Conference

Grocery Shop 2026: The Exhibitor's Guide to Winning Leads

Sep 22-24, 2026 · Las Vegas, USA · 4 min read

Grocery Shop 2026 brings 4,000+ grocery and CPG decision-makers to Las Vegas. Here's how exhibitors can turn three days on the floor into real pipeline.

Exhibiting at Grocery Shop 2026 means putting your brand in front of the densest concentration of grocery and CPG decision-makers on the planet. September 22-24 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, you're competing for attention from 1,300+ retailers and consumer brands, senior buyers, digital officers, and supply chain leaders from 50+ countries. The event facilitates over 30,000 business meetings across three days. That's not a networking event. That's a compressed sales environment, and if you're not prepared to operate at that pace, you'll spend a significant budget and leave with a list of names you can't convert.

Know Your Grocery Shop 2026 Buyers Before the Floor Opens

The attendee mix at Grocery Shop skews senior. You're not pitching to mid-level coordinators. You're talking to retail executives, brand managers, and digital officers who have the authority to greenlight pilots, shift vendor relationships, and approve technology budgets. That changes how you prepare.

If you're a technology provider, your booth team needs to walk in knowing the specific operational pain points facing grocery retailers right now: AI-driven demand forecasting, retail media monetization, and shrinking margins on fresh categories. Vague product demos won't land. Prepare two or three scenario-based narratives that map your solution directly to outcomes these buyers are being measured on.

If you're a CPG brand, the retailers on this floor are evaluating you on shelf velocity data, promotional ROI, and omnichannel execution. Bring the numbers. Bring case studies from comparable retail environments. Don't expect a buyer from a major grocery chain to take your word for it.

Before the show opens:

• Research which retailers and brands are confirmed attendees and prioritize your outreach list
• Prepare category-specific talking points for grocery tech, private label, and retail media conversations
• Brief your booth team on the AI and retail media themes dominating this year's agenda, because buyers will reference them
• Schedule meetings two to three weeks in advance using the event's meetings program

Running Your Booth at Grocery Shop: What Actually Moves the Needle

With 4,000+ attendees and a packed three-day schedule, the floor at Mandalay Bay moves fast. The exhibitors who struggle are the ones running generic booth presentations regardless of who's standing in front of them. The ones who win are qualifying within the first 90 seconds.

Train your team to open with a diagnostic question, not a pitch. For a retail executive, that might be: "Are you currently evaluating how AI fits into your category planning cycle?" For a brand manager: "What's your biggest friction point with retail media attribution right now?" The answer tells you whether this is a 10-minute conversation or a 2-minute handoff.

A common mistake at large CPG and grocery conferences is treating every badge scan as a lead. It isn't. Lead quality over lead volume is the only metric that matters when your sales team has to follow up on 200 contacts next week.

This is where the Habsy App earns its place on the floor. After each conversation, your rep records a quick voice note: what the buyer's current tech stack looks like, whether they're in active evaluation, what their timeline is, who else is involved in the decision. The app transcribes it and attaches it to the contact automatically. By the end of day one, you don't have a pile of business cards. You have 40 contacts with context, ranked by buying readiness.

For team leads managing multiple reps across the floor, the Habsy Platform gives you a live dashboard showing which companies your team has engaged, which conversations flagged enterprise-level interest, and which leads haven't had a follow-up action assigned yet. At a show this size, that visibility is the difference between a coordinated team and four reps duplicating effort.

The 48-Hour Window After Grocery Shop Closes

Grocery and CPG sales cycles are not short. A retailer evaluating a new technology vendor may run a six-to-twelve month procurement process involving IT, category management, and finance. A brand considering a new agency or analytics partner has internal stakeholders to align before any budget moves. That means your follow-up email is not closing a deal. It's opening a structured conversation.

The goal in the 48 hours after September 24 is to segment your leads into three buckets:

• Active evaluation: Buyers who named a timeline and a decision process. These get a personalized email within 24 hours referencing the specific conversation you had.
• Early-stage interest: Buyers who were engaged but not yet in a formal process. These get a value-add follow-up: a relevant case study, a piece of research tied to what they mentioned.
• Long-term nurture: Everyone else. Add them to a structured sequence, not a mass blast.

The worst follow-up mistake in this industry is sending the same templated email to a VP of Retail Technology at a major grocery chain and a startup brand manager who stopped by out of curiosity. Personalization at this buyer level is expected, and a generic message signals that you weren't paying attention.

Make Your Grocery Shop Investment Count

Three days at Mandalay Bay represents a real commitment of budget, team time, and opportunity cost. The return on that investment is determined almost entirely by what you do before the floor opens and in the week after it closes. Preparation, disciplined on-floor qualification, and fast, relevant follow-up are what separate exhibitors who build pipeline from those who collect contacts. If you want a smarter system for capturing and converting leads at Grocery Shop 2026, Habsy is built for exactly this environment. You can also explore the full Grocery Shop event profile on TradeShowIntel for additional exhibitor intelligence.

Frequently asked questions

When is Grocery Shop 2026?

Grocery Shop 2026 runs from September 22-24, 2026. The event is held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Who organizes Grocery Shop?

Grocery Shop is organized by Hyve Group. The event is held annually at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

How many attendees does Grocery Shop 2026 expect?

Grocery Shop 2026 expects over 4,000 attendees, including 1,300+ retailers and consumer brands from more than 50 countries. The event facilitates over 30,000 facilitated business meetings across the three-day program.

Is Grocery Shop 2026 a B2B or B2C event?

Grocery Shop is a B2B event. It targets retail executives, brand managers, digital officers, supply chain leaders, and technology providers rather than general consumers.

What industries does Grocery Shop cover?

Grocery Shop covers grocery retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail technology, and related sectors. Key topics at the 2026 event include AI, retail media, omnichannel execution, and evolving shopper trends.

How do I register for Grocery Shop 2026?

Registration for Grocery Shop 2026 is handled through the official event website at groceryshop.com. Both exhibitor and attendee registration options are available there.

What is the venue for Grocery Shop 2026 and how do I get there?

Grocery Shop 2026 is held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mandalay Bay is located on the Las Vegas Strip and is approximately 15 minutes from Harry Reid International Airport, with multiple transport options including taxis, rideshare, and the Las Vegas Monorail.

What types of companies exhibit at Grocery Shop?

Exhibitors at Grocery Shop include grocery retailers, CPG brands, technology providers, startups, consultants, agencies, analysts, and investors. The event is particularly relevant for companies offering solutions in AI, retail media, supply chain, and shopper analytics.

What's the best way to capture leads at Grocery Shop 2026?

With over 30,000 business meetings happening across three days, organizing contacts in real time is critical. [Habsy](https://habsy.ai/event-lead-capture?utm_source=tradeshowintel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=grocery-shop&utm_content=faq) lets booth reps record voice notes after each conversation, which are automatically transcribed and attached to the contact, so you leave the show with qualified leads and context rather than a stack of unorganized business cards.

Does Grocery Shop have a structured meetings program?

Yes, Grocery Shop includes a facilitated meetings program that generates over 30,000 business meetings across the event. Attendees and exhibitors can schedule meetings in advance, and the program is designed to connect buyers and suppliers in targeted one-on-one sessions.