5 Strategies to Capture Evolving Grocery and CPG Customers | Grocery

10/27/2026

The 2026 State of Grocery + CPG Report, from Iridio℠ by RRD, reveals that today’s shoppers are becoming more deliberate about where they shop, what they purchase, and how much effort they put into finding savings. Simultaneously, physical and digital shopping behaviors are continuing to converge, creating new challenges for grocery retailers and CPG brands.

This blog outlines five tactics grocers and brands can take to meet customers’ demands and elevate the shopper experience.

Cater to value-seeking shoppers

In a challenging economy, brand loyalty has been severely eroded. To stretch household budgets, shoppers are comparing stores, seeking promotions, and even reconsidering purchases altogether. 

This is particularly true of younger generations, according to the report: 86% of Gen Z respondents and 81% of millennial respondents indicate that they’ve reduced or eliminated spending due to grocery costs. Price sensitivity is driving new shopping habits across all age groups:

• 73% of consumers report adopting new shopping habits over the past year to cope with rising costs
• 42% regularly visit multiple grocery stores to find the lowest prices
• 30% actively seek out printed or digital coupons

“The brands that win tomorrow will be those that solve this efficiency crisis for shoppers on the shelf,” says Beth Johnson, Director of Vertical Strategy, Grocery, RRD.

Minimize budgetary decision fatigue

To manage grocery budgets, consumers are engaging in new strategies — all of which intrude upon the time they previously used for other activities. Compared to three years ago, 79% of adults indicate they spend additional time each week trying to save money on groceries. More than half (58%) say they spend at least 30 additional minutes each week, while 32% say they spend an additional hour or longer. 

“Brands that deploy personalized promotions on frequent purchases and clear, net-price shelf tags can help eliminate aisle math and ease shoppers’ mental fatigue,” says Michelle Garcia, Director of Integrated Strategy, Iridio by RRD.

Promotions can play a significant role here. As revealed in the report, consumers are increasingly relying on promotions to offset costs:

• 38% keep physical print coupons as a visual reminder until their next shopping trip
• 36% rely more on print or digital coupons than they did one year ago

Synchronize for real-time stock visibility

Few things are as frustrating to in-store shoppers as a product being out of stock — particularly when a store’s app indicates it’s on the shelf. With more than half (51%) of consumers at least occasionally using a grocery store app while actively shopping in-store, out-of-stock items can lead to sales loss and undermine consumer trust.

“How are you effectively bridging digital convenience and physical shelves? By optimizing real-time inventory synchronization, grocers can strengthen app reliability and effectively reduce customer churn to competitors,” says Beth Johnson.

Grocers should prioritize modernizing inventory data tracking and also invest in durable secondary packaging and smart labeling solutions, including RFID technology and localized barcodes. With accurate, real-time fulfillment across physical and digital storefronts, grocers can avoid inventory gaps. 

Retailers should keep in mind the following

• 35% of retail executives admit that slow inventory data causes products to be sold online when they’re already out of stock on store shelves
• 28% of retail decision-makers identify inventory inaccuracy across digital and physical shelves as their single biggest hurdle to executing an omnichannel strategy 

Leverage digital tech to personalize shopping experiences

Shoppers say they’ll adopt digital engagement tools — if those tools can deliver direct cost savings, according to the report. In fact, nearly half (48%) of consumers indicated they would allow a grocery retailer to use AI to predict their shopping list as long as it guaranteed lower prices. 

“Is your personalization moving beyond generic messaging to include proactive sales alerts and tailored experiences?” asks Kevin Bell, VP of Data & Analytics Strategy, Iridio by RRD.

What do consumers want if a retailer knows their shopping habits extremely well?

• Alerts when their preferred products go on sale (52%)
• Personalized discounts (50%)
• Alerts when products similar to their preferred products go on sale (38%)
• Alerts when new products that fit with their preferences are available (31%)

Scannable tech can drive at-shelf engagement: Nearly three-quarters of consumers (72%) said they’d be motivated to scan an in-store QR code or smart label. About half (46%) indicated that they would be motivated to scan if they received exclusive coupons, rebates, or loyalty rewards. 

Ease shopper journeys with a trusted partner

All of the above challenges for grocers and CPG retailers are exacerbated by vendor fragmentation. Fragmented, multi-vendor networks can increase execution time and overhead costs, leading to margin erosion. 

The solution: forge a single-source partnership with a trusted supplier. In fact, 100% of surveyed decision-makers said they see a competitive advantage in using one partner for packaging design, in-store print marketing, and direct supply chain distribution. 

“Bringing marketing and operations under one provider cuts down on friction, protects your bottom line, and keeps the shopper journey consistent from start to finish,” says Kevin Poultney, Vice President, Strategic Accounts & Vertical Markets, RRD.

Packaging is just one example of an area where a single-source partner can help grocers and CPG retailers succeed. More than half (53%) of decision-makers report CPG brands are investing heavily in premium visual branding and specialty packaging — especially as consumers move toward private-label products.  

Read the full 2026 State of Grocery + CPG Report here.