Hello Omni Talk Fans!
71% of food retailers are planning to increase their technology spending, but only 29% have a defined plan for managing the changes that come with it. That’s a pretty interesting disconnect, and it’s exactly what I wanted to dig into with Jennifer Shawgo, Senior Director of Technology Strategy and Programs at FMI, The Food Industry Association. Jennifer joined me for 5 Insightful Minutes to break down FMI’s latest State of Technology 2026 report, and we covered everything from the industry’s growing technology investments to why some smaller grocers are actually outperforming the big guys. Here’s what stood out to me.
Grocery Technology Is Moving From Adoption to Advantage
I kicked things off by asking Jennifer about the report’s central theme, “From Adoption to Advantage.” Her point was that the industry’s technology conversation has changed. For years, it was about what to buy, what to build, and where to experiment. Now, retailers have made significant investments, and the question is how to get the most out of them. With spending continuing to grow, proving the value of those investments is becoming increasingly important.
The Change-Management Gap Is Hard to Ignore
This was one of the most interesting findings in the report. Despite 71% of food retailers planning to increase technology spending, only 29% have a defined change-management plan. Jennifer explained that simply installing technology doesn’t guarantee success. Employees need to understand the tools, workflows need to adapt, and organizations need to be aligned. The encouraging part? Another 50% are planning to develop those plans. Jennifer also pointed out that technology providers have an opportunity to help, especially since they’ve seen what works across different retail environments.
Smaller Grocers Might Have an Advantage
I was particularly interested in what the report revealed about company size. You might assume the biggest grocers are leading every technology category, but Jennifer pointed out that mid-market and regional retailers are actually ahead of some larger players in certain deployments. Her advice for smaller grocers was pretty straightforward: don’t try to do everything. Identify a specific operational need and work backward to find the technology that solves it. Sometimes a more focused approach can be the better one.
AI Has Been Working in Grocery Longer Than We Think
Naturally, I had to ask where retailers are actually seeing returns from AI. Jennifer brought up fresh food inventory planning, an area where grocery has been using machine learning for years, well before AI became part of nearly every industry conversation. She also highlighted analytics and cybersecurity as areas of progress. It was a good reminder that some of grocery’s most valuable AI applications aren’t necessarily the newest or flashiest ones.
Shrink Reduction Is Showing Real Results
Here’s another number that stood out: 85% of food retailers reported having at least somewhat successful in-store shrink reduction programs. Jennifer called this one of the standout areas for technology success. She also pointed to data analytics being used across assortment planning, customer insights, loss prevention, and promotional management. These might not always grab the headlines, but they’re practical applications that can make a meaningful difference.
It’s About People, Process, and Technology
One thing I kept coming back to throughout our conversation was the importance of people, process, and technology working together. Jennifer made it clear that the grocery industry has made real progress, but there’s still a significant opportunity to get more out of existing investments. FMI plans to continue tracking these benchmarks as technologies like agentic AI evolve, which should make for some interesting comparisons in the years ahead.
To learn more and explore FMI’s research, visit: https://www.fmi.org/
Be careful out there,
Chris and the entire Omni Talk team
You can listen to or watch the full conversation with Jennifer Shawgo, Senior Director of Technology Strategy and Programs at FMI, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.