The Future Of Grocery Retailing - All About Platforms/Ecosystems And Tech: Loyalty Schemes, Retail Media And AI Agents
Introduction
Technology is driving a major shift in grocery retailing.Online grocery has introduced grocers to data-ledoperations, platform thinking, AI and ML processes andhas re-launched last-mile deliveries.
This report analyses the evolving grocery retaillandscape, focusing on the significant roles of technologyand artificial intelligence. It examines the strategies ofmajor players like Walmart, Amazon, and Instacart (andothers), highlighting their competitive dynamics in onlinegrocery, delivery models, and retail media.
The analysis covers the expanding importance of loyaltyprogrammes and the implications for data-drivenpersonalization and dynamic pricing. The report alsoexplores the rise of AI agents and their potential impacton the shopping experience, including the challenges andlimitations of current AI tools like Amazon's Rufus and arevamped Alexa.
Finally, the document assesses the future of the industry,considering both the opportunities and uncertaintiespresented by AI and changing consumer behaviour.
Here’s why you need thisreport:
Harnessing the Power of AI,Retail Media, and LoyaltySchemes: Discover how thesegame-changing trends areshaping the future of grocery:
AI: Explore the application ofAI in pricing, inventorymanagement, personalizedshopping, and advertising, withreal-world examples.
Retail Media: Understand thegrowth and potential of retailmedia.
Loyalty Schemes: Learn aboutthe critical role of loyaltyprograms in customerretention, data collection, andtargeted marketing. The reporthighlights Amazon Prime'ssuccess, providing valuableinsights into building a winningloyalty strategy.
Embracing the AgenticFuture: Delve into the potentialof AI agents to reshape onlineshopping. The report analysesthe capabilities of Perplexity AIand Amazon's Rufus, exploringtheir potential to personalizeshopping and streamlinepurchases. It compares theseagents to price comparisonwebsites and examines theirfuture role in the e-commerceecosystem.
Analyzing the Instant DeliveryLandscape: Gain insights intothe challenges faced by rapiddelivery services in the post-pandemic era.
Key Questions Answered
- How is technology transforming grocery retailing?How are AI, retail media, and loyalty schemes shapingthe future of grocery? Will every grocery retailer haveto have their own streaming service in future?
- What is the state of the online grocery market in theUS? How big is it? How fast is it growing? What areleading players’ strategies?
- Will retail media become a bigger channel and moreimportant than online grocery for the leadingplayers?
- What has happened to the last mile? How important arethe likes of UberEats, Doordash, GrubHub? Is there stilla market for ultra fast deliveries in the post-pandemic environment? Is the future of the mealdelivery platforms all about expansion into B2Bwhite-label offerings?
- What are the challenges and opportunities for Amazonin the grocery sector? What is the future of WholeFoods? What will happen now that Just Walk Outtechnology has been abandoned?
- How is Walmart using AI is for pricing, inventorymanagement, personalized shopping experiences, andadvertising now and in future?
- Why is Instacart one of the stand out pioneers ofleveraging retail media? Why is its white labelproposition such a game changer?
- Loyalty and membership programs are vital forcustomer retention, data collection, targeted marketing,and creating personalized shopping experiences.... Whyis Amazon Prime the gold standard? What are the datapoints of the scheme?
- What is the role of AI agents in the future of onlineshopping? What is the potential of AI agents likePerplexity AI and Amazon's Rufus to transform onlineshopping through personalized recommendations,streamlined purchases, and agentic capabilities?
- Are these AI agents just a better version of existingprice comparison websites? What is their future rolein shaping the online shopping landscape?Features & Benefits
- Comprehensive Market Analysis: The report provides adetailed overview of the US online grocery market, includingmarket size, growth trends, and leading players. It alsoanalyses the competitive dynamics and strategies employedby these major players.
- In-depth Examination of Emerging Trends: The reportexplores the rise of AI, retail media, and loyalty schemes,highlighting their potential to revolutionise the grocery sector.
- AI: It discusses the role of AI in various aspects of groceryretailing, from pricing and inventory management topersonalized shopping experiences.
- Retail Media: The report analyses the growth and potential ofretail media, examining how grocers can leverage their dataand customer relationships to generate advertising revenue.
- Loyalty Schemes: It delves into the increasing importance ofloyalty programs, highlighting their role in customer retention,data collection, and targeted marketing. Includes proprietaryPrime data
- Case Studies of Key Players: The report features detailedanalyses of industry leaders, examining their strategies,strengths, and weaknesses.... It provides valuable insights into how these companies are adapting to the changinglandscape of grocery retailing.
- Focus on the Agentic Future: The report explores thepotential of AI agents to reshape online shopping, usingexamples like Perplexity AI and Amazon’s Rufus. It discusseshow these agents could personalise shopping experiencesand streamline the purchase process.
- Insights from Industry Experts: The report draws oninterviews with high-level industry figures, providing firsthandperspectives on the trends shaping the future of groceryretailing.
- Data-Driven Insights: The report leverages proprietary dataand company reports to support its analysis and projections.It includes tables and graphs illustrating key market data andtrends.
- This report is essential reading for anyone involved in thegrocery industry, providing actionable insights and aroadmap for navigating the future of this rapidly evolvingsector.
- Walmart
- Amazon
- Instacart
- Doordash
- Uber
- Grubhub
- Perplexity
- Kroger
- Target
- Albertsons
- Vizio
- Whole Foods Market
- Flipkart
- Disney
- TikTok
- Netflix
- Hulu
- YouTube
- Apple
- Roku
- Chewy
- The Home Depot
- Ulta
- Sephora
- Purina PetCare
- Nestlé
- T-Mobile Park
- Climate Pledge Arena
- Wonder
- Metropolitan Market
- OpenTable
- Ticketmaster
- Atom Tickets
- Thumbtack
- Clorox
- Publicis Media
- The Trade Desk
- Omnicom
- Associated Wholesale Grocers
- Davis Food & Drug
- Aldi South
- Ahold Delhaize
- Costco
- McDonald’s
- Starbucks
- Little Caesars Pizza
- Blue Apron
- Domino’s Pizza
- CVS
- Best Buy
- Wegmans Food Markets
- Kowalski’s
- Mar-Val Food Stores
- Geissler’s Supermarket
- Milam’s Markets
- Food Lion
- Giant Food
- The Giant Company
- Hannaford
- Stop & Shop
- H Mart
- Fresh Encounter
- Fruitful Yield
- Plum Market
- Robért Fresh Market
- Stew Leonard’s
- Lyft
- Bolt
- Tesco
- BYD
- Cruise
- Wayve
- Waymo
- Deliveroo
- Delivery Hero
- Just Eat Takeaway
- Card Factory
- Gopu
- Getir
- Gorillas
- Flink
- FreshDirect
- Baidu
- Alibaba
- Taobao
- Tmall
- Holland & Barrett
- Suning
- Shopify
- Anker
- Executive summary
- Sizes and market shares, the data
- US online grocery in $bn 2017-2024
- Leading players in online grocery 2023
- The competitive dynamic
- Walmart
- The winner so far
- All about pick up … and delivery
- …versus Amazon, launching AI
- AI based pricing, ESLs and Scan & Go
- The battle over retail media supremacy
- Walmart’s ad unit is boosting profits
- Connect leading the sector, apart from Amazon
- Walmart +, loyalty solution
- The Vizio acquisition
- Amazon
- abandoning Just Walk Out again
- still somewhat insignificant in overall US grocery spend
- reevaluating the grocery strategy
- Fresh reaches the 50-store mark
- Plans new grocery delivery platform
- Reviving the primeNow idea by delivering for 3P grocers
- Amazon Grocery co-locates with Whole Foods
- Prime users and spend data
- Prime users 2018-23, USA, DE, UK, JP, FR, RoW
- Analysis: Prime users 2018-23
- Analysis: Bundling for repeats
- Analysis: 7 key benefits of the programme
- Analysis: the best loyalty programme in retail
- Amazon Prime Video pitch reveals new stats
- Amazon’s ad ambitions for prime
- Average prime spend 2023 in US$, US, DE, UK, JP
- Analysis: Average prime spend versus regular spend
- Average non prime spend 2023 in US $, US, DE, UK, JP
- AI - what is Amazon doing?
- The Anthropic investment
- Amazon launches Q, its answer to ChatGPT
- Amazon’s Q has ‘severe hallucinations’
- AI for the marketplace, what will happen?
- Will AI make the human 3P seller obsolete?
- If not now, then … maybe in future?
- Rufus: A new generative AI feature to answer shopper’s questions
- Rufus between broad and contextual - underwhelming
- Rufus as a first step to the agentic future?
- Rufus is hallucinating too much
- AI Advertising, Ad Relevance, impressive uplift stats
- AI Advertising, ID-free targeting capabilities
- What is going on with Alexa?
- New Alexa missing deadlines, lacking skills
- Alexa as the first AI (shopping) agent?
- Instacart
- Becoming more important in the industry
- falls to 2023 loss, 2024 profits coming from retail media
- Instacart and Uber Eats, a one way partnership
- Instacart’s affluent customers as main draw
- The importance of retail media
- e-comm storefronts, carrot ads, caper carts
- Carrot ads - a white label retail media platform
- Youtube as an osite partner
- The platform benefit
- The food delivery aggregators
- The true e-commerce giants in online food
- The big three: DoorDash dominates, Uber Eats and Grubhub
- Subscription deals & new partnerships, data collection gold mine
- Delivering groceries as a natural extension of the existing service
- Going into retail media/advertising
- What about becoming white label?
- DoorDash
- The undisputed market leader
- Financials moving in the right direction, though still loss making
- Uber Eats
- Uber, becoming an everything app?
- Uber, FY profits for the first time, expands again
- Uber’s platform advantage, Uber One, the ad business
- Uber versus Amazon
- Uber Eats …is profitable, why is it the only one?
- Uber Eats, growth opportunities
- Just Eat Takeaway
- Grubhub M&A has not worked out
- Grubhub's partnership with Amazon
- Healthy financial outlook
- Just Eat to sell Grubhub at a loss of more than $6.5bn
- The death of instant delivery
- Gopu on a downward trend
- Gopu becoming a merger target?
- Gopu the last man standing, now going B2B
- Getir: from global player to Turkey only
- The Fresh Direct acquisition, what now?
- AI Agents - towards an agentic future?
- The state of play in China
- Perplexity AI integrates with Amazon, Best Buy, Shopify
- Perplexity AI as future promise ?
- Which agent will take over?
- The sceptics’ case
- Outlook
- After the demise of just walk out …
- … now towards an Agentic future?
- Sources
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