Why Are Mid-Sized Retailers Poised To Be the Food Industry’s Most Interesting Technology Innovators?

Mid-sized retailers are leading in technology advancements due to agility and advanced planning.  

By: Julie Savoie, Senior Director, Work Force, Talent & Sustainability, FMI 

At a time when much of the industry's technology conversation centers on artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation, an unexpected group of innovators is emerging: mid-sized food retailers. 

FMI’s 2026 State of Technology report reveals that retailers operating between 11 and 100 stores are often outperforming expectations in some of the industry's most important workforce-related technology investments. While larger operators continue to lead many technology categories overall, mid-sized companies are demonstrating that innovation isn't always about scale. Increasingly, it's about how effectively technology is used to support people and operations. 

Workforce challenges remain among the most pressing issues facing food retail. Labor shortages, retention concerns, evolving skill requirements, and rising expectations around productivity continue to place pressure on retailers to do more with limited resources. Yet workforce planning remains the least mature analytics use case across the industry, with fewer than half of retailers reporting they use analytics for workforce planning. Mid-sized retailers stand apart. Seventy percent report using workforce analytics, outperforming both small and large operators. The finding suggests many mid-sized retailers recognize an important reality: technology delivers greater value when it helps organizations make better decisions about people. Workforce analytics can provide visibility into scheduling needs, labor allocation, and operational performance, helping retailers move beyond reactive staffing decisions toward more strategic workforce management.  

The same workforce-first approach appears in cybersecurity preparedness. While cybersecurity is often viewed as a technology issue, it is ultimately a people issue as well. Employees remain the first line of defense against phishing attempts, social engineering attacks, and data breaches. According to the report, half of mid-sized retailers provide cybersecurity training quarterly or more frequently, leading all retailer segments and surpassing even large chains in training cadence.  

Mid-sized retailers are also experimenting with AI in workforce-related functions. They lead all retailer segments in the use of AI for hiring purposes and demonstrate strong adoption of AI tools that support employee training, development, and communications. While AI adoption across workforce functions remains relatively early across the industry, these retailers appear willing to explore how technology can enhance employee effectiveness rather than simply automate tasks.  

What makes this story particularly interesting is that these companies achieve many of these results without the resources available to the industry's largest operators. Their advantage may be organizational agility. They are often large enough to invest in modern technology, yet nimble enough to implement change quickly, and align teams around common goals.  

As the food industry moves from technology adoption to technology value creation, mid-sized retailers are demonstrating that technology's greatest impact often comes from helping employees work smarter, develop new skills, and make better decisions. In that respect, they may be offering a preview of what the next phase of grocery innovation looks like.  

Read the State of Technology 2026