Groceryshop 2026: AI, GLP-1 and Retail Media Face Growth Test

AI-powered shopping, GLP-1-driven demand and the next phase of retail media will dominate Groceryshop 2026, as industry leaders move beyond experimentation and confront the commercial decisions reshaping everyday retail.

Retail has no shortage of transformative ideas.

The harder question is which of them can deliver measurable growth.

At Groceryshop 2026, artificial intelligence, retail media and the impact of GLP-1 medications will move from industry talking points to practical business priorities.

Taking place from 22 to 24 September at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the event will bring together more than 4,000 retail professionals from over 50 countries, with one in three attending at C-suite level.

More than 150 confirmed speakers will represent grocery, mass retail, club, drug, dollar, convenience, pharmacy and consumer packaged goods.

Senior leaders from Instacart, Unilever Wellbeing, Kroger, DoorDash, Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale Club, Mercado Libre, Dollar General and Diageo are among those expected to take part.

The agenda reflects an industry under pressure to make faster and more disciplined decisions.

Retailers and brands must invest in new technology, respond to changing consumer behaviour and build additional revenue streams, all while protecting margins and improving the customer experience.

Groceryshop's focus this year is not simply on what might happen next.

It is on what operators need to do now.

Grocery's Biggest Trends Are No Longer Separate

AI, retail media and health-led consumer change are often discussed as distinct trends.

In practice, they are beginning to influence the same decisions.

AI is changing how customers search for products, build baskets and interact with retailers.

Retail media is changing how brands reach those customers and how retailers monetise their platforms.

GLP-1 adoption and evolving wellness priorities are changing what shoppers put into their baskets in the first place.

These forces affect assortment, marketing, pricing, product development, data strategy and the design of digital shopping journeys.

Rocquan Lucas, Vice President of Content at Groceryshop, said shopping baskets across grocery, convenience, dollar and drug channels are being reshaped simultaneously by AI, GLP-1 and retail media. "Leaders rarely get the chance to compare notes with a peer solving the same problem in a different channel or country," he said. "That's what Groceryshop is built for, zeroing in on the decisions leaders must make right now to cut costs, grow market share, expand margins, deliver standout shopping experiences, and finalise their strategy for 2027."

A pharmacy, supermarket, convenience chain and wholesale club may serve different customer missions, but they are now confronting many of the same strategic questions.

AI-Powered Shopping Is Moving From Search to Decision-Making

Artificial intelligence will be one of the most prominent themes at Groceryshop 2026.

The conversation has shifted significantly.

Retailers are no longer asking whether AI will influence commerce.

They are asking how much of the shopping journey it will control.

Chris Rogers, Chief Executive Officer of Instacart, will discuss how the business is using AI, retail media and technology to create a more intuitive shopping experience and generate new growth for retailers and brands.

Instacart sits at the centre of several important industry relationships.

It connects shoppers with retailers, retailers with technology and brands with purchase data.

Its approach to AI could therefore influence how product discovery, recommendations and advertising evolve across digital grocery.

A separate keynote featuring Andy Fang, Co-Founder of DoorDash, and Yael Cosset, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Kroger, will explore the development of conversational, seamless and personalised shopping experiences.

The implication is significant.

Today, a shopper may search for a specific product.

Tomorrow, that same customer may ask an AI assistant to plan a week of meals, meet nutritional goals, stay within a budget and complete the order automatically.

That changes the role of search, loyalty and product visibility.

Retailers and brands may increasingly need to influence the systems making decisions on behalf of consumers, not only the consumers themselves.

The Industry Needs Evidence, Not More AI Hype

For all the excitement surrounding AI, adoption remains uneven.

A dedicated session featuring experts from Bain, Kantar and Euromonitor International will examine what is actually driving consumer use of AI-powered shopping tools.

The discussion will focus on product discovery, purchasing behaviour and the future of agentic and autonomous commerce.

This is a necessary distinction.

Many AI applications are technically impressive but commercially unproven.

Retailers need to understand whether these tools reduce friction, improve conversion, increase basket size or strengthen loyalty.

They also need to identify where AI creates unnecessary complexity or undermines trust.

The next phase of AI investment will be shaped less by novelty and more by measurable results.

GLP-1 Is Reshaping More Than the Health Category

GLP-1 medications are also becoming a wider retail issue.

Their influence extends beyond pharmacy and healthcare into food, beverage, merchandising and consumer packaged goods.

As eating behaviours change, retailers and brands are reassessing portion sizes, nutritional priorities and category demand.

A Groceryshop session featuring leaders from Target, Chobani and Roxberry Naturals will examine how assortments should respond to changing dietary preferences, cultural diversity and growing interest in protein and better-for-you products.

The challenge is avoiding oversimplification.

GLP-1 users do not represent a single customer group with identical needs.

Some may prioritise protein and nutritional density.

Others may seek smaller portions, convenient formats or products that support broader wellness goals.

Retailers must understand how demand is changing at category and customer level rather than making assumptions based on one trend.

The businesses that respond best will combine health relevance with taste, convenience and clear communication.

Wellness Has Become a Portfolio Strategy

The growth of wellness brands will also feature prominently in the agenda.

Jostein Solheim, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Wellbeing, will discuss how the company has built a portfolio that includes Liquid I.V., OLLY, Nutrafol and Grüns into a global business worth more than $2.5 billion.

The strategy illustrates how large consumer companies are approaching wellness.

Rather than relying solely on established mass-market brands, they are acquiring businesses with specialist credibility, strong communities and a clear role in consumers' everyday routines.

The opportunity is substantial, but so is the risk.

As these brands scale, they must retain the identity and cultural relevance that made them attractive in the first place.

Operational efficiency can accelerate growth.

Too much standardisation can remove the distinctiveness customers value.

Retail Media Must Prove Its Value Inside the Store

Retail media will remain another major focus.

The sector has expanded rapidly through sponsored search, e-commerce advertising and retailer-owned digital platforms.

Its next growth phase is moving into physical stores.

Executives from Albertsons Media Collective and CVS Media Exchange will discuss how retailers are taking in-store media beyond traditional shopper marketing and demonstrating its effect on sales.

The opportunity is clear.

Physical stores remain central to everyday retail, giving retailers access to high-intent customers close to the point of purchase.

The challenge is proving that media exposure influences behaviour.

Brands will expect more than impressions and footfall.

They will want evidence that campaigns improve conversion, increase sales or influence future purchasing.

Retailers must also protect the quality of the store environment.

A store filled with irrelevant screens and promotions may create advertising inventory while damaging the customer experience.

The strongest in-store retail media networks will use data to improve relevance rather than simply increasing the volume of advertising.

Brand and Performance Marketing Are Coming Back Together

Another Groceryshop session will examine how businesses are reconnecting brand-building with performance marketing.

Leaders from Liquid Death, Mars Pet Nutrition and Philips will discuss how they are aligning teams, objectives and measurement across the customer funnel.

This is becoming increasingly important as retail media expands.

Retail media has often been treated as a conversion channel because it sits close to the transaction.

However, its influence now extends across connected television, social platforms, e-commerce and physical stores.

That means it can support both long-term brand growth and immediate sales.

The difficulty is measurement.

Brand teams may focus on awareness and consideration.

Commerce teams may focus on return on advertising spend and conversion.

Without shared goals, organisations risk creating fragmented customer experiences and competing internal priorities.

Retail media will mature when brands and retailers can understand how these activities work together rather than evaluating each channel in isolation.

Omnichannel Growth Still Requires Physical Retail

Jennifer Garner, Co-Founder of Once Upon a Farm, will join John Foraker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, to discuss the company's growth across direct-to-consumer and retail channels.

The organic children's food brand provides a useful example of the role each channel plays.

Direct-to-consumer channels offer storytelling, customer data and a closer relationship with loyal shoppers.

Retail partnerships provide scale, visibility and access to everyday purchasing occasions.

For digitally enabled brands, physical retail remains essential.

Customers may discover a business online, but repeated grocery purchases often depend on being present where households already shop.

The strongest omnichannel models do not treat direct-to-consumer and wholesale as competing strategies.

They use each channel to support a different part of the customer journey.

Value Can No Longer Be Defined by Price Alone

Value-driven shopping will also be central to the programme.

Myron Frazier, Executive Vice President and Chief Merchant at Sam's Club, will discuss how the business is using private label, assortment optimisation and a broader value proposition to attract and retain shoppers.

Price remains important, particularly when household budgets are under pressure.

But value is becoming more complex.

Customers also consider product quality, pack size, convenience, exclusivity and time saved.

Retailers competing only on price risk becoming interchangeable.

Those that offer a clearer combination of affordability and differentiation are more likely to build lasting loyalty.

Private label will be an important part of this strategy, but only when it offers a compelling reason to choose it beyond a lower price.

Grocery Shelves Are Becoming Growth Channels for Restaurant Brands

The expansion of restaurant brands into consumer packaged goods will provide another key discussion.

Michael Beacham, President of California Pizza Kitchen, will explain how the company is extending its presence in grocery beyond frozen pizza.

The move reflects a growing opportunity for restaurant businesses.

Packaged goods can introduce a brand to customers outside its restaurant footprint, create new consumption occasions and generate additional revenue without opening more locations.

For grocery retailers, established foodservice brands can add familiarity and excitement to categories that are often difficult to differentiate.

However, recognition alone is not enough.

The product must translate successfully into the home and deliver an experience consistent with the brand's reputation.

Groceryshop Is Selling Access as Much as Content

The event's networking programme will also play a central role.

More than 30,000 co-matched meetings were facilitated through Groceryshop's Meetup programme last year.

The scale of that activity reflects how important structured connection has become within the retail industry.

Retailers are not simply looking for technology suppliers.

They are searching for partners that can improve operations, support data strategies, strengthen retail media and create better customer experiences.

Brands are looking for new routes to market, stronger retail relationships and better measurement.

Technology businesses and startups need access to decision-makers capable of testing and scaling their solutions.

Bringing those groups together efficiently has become part of Groceryshop's core proposition.

Shoptalk Innovation Week Broadens the Conversation

This year, Groceryshop will connect with Shoptalk Fall under the Shoptalk Innovation Week umbrella.

Attendees will have the option to attend both events, Groceryshop in Las Vegas and Shoptalk Fall in Nashville, through a ticket add-on.

The decision reflects the growing overlap between grocery and the wider retail industry.

AI, retail media, loyalty, fulfilment and consumer behaviour are no longer category-specific issues.

They affect every retailer and brand.

Creating a wider programme could allow leaders to compare strategies across sectors and identify ideas that may not yet be common within their own markets.

The Real Question Is What Retailers Do Next

Groceryshop 2026 arrives at a moment when the industry must turn major trends into operational decisions.

AI must demonstrate that it can simplify shopping and create commercial value.

Retail media must prove that it can scale while improving relevance for customers and accountability for brands.

Retailers and consumer businesses must respond to GLP-1-driven demand without reducing a complex shift in behaviour to a single merchandising trend.

At the same time, every investment must support growth, margins or customer loyalty.

The businesses that succeed will not necessarily be those experimenting with the greatest number of technologies.

They will be those that understand where consumer behaviour is changing, make disciplined choices and execute quickly.

That is the central tension Groceryshop 2026 is designed to address.

Retail already knows what the biggest trends are.

Now it must decide which ones are worth building around.

After the final sessions, Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Timbaland will headline Groceryfest at Mandalay Bay Beach on Wednesday 23 September from 8pm to 10:30pm PT, closing a programme focused on the future of everyday retail with one of the event's biggest networking moments.