Preparing for Grocery’s Next Digital Wave

Grocery retail is transforming faster than ever. New technologies, shifting consumer behaviors, and rising operational pressures are forcing grocers to rethink how they run their businesses from how they source and price to how they personalize and deliver. From supply-chain volatility to the rise of digital shelves and agentic AI, the pace of transformation is accelerating. This blog explores how grocery leaders can prepare for the next digital wave by unifying data, intelligence, and execution with Digital Wave Technology’s AI-native ONE Platform. 

1. Every Digital Wave Redefines Grocery Success 

Each new digital wave has reshaped the grocery industry. First came eCommerce, followed by the cloud, online grocery delivery, and now AI and GenAI. Every wave has changed how grocers operate from how they price and promote to how they source, stock, and serve. 

But here’s the challenge: those waves no longer arrive once a decade. They now hit every few months. Each one lifts the companies that are ready and leaves behind those that are not. 

Today’s grocery executives face questions that didn’t exist even two years ago: 

• How do we connect data from stores, suppliers, and digital channels in real time? 

• How do we automate decisions without losing control or accuracy? 

• How do we scale AI responsibly across pricing, assortment, and personalization? 

The answer lies in connected intelligence — unifying your data, AI, and automation into one governed platform that’s built to adapt to whatever comes next. 

2. Built to Unify Data, AI, and Intelligent Execution 

That’s why Digital Wave Technology built the AI-native ONE Platform, connected, intelligent technology that unifies data, AI, and automation to help grocers future-proof their operations and ride every wave ahead, from AI to Agentic AI and beyond. 

At its core, ONE delivers a trusted master data foundation that connects every grocery domain from products and suppliers to locations, customers, and content. With governance built in, every team works from a single version of truth. 

Here’s what sets ONE apart: 

• Master Data at the Center – ONE ensures all workflows run on clean, enriched, and trusted data so decisions are accurate and auditable. 

• Unified Intelligence – Pricing, promotions, assortment, and replenishment operate from the same real-time data model. 

• AI at the Core – Native AI, Generative AI, and Agentic AI work together to automate and execute — not just analyze. 

• Enterprise Proven – Trusted by $1B–$300B global leaders who depend on performance at scale. 

• Ready for Agentic Commerce – Built for the next era of autonomous execution where intelligent agents orchestrate decisions across the business. 

When your master data foundation is unified and governed, AI finally delivers on its promise — accelerating execution, enabling agility, and producing measurable growth. 

3. The Grocery Pain Point: Fragmentation Slows Progress 

Grocery retailers are often caught in a balancing act: managing slim margins, volatile supply chains, and rapidly changing consumer expectations all while dealing with disconnected systems. 

Data about products, pricing, suppliers, and inventory often lives in different places. Teams use manual workarounds just to keep daily operations moving. The result? 

• Delayed price and promotion updates 

• Inconsistent product content across channels 

• Slow responses to supply or demand shifts 

• Missed opportunities for personalization 

AI can’t solve those problems if it’s built on top of fractured data. Without a unified foundation, grocery AI pilots deliver impressive demos but little long-term impact. 

4. The Next Wave Is Already Here: Agentic AI 

The next digital wave isn’t theoretical; it’s already in motion. Agentic AI represents the next evolution of enterprise intelligence, where autonomous agents can orchestrate workflows, execute decisions, and optimize operations in real time. 

Imagine AI agents that: 

• Adjust pricing and promotions based on competitive data and store inventory 

• Trigger replenishment automatically when shelf levels drop 

• Generate compliant, localized product content for every digital channel 

• Coordinate supplier orders to reduce waste and increase freshness 

This is the direction grocery retail is headed and the ONE Platform was purpose-built to make that shift seamless. It enables grocers to move confidently from insight to action, and from data to measurable outcomes. 

5. How Grocers Can Prepare for the Next Digital Wave 

Here’s how grocery leaders can start today: 

1. Identify your data bottlenecks. Where are teams spending the most time reconciling data or managing spreadsheets — product onboarding, price changes, vendor updates? That’s where you’re losing agility. 

2. Stop piecing together legacy tools. Instead of integrating isolated systems, rely on a platform that already unifies data, intelligence, and automation in one governed environment. 

3. Leverage a foundation that unifies, cleans, and enriches your data. The ONE Platform connects every grocery domain from product, pricing, content, supplier, and supply chain into one trusted source of truth, automatically standardizing formats, resolving duplicates, and enriching attributes. 

4. Use AI where it matters most. Ask: Where do we feel the most friction? Are promotional updates delayed because pricing and merchandising aren’t aligned? Are teams spending hours managing replenishment? Start there. Unified data and AI can deliver quick wins — faster product launches, dynamic pricing, reduced waste — and scale from there. 

5. Build for scale and readiness. With the ONE Platform, AI capabilities are built-in, so as new technologies emerge — from conversational AI to agentic systems — you’re already equipped to adopt them without disruption. 

Every step toward unification puts you closer to intelligent execution and positions your organization to ride the next digital wave instead of being swept away by it. 

6. Why Grocery Technology Leaders Should Care 

At FMI Midwinter, grocery executives will hear plenty about AI, personalization, and innovation. But the true differentiator belongs to those who are ready — those who have unified their data, simplified their architecture, and embedded AI into daily execution. 

If your organization still runs on fragmented systems, even the most advanced AI can’t deliver real value. To compete today and prepare for the next digital wave, you need a platform that connects data, teams, and strategy in one governed environment. 

That’s what the ONE Platform provides: 

• One foundation for every function 

• One source of truth for every decision 

• One architecture built for continuous innovation 

Architected for the Next Digital Wave of Grocery Retail

The grocery industry is changing faster than ever but transformation doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The next digital wave is here, and those who unify data, intelligence, and execution will be the ones who lead it. 

For grocery leaders ready to move from pilots to enterprise impact, the path is clear: build on a foundation designed for scale.

Visit Digital Wave Technology at FMI Midwinter 2025 to see how the AI-native ONE Platform helps grocery retailers unify data, automate decisions, and accelerate growth all while preparing for the next digital wave.

👉 Book a Meeting at FMI Midwinter or a Virtual Meeting to start your journey toward connected grocery intelligence.