10 Can’t-Miss Events at GroceryShop 2022

With the joys of summer firmly in the rearview, it is time to focus on the road ahead. The biggest event of the fall season is about to crest the horizon — GroceryShop 2022. 

Since its founding in 2018, GroceryShop has grown into the industry’s largest grocery trade show and networking event, and this year’s incarnation is pushing the envelope even further.

Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay will once again play host to the four-day event, September 19-22. With an expansive educational agenda featuring more than 70 individual presentations, numerous main stage keynotes, and extracurricular activities abound, planning your GroceryShop trip can be overwhelming. 

To help you prepare for four jam-packed days of networking and education, the editors of Grocery Doppio have scoured the GroceryShop agenda and pulled out the must-attend events focused on the future of grocery to make your annual pilgrimage to the desert a sun-filled success. 

Below are 10 events you should add to your personal agenda:

Unified Experiences

With the stark increase in digital shopping here to stay and the in-store experience as vital as ever, savvy grocers must find a way to blend the two previously distinct channels into a single unified path to purchase. In the “Unifying the Online and In-Store Shopping Experience” session, Monday, 2:50-3:30, leading grocery thought leaders will explore how organizations can restructure their operations to leverage new phygital experiences. Moderator Soche Picard will discuss how to build the ideal omni experience with Jennifer Saenz, Albertsons Companies; Jayme Jansky Beck, Unilever; and Caroline Masullo, Peapod Digital Labs.

Keynote Kickoff

GroceryShop kicks off on September 19 with four educational tracks — Fresh Perspectives on Grocery and CPG; Exceptional Omnichannel Experiences; 'Shark Reef' Startup Pitch; and The Future of Convenience. Each track has three sessions on offer starting at 2:00 and running until 4:20. Following the track-based warm up the event gets into high gear at 4:30 when GroceryShop executives are joined by Jason Buechel, CEO, Whole Foods Market, and Natalie Knight, CFO, Ahold Delhaize for the opening keynote. The executives will explore the current state of the grocery industry with a focus on how brands of all sizes can unlock e-commerce profitability.

Catering to Gen Z

Gen Z is the future of the grocery space and brands must learn how to connect with this vital industry segment. The “Catering to Gen Z Shoppers with New Products and Experiences” session, Tuesday, 9:20- 10:00, features Kristin Patterson, TikTok; Vanessa Pham, Omsom; Santhi Ramesh, Wells Enterprises; and Kate Hardcastle, Insight with Passion Consultancy exploring how to attract and retain digitally native Gen Zers. In this lively discussion, panelists will explore how they are currently engaging with Gen Z shoppers, and how grocers can infuse the shopping experience to win the battle for the hearts, minds, and wallets of the next generation of shoppers.

The Speakeasy

‍There are plenty of after-hours networking dinners available at GroceryShop, but only a few are a cut above, offering more than just good food and drink. Incisiv’s Speakeasy event on Monday evening at Mandalay Bay’s Aureole provides attendees with insights not available anywhere else with Parag Shah, Giant Food; Lindsay Held, ReserveBar.com; and Gaurav Pant, Incisiv providing a candid take on the state of the grocery and pragmatic advice on how to transform business and IT capabilities. “The Speakeasy is our most popular executive learning event, and we are glad to be back at Groceryshop,” said Pant. “The opportunity to rub elbows with like-minded executives, honest conversations and, with a little bit of thought starting content sprinkled in.”

Exhibit Hall‍

While the GroceryShop agenda is stuffed with educational and networking opportunities every attendee must set aside ample time to cruise the tradeshow floor. The exhibit hall will be open 10 am-6 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday giving attendees the opportunity to stroll the aisles and discover the next-gen tech on offer from the more than 250 solution providers that will be on hand. Check out the full list of vendors and exhibit hall floor plan here. 

‍Rock & Roll Underground

‍What better way to relax after a full day of educational sessions and networking than a rock show? The annual Rock & Roll Underground highlights the retail industry’s musically gifted with a host of bands composed of retailers, consumer goods executives, and solution providers playing classic and modern rock hits. “This year’s lineup features familiar faces mixed with some newcomers,” said event founder and Incisiv’s chief customer officer Dave Weinand. “We are gearing up for our best jam yet.” Doors to the House of Blues open at 8:30 and the party doesn’t stop till the clock strikes midnight. Click here for free registration to the event.

Death of the Cookie‍

News feeds are aflame with reports of the “death of the cookie,” specifically focused on the effect of Google’s plan to join other tech giants in greatly limiting the use of internet cookies for marketing. The “Maximizing First-Party Data Opportunities for the Cookieless Future” workshop session, Wednesday 8:30-9:10, will feature General Mills’ Jay Picconatto exploring the effect the shift will have across the CG and retail industry. The session will focus on how marketers can make the most of the consumer data they currently have and where they should be allocating their marketing spend in the future to lessen the effect of cookie-less marketing.

On-Demand Grocery‍

The rise of home delivery grocery over the past few years has been undeniable. Fueled at first by pandemic-induced necessity and solidified thanks to the ease of use, third-party delivery of grocery orders has become mainstream. Thanks to this success many leading grocery brands are taking this service in-house offering their own version of the popular home delivery model. In the “Next-Level Convenience and the Rise of On-Demand Grocery” session, Wednesday, 3:45-4:25, moderator Chris Walton of Omni Talk will discuss the home delivery trend with Tom Pickett of DoorDash, before speaking with Carolyn Brown, Anheuser-Busch, and Matt Van Gilder, SpartanNash about how brands can best take the service in-house.

UnConference‍

Looking for inspiration on how to take your run-of-the-mill consumer experience to new heights? Take a break from the show floor and stuffy meeting rooms and head over to the UnConference, Tuesday, 3:30-6:15. This year’s event features an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Meow Wolf, an interactive and immersive experience company that integrates shopping and art. Attendees will discover how to win the future of consumer experience and network with like-minded grocers during the event’s happy hour. Learn more and register for the one-of-a-kind experience here.

Retail Media Strategy‍

If you haven’t gotten in on the retail media freight train it is time to jump on board, as the networks are expected to account for a major portion of ad spend in the next few years. The “Developing an Effective Retail Media Network Strategy” session, Thursday 10:10-11:10, will explore why retail media is all the rage and how brands can begin to leverage their power and evaluate the success of their campaigns. The session will kick off with a presentation from The Partnering Group’s Katie Catlin, and transition into a panel discussion featuring Kristi Argyilan, Albertsons Companies; Emily Frankel, PepsiCo; and Ethan Goodman, The Mars Agency.