Trade show report: Groceryshop, Las Vegas, US, Sep 19-22, 2022
Groceryshop is as it sounds, a trade show & conference specifically for the grocery & CPG/FMCG industry. The event was spun out from Hyve's popular Shoptalk events about 4-5 years ago. Organisers acknowledged the 2022 event was the largest Groceryshop to date and we concur the event was busy.
Las Vegas is a super location (albeit a bit expensive) for events with hotels and conference venue in the same building complex. It was STIQs first visit to the city and we were pleasantly surprised to find that everything worked very well... similarly to German trade shows. Check in is easy, signage is good, plenty of staff on duty to help out if you have any questions or need directions...
Groceryshop is held at the Mandalay Bay hotel & conference centre & casino.
Groceryshop 2022 was excellent
The Groceryshop event is split into several parts including conference tracks (4 separate tracks + keynote stage), an exhibition (aka "trade show") and Sponsored Meetings where suppliers can meet retailers and brands ($).
Retailers and Brands get free entrance and subsidence but in return they have to meet with relevant suppliers.
Quality of attendees
More importantly, the quality of the attendees at Groceryshop was super. We met relevant (!) representatives from Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize and Peapod Labs, Microsoft, Kroger and many others just by chance at a breakfast or lunch tables (Groceryshop alongside Shoptalk normally offers breakfast and lunch to attendees) or when hanging out in the connect lounge.
Conference tracks/contents
Often when going to conferences, most presentations tend to be glorified sales pitches. We cannot say that none talks followed this format at Groceryshop. However, there were also nuggets with some very interesting insights and some entertaining contents.
Vanessa Pham from Omsom in a talk about catering to Gen Z shoppers together with TikTok, hosted by Kate Hardcastle.
STIQ visited about 10 talks all in all including the startup pitch hosted by Coresight.
Coresight hosted the startup pitch track. Deborah Weinswig on the podium.
No cool event can be without a proper keynote and Groceryshop 2022 was no exception with music acts (cant remember their name).
Entertainment before a keynote session.
The Trade Show part
Groceryshop included a trade show as well with plenty of companies we recognised, from Instacart to AutoStore, RightHand Robotics and Phononic. We also met quite a few new vendors we had not had the pleasure of meeting before.
Here are some images from the trade show hall.
Instacart had one of the largest (if not THE largest stand at the show) and showed off their Caper cart alongside some other stuff.
Phononic showed off their refrigerated tote for use in ASRS solutions. This uses a solid state cooling technology and does not require compressors, chemicals etc. However, it does require power supply.
STIQ has been aware that VLM (Vertical Lift Machines or Carousels) have been used in online grocery fulfilment and here, Phononic had parterned with Vidir to showcase how this might work out for order consolidation (after pick & pack). Modula was also present at the show with a stand.
Amazon have literally been showing at every trade show STIQ has visited in 2022, pushing their Just Walk Out technology. They also showcased their cart and when asked about the advantages of their cart over Caper/Instacart or anyone else, we were left wondering... if you know the answer - please write to us.
Uber Eats also exhibited at Groceryshop 2022. The stand design was interesting.
In-store robots continue to feature at retail shows and Zippedi showcased their product. Badger by Jabil also showcased at Groceryshop2022. These solutions are kind of interesting and grocers continue to evaluate how to use these at maximum efficiency. Zippedi marketed their solution as part of creating a Digital Twin of your store/s.
None of our images of the trade show area at Groceryshop 2022 may give a real sense of the size of the show, so here is our walkthrough of the exhibition area including many of the companies we have covered in our range of reports.
Note that the commentary in this is STIQs and, yes, we're getting better at this... If the hall looks empty to start - this could be due to the Retailer-Supplier meetings going on at the end of the hall (also in the video).
And finally...
its Las Vegas after all so why not take a tour of the city in a shopping trolley?
Yes, it is Las Vegas after all... we also saw how passengers get into this and it was not a beautiful boarding process by any means of the imagination. However, the vehicle looked great!
Media partners at Groceryshop 2022
STIQ t/a Styleintelligence was a media partner at Groceryshop!
Probably the best media partner at the show...
STIQ t/a Styleintelligence
STIQ publishes an annual report on the eGrocery Infrastructure sector - hence the key reason we visited the show and Groceryshop has sponsored the 2021 and 2022 reports (download here 2021, 2022)
Footnote: This was STIQs first visit to Las Vegas and we were not disappointed. It is a very impressive city built in the middle of the desert (only 11% humidity during our stay). Unfortunately we did not have any time to travel outside of the city to see Hoover Dam, etc. but we did have time to walk down the Las Vegas Strip (a nice 2.5hr walk) early in the morning before temperatures rose to a cool 35 degrees Celsius.
We didn't get married despite the signage... or did we?
Groceryshop 2022
Website: https://groceryshop.com/
Mandalay Bay: https://mandalaybay.mgmresorts.com/
Free Downloads
Download STIQs FREE in-depth reports covering the eGrocery Infrastructure sector (online grocery order fulfilment technologies) - click the image.
