By Doug Baker, Vice President, Industry Relations, FMI
We frequently hear that necessity is the mother of invention. As grocers, we wake up focused on the needs of our customers, and it's the last thing we think about before we leave the store. But our customer is evolving. Where they once relied on a weekly trip to their primary grocery store, today we find shoppers have a myriad of options in their food shopping journey—different types of stores and different paths to obtaining food.
Our U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends series explores the food shoppers’ journey and offers insights into the hybrid shopper landscape we’re currently experiencing. As we get to know this new consumer, it is clear they have an appetite for technology that can support their food shopping journey. As the shopper necessitates this technology demand, the food retailer must innovate.
The Path to Innovation
To support technology innovation, FMI continues to offer our members technology evaluation and discovery with our FMItech program. Activities such as FMItech Pitches help retailers discover new solution providers and our program at FMI’s Midwinter Executive Conference hosted Tech Exchange meetings, Tech Talks and Tech Sessions designed to spur innovation.
We’ve heard from our members the need for technology automation that can ease operational challenges. Through the FMItech program, we introduced members to Afresh, which recently appeared on the Consumer Brands Insights 2022 AI100 list. This company optimizes fresh foods purchases with AI-driven order recommendations that adapt to an item's perishability, seasonality, and production planning. Pretty cool!
Taking Innovation to The Next Level
For retailers looking to take their technology innovation to the next level with strategic planning and platform evaluations, I encourage you to talk to me about bringing our FMI Marketechnics program to your campus. We can craft customized explorations, conversations, and exchanges supporting retailers' technology innovation discovery for today, tomorrow, and a future arriving sooner than expected. Reach out to me at dbaker@fmi.org to learn more.
Our customers are relying on us to innovate. Now it the time to move your company’s technology strategy forward. Learn more about FMI Marketechnics.
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