Groceryshop: The Future of Grocery is Centered on Value

At Groceryshop 2025, one message came through loud and clear: Shoppers haven’t stopped buying, they’ve just changed how they define value. 

Across stages, brands, and C-suites, grocery leaders shared a common theme: every shopper today is value-oriented, no matter their income level or shopping channel. But “value” isn’t as simple as low prices anymore. Value is a mix of affordability, convenience, trust, and experience. 

The New Value Equation

Consumers are stretching their budgets, but not at the expense of convenience or quality. One session called out that 72% of shoppers define value as “making my life easier.” 

The grocery experience extends beyond price tags… it’s about helping shoppers make better choices faster, whether they’re in-store, curbside, or building a basket online. 

• 87% of consumers are changing how they shop to save money 

• 49% are exploring new stores to find deals 

• 72.5% are “strugglers,” “rebounders,” or “cautious” — redefining what “loyalty” looks like 

The Next Phase of AI

From agentic AI (goal-oriented systems that act with minimal human input) to AI-driven product matching, grocers are investing in tech that solves real operational problems. 

Grocery retailers are using AI to: 

• Automate competitive price matching + match and normalize products 

• Model elasticity to predict demand and optimize margins 

• Deliver consistent experiences across stores, digital shelves, and delivery platforms 

Operationalize your tech – ClearDemand customers are applying these capabilities today, using demand modeling and the opportunity curve to to simulate price moves, predict shopper response, and balance margin against market shifts.

Loyalty, Redefined

The new challenge for grocers is earning incremental loyalty – small, repeat choices that compound into trust. 

As one panelist put it, “Winning today isn’t about creating evangelists overnight; it’s about showing customers you care and proving it every week at the shelf.” 

Retailers like Whole Foods have leaned into visible signals of value, with what CMO Sonya Gafsi Oblisk called “a sea of yellow” (price tags and promos that reinforce affordability without compromising brand). 

The smartest retailers are pairing emotional loyalty with analytical rigor: ensuring KVIs are priced competitively while maintaining the right balance between premium and accessible products. 

Scaling Online Grocery

Consumers expect a unified experience across every channel: pickup, delivery, digital, in store. From AI-powered search and shoppable recipes to marketplace partnerships and easy substitutions, the message from Groceryshop’s “Scaling Online Grocery” keynote was: growth now depends on digital consistency. 

For retailers, that means pricing strategy can’t live in a silo. Your digital shelf must reinforce the same perception of value that your in-store experience does.  ClearDemand’s competitive intelligence ensures consistent, channel-aware pricing, so you know the price consumers see whether they checkout with shipping or curbside pickup.

Takeaways for Retailers

As always, the grocery landscape is evolving, but the foundation for success remains the same: 

• Know your market. 

• Know your shopper. 

• Price with precision. 

Here’s how ClearDemand helps: our Competitive intelligence gives you a real-time view of the market, with unmatched data accuracy, product matching, and zip-code granularity. And our Price Optimization engine turns that intelligence into action, aligning every price with demand, rules, elasticity, and business goals. 

In a world where every shopper is value-oriented and every channel matters, ClearDemand gives retailers the science and the confidence to act fast, protect margin, and earn lasting loyalty. 

👉 Let’s talk about how ClearDemand helps you deliver on that promise.