room for fresh execution, service, education, discovery and local relevance, it becomes an experience strategy.
As digital commerce grows, more activity will continue to touch the store, from pickup and delivery to fulfillment tied to store inventory or store-adjacent operations. That reality deserves planning, but it should serve the larger goal: Digital growth should reinforce the store’s role as the center of human connection in grocery.
The future of grocery will be increasingly digital. The trust that holds the grocery relationship together will still be built in the store.
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