GroceryShop 2026 made one thing clear: retail execution is no longer the downstream handoff after strategy, media, and planning are complete.
As retailers build omnichannel organizations, retail media networks expand, and brands look for better performance visibility, the physical store has become a critical connection point between consumer intent and measurable action. The opportunity for CPG brands is not simply to add more channels, more platforms, or more campaign touchpoints. It is to connect the work already happening across media, merchandising, operations, and store execution.
That connection is still incomplete.
Retail media can show which audiences are responding. Digital commerce platforms can surface product, inventory, and out-of-stock signals. Retailers can provide increasingly sophisticated performance data. But many brands are still working through how those insights should influence physical display strategy, merchandising decisions, store-level execution, and future campaign planning.
That is the next retail execution challenge.
IN THIS ARTICLE
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- 01 The store is becoming part of the media and measurement system
- 02 Consumers are more precise, so execution has to be more precise
- 03 Omnichannel is becoming an operating model, not a marketing phrase
- 04 Data is becoming a competitive execution layer
- 05 AI needs to solve real operational problems
- 06 What this means for 2027 planning
IN-STORE MEDIA & MEASUREMENT
The store is becoming part of the media and measurement system
Retail media is no longer limited to sponsored search, digital ads, or retailer app placements. In-store retail media is becoming a more important part of the shopper experience, with retailers investing in screens, digital endcaps, stanchion displays, pharmacy-area messaging, and other physical touchpoints designed to connect media strategy to the moment of purchase.
That shift changes the role of physical execution.
A display, sign, sample station, endcap, or store-level activation is no longer just a merchandising tactic. It may be part of a larger media ecosystem that includes off-site targeting, retail media exposure, digital content, mobile engagement, loyalty data, and purchase behavior.
When those pieces work together, the store becomes more than a transaction point. It becomes a place where brand strategy, shopper intent, and measurable performance can connect.
But for that to happen, the physical layer has to be planned and managed with the same discipline as the media layer.
The question for brands is no longer only, “What should we put in-store?” It is also:
- What did we learn from media performance?
- Which audiences responded?
- Which stores, regions, or formats should be prioritized?
- Where do inventory, compliance, or execution gaps limit the campaign?
- How should those insights inform the next activation?
That is where retail execution needs to move next.
SHOPPER PRECISION
Consumers are more precise, so execution has to be more precise
The “average consumer” is no longer a useful planning model.
Today’s shopper is more stressed, more selective, and more intentional. Consumers are making calculated purchase decisions, evaluating value more carefully, and expecting brands and retailers to understand their specific needs.
This has real implications for retail execution.
If consumers are no longer buying by default, brands have to communicate value earlier and more clearly. If shoppers are researching more specific claims, then generic “better for you,” “healthy,” or “organic” messaging may not be enough. If household composition is changing, pack architecture and in-store messaging need to account for different needs — from single-person households to larger families balancing convenience, budget, and occasion-based shopping.
Precision is not just a media targeting issue. It is an execution issue.
The right message has to appear in the right place. The right product has to be available in the right format. The right display or merchandising solution has to reflect the shopper’s actual need state. And the campaign has to be coordinated across the physical and digital touchpoints that influence the purchase.
For CPG brands, the store still matters. But the work inside the store has to become more specific, more connected, and more informed by what the brand already knows about its shoppers.
OMNICHANNEL OPERATIONS
Omnichannel is becoming an operating model, not a marketing phrase
One of the clearest signals from GroceryShop was organizational. Retailers are not treating omnichannel as a separate digital initiative. They are embedding digital resources into merchandising, supply chain, store operations, and other operating departments. They are evolving labor models, standardizing KPIs, and building scorecards across channels.
That creates a challenge for brands.
If retailers are organizing around integrated customer journeys, but brand teams are still operating in separate lanes — shopper marketing, retail media, sales, merchandising, supply chain, and store execution — then the brand may be out of sync with how the retailer is making decisions.
Retail execution partners need to understand this shift. It is not enough to receive a final plan and deploy materials. Increasingly, the value is in helping brands think through how campaign strategy becomes operational reality:
- What needs to be produced?
- Where does it need to go?
- What data or assets are required?
- How should store teams execute it?
- How will compliance be measured?
- What can be learned for the next campaign?
As omnichannel becomes more operational, execution becomes more strategic.
DATA & VISIBILITY
Data is becoming a competitive execution layer
The companies shaping the next phase of retail are not just selling media, delivery, fulfillment, or technology. They are collecting data that helps brands and retailers understand what is happening at the shelf.
Shelf imagery, out-of-stock visibility, inventory signals, store-level data, and sales correlation are becoming more central to brand decision-making. These signals can help brands understand whether campaigns are supported in-store, whether products are available when demand is created, and where execution gaps may be limiting performance.
This raises important questions for CPG teams:
- Who has access to the data?
- How reliable is it?
- How does it connect to store-level execution?
- How quickly can the brand act on it?
- How does it inform the next campaign, reset, display, or promotion?
The goal is not data for its own sake. The goal is better decisions.
Out-of-stock data matters because it can reveal missed sales. Shelf imagery matters because it can validate whether execution happened as planned. Retail media performance matters because it can show where consumer interest is building. But those insights only create value if they can be connected to action.
That is why execution visibility, compliance, and performance feedback loops are becoming more important. Brands need to understand not only whether a campaign launched, but whether it showed up correctly, where it performed, what limited performance, and what should change next time.
PRACTICAL AI
AI needs to solve real operational problems
AI was everywhere at GroceryShop, but the more useful takeaway was not that AI is transforming everything. It was that AI is most valuable when it is applied to real operational friction.
For retail execution, that means focusing on use cases that improve planning, visibility, speed, and decision-making. The strongest AI applications may not be the flashiest ones. They may be the ones that help teams process campaign data faster, identify store-level exceptions, improve planning accuracy, summarize performance trends, organize assets, or surface the next-best action across a complex retail program.
For brands and retailers, the question should not be, “Where can we add AI?”
The better question is, “Where is manual work slowing down our ability to plan, execute, measure, or improve?”
That is where AI can create meaningful value.
2027 PLANNING
What this means for 2027 planning
The retail execution model is changing because the retail environment around it is changing.
Consumers are more selective. Retailers are organizing around omnichannel. Retail media is moving deeper into the store. Data and visibility are becoming competitive advantages. Vendors are all promising integration, but many brands are still working through how to make those promises operational.
For enterprise CPG and retail teams, the implications are practical:
Connect media insights to physical execution.
Retail media performance should help inform display strategy, store prioritization, merchandising, inventory planning, and future campaign decisions.
Build execution plans around real shopper behavior.
Messaging, pack architecture, display strategy, and campaign timing should reflect specific household needs, occasions, and value perceptions.
Treat omnichannel as an operating model.
Brand teams need ways to coordinate across marketing, sales, retail media, operations, supply chain, and store execution.
Prioritize visibility and measurement.
Brands need to know what happened in-store, what affected performance, and what should change next time.
Use AI where it reduces friction.
The most valuable AI applications may be the ones that improve planning, processing, reporting, compliance, and decision-making at scale.
Retail execution is no longer just about getting materials into stores. It is about helping brands connect strategy to action — and action to measurable learning.
As 2027 planning begins, the brands best positioned to move forward will be the ones that can connect what they know about the shopper, what they learn from media and commerce data, and what actually happens in the store.
That is the new retail execution mandate.
Planning for 2027?
IMS can help connect media insights, campaign planning, and store-level execution.