5 innovative retail ideas to steal from the grocery industry

Grocery retail is becoming a testing ground for some of the most practical innovations in retail. From checkout-free shopping and connected shelves to new uses for physical stores and behind-the-scenes automation, grocers are finding new ways to make shopping easier while running their stores more efficiently.

Many of these ideas are not limited to grocery. They reflect broader shifts in what customers expect from retail and how technology can change the role of the store.

Here are five innovations from grocery retail worth borrowing for your own business.

1. Eliminate checkout with grab-and-go concepts

What if customers could simply pick up what they need and go?

Grocery retailers are experimenting with different ways to remove friction from the checkout process, from mobile scanning and self-checkout to cashierless and grab-and-go concepts. The technology behind these experiences can vary. Some formats use cameras, sensors, or RFID to identify what shoppers take, while others put the process in the shopper’s hands with mobile scanning solutions such as ScanPayGo.

Bónus, the largest low-cost grocery chain in Iceland, for example, uses a "grab and pay" concept where customers can use devices provided by the retailer to scan products off the shelves and pay instantly. 

These concepts can be especially useful for smaller stores, high-traffic locations, and quick shopping trips where a traditional checkout can lead to longer wait times. They can also give retailers more freedom to rethink store layouts, staffing models, and how different formats serve customers.

The lesson: Don’t assume every purchase needs a traditional checkout. Look at where customers experience the most friction and consider how technology could remove unnecessary steps. 

2. Bridge the offline and online experience

The line between online and in-store shopping is becoming increasingly blurred. In 2025, 94% of grocery shoppers purchased both online and in-store, according to FMI and NielsenIQ. And digital doesn’t disappear when shoppers enter a physical store: 71% use digital technology while grocery shopping, including retailer apps, websites, and web search. The grocery industry is responding by bringing more of the digital shopping experience into the physical store.

Increasingly, AI is helping shoppers make decisions before and during their grocery trips: 53% of grocery shoppers have used AI for at least one food-related need, according to FMI, including finding recipes, comparing prices and promotions, checking ingredient or nutrition information, planning meals, and creating shopping lists.

Retailers can take this a step further with AI shopping assistants connected to their own product catalog and inventory data. A shopper looking for a lasagne recipe, for example, could ask the assistant for the ingredients, see which products are available at their preferred store, receive alternatives when something is unavailable, and add the ingredients directly to their basket. 

The lesson: Make the physical and digital store work as one connected experience. What information, recommendations, or services do your customers rely on online that could also help them make decisions in-store? Think beyond simply putting product information on a screen. How could digital tools make the physical shopping experience more useful, relevant, and convenient?

3. Make the shelf smarter

The humble shelf is becoming a more connected part of the grocery store. Digital shelf labels are replacing paper tags, giving retailers a faster way to update prices and promotions while helping keep shelf and checkout prices aligned.

That can remove a surprising amount of manual work. According to FMI, an average grocery store changes more than 7,000 price tags by hand every week, while large grocery chains may print 5 million or more price tags each week.

Digital shelf labels can automate much of this process, making it easier to keep prices accurate and up to date. But the value goes beyond pricing.

Connected shelf technology can help retailers respond more quickly to what is happening in the store, from updating promotions and product information to marking down products approaching their expiration date. Research cited by FMI suggests that time-triggered markdowns on perishable products can reduce food waste by up to 21%, while giving shoppers access to lower prices.

The lesson: Look at the physical shelf as more than a place to display products. What information does the customer need at the point of purchase? What tasks could technology simplify for store employees? And what could the shelf tell you about what is happening in the store?

4. Expand the role of the store

Retailers have long looked for ways to make better use of their physical locations. Stores have sublet space to coffee shops, restaurants, and other businesses for years, creating additional revenue while giving customers more reasons to visit.

Grocery retailers are expanding on this idea by building more experiences and services around the store. Fresh foodservice, prepared meals, health and wellness services, cafés, and other offerings can make a grocery trip about more than simply picking up products.

That plays to one of the biggest advantages of physical retail: customers can see, touch, smell, and assess products for themselves. In grocery, they can check the freshness of produce, choose a particular cut of meat, select fresh cheese from the deli, or see what looks best that day. These are things an online store cannot fully replicate, creating opportunities to make the physical location more useful while opening up additional revenue opportunities.

Foodservice is one area where this is already happening. 77% of food retailers plan to increase the space they allocate to foodservice, including fresh-prepared and grab-and-go options, according to FMI.

The lesson: Think beyond the products you sell. What can customers see, feel, experience, or access in your stores that they cannot get online? And what additional needs could your physical locations help them solve?

5. Automate tasks with robots

Some of the most interesting retail innovations are happening behind the scenes. Grocery stores are experimenting with robots and computer vision to take on repetitive tasks, spot problems, and help employees know where attention is needed.

One example is an aisle-scanning robot that patrols the store overnight, using computer vision to identify empty shelf spaces, misplaced products, and discrepancies between shelf labels and POS prices. The system can then generate tasks for employees to replenish products, correct pricing, or reorganize merchandise.

The technology can also support other routine jobs, from inventory checks and floor cleaning to moving goods and picking products for online orders. By automating repetitive work and identifying issues earlier, retailers can give employees more time to focus on customers, merchandising, and tasks that require human judgment.

The lesson: Innovation does not always have to change what customers see. Look behind the scenes at the repetitive tasks that keep your stores running. Where could automation take on routine work or help employees know what needs attention?

Why shouldn’t the same be true for the rest of retail? 

Innovation does not always mean inventing something completely new. Sometimes, the best ideas are already being tested in another part of the retail industry.

Grocery retailers are experimenting with new ways to remove friction for customers, make better use of their stores, simplify repetitive work, and connect physical and digital experiences.

Other retailers can look to these examples for inspiration, then adapt the ideas to fit their own customers, operations, and business goals. The most innovative businesses tend to share a few habits:

• They look beyond their own industry. They pay attention to how other businesses are solving similar customer and operational challenges, and consider what could work in their own environment.

• They start with the customer. They look at the full customer journey and identify where technology or new services could make the experience easier, faster, or more relevant.

• They choose technology with a purpose. New technology is not valuable simply because it is new. The right solution is one that addresses a real business need and supports a clear goal.

• They are willing to experiment. Not every idea will work, but testing something new can reveal opportunities that are easy to miss by following the market.

• They think about what comes next. An idea that works in one store or use case needs the right technology and processes behind it to grow with the business. You don't have to copy what grocery retailers are doing.

The opportunity is to look at why these innovations work, then find your own way to apply the thinking behind them.

Looking for ways to put new retail ideas into practice? Contact us to explore how technology can support your business goals.