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As the back half of the decade begins, grocers face a defining challenge: how to balance the timeless appeal of in-store retail with the accelerating demands of a digitally connected world. Shoppers still expect freshness, familiarity, and face-to-face service, but they also expect personalization, automation and operational excellence.
By Gina Acosta
omnichannel retailing
Progressive Grocer has identified six converging trends that will define the Store of the Future:
connected stores
intelligent management
store experience
ROBOTICS
SUSTAINABILITY
POWERED BY
Connected Stores
In the Store of the Future, every shelf, screen, and sensor becomes part of an intelligent, data-driven environment. These connected stores unify the physical and digital to enable automation, accuracy, and agility.
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“A connected store is a fully digitized environment,” explains Jim Norred, Chief Commercial Officer, VusionGroup. “It blends ESLs, computer vision, asset monitoring, and real-time analytics into one ecosystem.”
Key Capabilities:
Automated pricing and promotion updates Real-time replenishment and shelf availability Generative AI to optimize layout, assortment, and offer strategy
Retailers who embrace this convergence won’t just meet expectations, they’ll shape them.
Explore the STORE OF THE FUTURE
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OMNICHANNEL RETAILING
Home
Intelligent Management
Store Experience
Robotics
Sustainability
What's Next
Summary
Omnichannel Retailing
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Omnichannel isn’t a checklist, it’s a choreography. While some retailers have treated physical and digital touchpoints as siloed systems, the leaders of tomorrow are building unified journeys that play to each channel’s strengths.
“Stores are more oriented to discovery, excitement, and impulse. Online is about convenience and continuous engagement.”
Exclusive Q&A with Ethan Chernofsky, Chief Marketing Officer, Placer.ai
“The true north star is how to best use each channel for its strength, not a copy-paste approach.”
HOME
CONNECTED STORES
Successful omnichannel grocers: Use in-store visits to promote delivery-friendly replenishment items Build loyalty across both app and aisle Create incentives for channel-switching that deepen basket and engagement Walmart’s store-powered fulfillment strategy is a leading example. Meanwhile, regional grocers are blending loyalty apps, BOPIS, and curated delivery with increasing sophistication.
Ethan Chernofsky, CMO, Placer.ai
“A connected store is a fully digitized environment,”
Exclusive Q&A with Jim Norred, Chief Commercial Officer, VusionGroup
Key capabilities: Automated pricing and promotion updates Real-time replenishment and shelf availability Generative AI to optimize layout, assortment, and offer strategy And while tech runs in the background, sustainability and human connection stay front and center.
“Human-centered design rooted in sustainability creates tech that drives performance and amplifies positive social and environmental impact.”
“It blends ESLs, computer vision, asset monitoring, and real-time analytics into one ecosystem.”
explains Jim Norred, Chief Commercial Officer, VusionGroup.
INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT
Jim Norred, Chief Commercial Officer, VusionGroup.
PREVIOUS
The Store of the Future is cloud-first, and grocers of all sizes are modernizing their tech stacks to keep up. LOC Software offers a centralized retail operations system that lets grocers manage pricing, inventory, receiving, and reporting from one secure core, without the need for store-level servers.
Exclusive Q&A with René Stai, Head of Marketing, LOC Software
Key benefits: Real-time control across all locations Reduced reliance on third-party IT Store-level autonomy paired with enterprise-wide oversight
“You have all your data sitting in one secure location in the cloud. It doesn’t matter if it’s one, five, or 200 stores.”
STORE EXPERIENCE
René Stai, LOC Software
LOC’s system allows store teams to pivot quickly, reduce downtime, and make smarter decisions with less effort, helping independent and regional grocers stay nimble in a crowded field.
Sometimes innovation shows up in the most familiar places. In-store, the humble shopping cart is becoming a symbol of brand experience and operational polish.
Exclusive Q&A with Brett Nelson, CEO of The Peggs Co.
Design upgrades include: Smooth-glide all-plastic construction Integrated phone, floral, and cup holders Custom colors and finishes for brand recognition
“Retailers understand that a cart that’s easy to push creates a premium shopping experience.”
robotics
Brett Nelson, The Peggs Co.
Peggs’ U.S.-made carts combine functionality with brand identity, turning a commodity into a strategic asset.
“The in-store experience has become increasingly vital,”
“And the cart is often the first brand interaction.”
says Brett Nelson, CEO of The Peggs Co.
The next wave of automation in grocery isn’t about replacing workers, it’s about freeing them up to do what people do best. At Avidbots, the philosophy is “cobotics”: robots that co-exist with humans, handling monotonous tasks so teams can focus on service, merchandising, and value creation.
Exclusive Q&A with Faizan Sheikh, Co-Founder of Avidbots
Flagship platforms: Kas, purpose-built for grocery: compact, obstacle-aware, and highly efficient Neo, ideal for club stores and distribution centers with large footprints
“There should always be a human element. People helping people.”
Faizan Sheikh, Avidbots
50–60% return in the first month
ROI at a glance
Deployment in just 2–3 days
Seamless operation in crowded retail environments
Avidbots’ mission: automate the tedious to expand humanity’s potential.
In a world of rising shrink and rising shopper expectations, the Store of the Future must also be a store with purpose. Too Good To Go partners with grocers to turn surplus into impact, reducing food waste while driving revenue and shopper trust.
Exclusive Q&A with Chris MacAulay, Vicepresident of Operations for North America, Too Good To Go
Key tools: The Surprise Bag: curated items nearing expiry, sold at a discount POS-integrated Surprise Bag Builder for efficient store-level execution Automated surplus tracking and reporting
“When it’s made simple and affordable, everyone can win."
Blueprint for What’s Next
Chris MacAulay, Too Good To Go
26M meals saved
Impact snapshot (U.S. only):
Sustainability isn’t a side project, it is core infrastructure for future stores.
57M lbs of food diverted from landfill
71,000+ tonnes of CO2e avoided
Whether it’s digital shelf tags or redesigned carts, robot cleaners or climate impact tools, every piece of the puzzle is coming together to build a more profitable, purpose-driven, and people-powered future for grocery.
The Store of the Future isn’t a prototype, it’s a portfolio of high-performing, human-first strategies already in play today.
SUMMARY & TAKEAWAYS
Key themes: Personalization at scale Automation with empathy Cloud-based control and agility Sustainability as standard
Summary & Takeaways
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Channel Harmony Physical and digital must work in sync
1.
Connected Operations Every shelf, screen, and sensor becomes intelligent
2.
Labor Amplification Tech should empower, not replace
3.
Design as Experience From carts to layouts, design drives loyalty
4.
Sustainability at Scale Waste less, connect more, grow stronger
5.
Grocers who move first will own the shopper experience, loyalty, and operational edge in 2026 and beyond.
5 Big Ideas Driving the Store of the Future:
