Microsoft for Startups at Groceryshop 2024

Microsoft for Startups is excited to participate in the upcoming Groceryshop Conference, where we will be showcasing 5 innovative startups. The startups will be actively engaged in Meetups and Hosted Meetings, providing a unique opportunity to connect with industry leaders and showcase cutting-edge solutions. Join us to discover how these startups are transforming the grocery industry with their groundbreaking technologies and visionary approaches.

Here is how you can meet with the startups and learn more about how they can help augment and accelerate the innovation within your Retail and CPG companies:

• Reach out to me to discuss how you can collaborate with Microsoft for Startups to augment and accelerate your in-house innovation.
• Use the GroceryShop Meetups (Groceryshop Meetup – Groceryshop 2024: The Leading Event for Grocery & CPG) to schedule meetups with the Startups: Harmonya , YDISTRI , Xpand (formerly 1MRobotics) , Omnistream , Mapped .
• Join us at the RETHINK Retail Bash: RETHINK Retail BASH! at Groceryshop in Las Vegas – October 8th, 2024 - RETHINK Retail (Exclusive for Retail & CPG only)
• Meet with Microsoft at Palm A at the Mandalay Bay: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/ankicajedry_groceryshop2024-retailinnovation-networking-activity-7237836895861276672--Mtz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

The Startups:

In the rapidly evolving world of grocery retail, staying competitive means embracing innovation and leveraging cutting-edge technologies. At GroceryShop, we will be showcasing how five pioneering startups— YDISTRI , Omnistream , Mapped , Harmonya , and Xpand (formerly 1MRobotics) —are transforming the industry. From optimizing inventory and enhancing customer experiences to strategic planning and leveraging data insights, these startups offer solutions that drive efficiency, sustainability, and growth.

1MRobotics

1MRobotics offers innovative solutions for grocery retail through their AI-driven autonomous stores, which can be seamlessly integrated into existing retail spaces or deployed in various locations like pop-up sites and transportation terminals. These stores support multiple demand channels, including third-party marketplaces and Buy Online Pick In-Store (BOPIS) options, enhancing the customer experience. The technology is modular and scalable, accommodating different temperature zones for a wide range of grocery items. With features like inventory tracking, live reporting, demand forecasting, and replenishment alerts, grocery retailers can manage operations efficiently. The pre-assembled stores are shipped ready for operation, minimizing downtime and accelerating time-to-revenue. Designed for 24/7 operation with battery backup and secure, unmanned solutions, these stores ensure continuous service and enhanced security. By leveraging 1MRobotics' offerings, grocery retailers can streamline operations, enhance service, and explore new commerce models.

More Details: 1MRobotics - Transforming Retail with AI-Driven Autonomous Stores

YDISTRI

Ydistri's solution can significantly enhance grocery retail performance by optimizing inventory management. Their AI-driven platform identifies underperforming stock, or "dead stock," and redistributes it to stores within the same retail chain where there is higher demand. This approach reduces the need for heavy discounts, which can go up to 70%, and instead incurs minimal handling and logistics costs of about 2-3%. By dynamically rebalancing inventory based on real-time demand, Ydistri helps grocery retailers lower waste, improve sales of full-price items, and enhance overall profitability. Additionally, their strategic collaborations with industry leaders like SAP and Microsoft ensure seamless integration and advanced inventory optimization.

More Details: We optimize sales of underperforming retail stock | YDISTRI

Omnistream

Omnistream helps grocery retailers optimize store-level assortment and planograms through their data-driven, AI-powered platform. Their technology captures store-level data and leverages machine learning to provide tailored recommendations that reflect customer behavior, geography, and competition proximity. This enables retailers to create customized planograms and assortments that maximize sales and profitability. The platform offers rapid scenario simulation and planning, allowing retailers to visualize the impact of planogram changes on profitability, sales, and basket sizes in near real-time. This helps in making informed decisions quickly and efficiently. By optimizing product placement and assortment, Omnistream ensures better inventory management, reducing overstock and minimizing food waste. Omnistream's solutions are designed to comply with retailer merchandising guidelines, ensuring consistency across all stores. This leads to operational efficiencies, better product availability, and an enhanced consumer experience. By implementing Omnistream's technology, grocery retailers can drive growth, improve profitability, and provide a better shopping experience for their customers.

More Details: Omnistream ? retail consumer-centric planograms

Harmonya

Harmonya transforms static product data into a dynamic resource, enabling grocery retailers to enrich, categorize, and draw valuable insights from their products. By leveraging AI-driven technology, Harmonya enriches product data with dynamic attributes and characteristics sourced from millions of online listings and consumer reviews. This enriched data allows retailers to gain deeper, strategic insights, helping them understand performance drivers and consumer preferences more effectively. The platform also automates product categorization, harmonizing data structures across various sources and allowing for flexible views and perspectives. This capability helps retailers quickly adapt to market changes and optimize their product assortments. Harmonya's solution supports advanced analytics, enabling retailers to explore product trends, validate market hypotheses, and uncover new growth opportunities. By transforming static product data into a dynamic and actionable resource, Harmonya empowers grocery retailers to make better-informed decisions, enhance their marketing and category management strategies, and ultimately drive growth and profitability.

More Details: Harmonya | Supercharge Your Product Data

Mapped

Mapped helps grocery retailers gain a competitive edge by integrating data from building systems, IoT applications, and cloud sources into a unified platform. This integration enables real-time energy management, predictive maintenance, and enhanced customer experience optimization. By analyzing diverse data streams, retailers can optimize energy usage, predict equipment failures, and understand customer behavior patterns, leading to improved operational efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced shopping experiences. Additionally, Mapped ensures robust security and data validation, providing a reliable infrastructure for managing retail operations effectively.

More Details: Mapped | Data AI for the real world

An Integrated Story:

Imagine a grocery retailer, FreshMart, aiming to revolutionize its store performance by integrating cutting-edge technologies from these five innovative startups: Mapped , YDISTRI , Xpand (formerly 1MRobotics) , Omnistream , and Harmonya .

FreshMart begins by implementing Mapped's platform to unify data from their building systems, IoT applications, and cloud sources. This integration allows them to optimize energy usage, predict equipment failures, and enhance customer experiences through real-time data analysis. With predictive maintenance, FreshMart minimizes downtime and reduces operational costs, ensuring their stores run smoothly and efficiently.

FreshMart leverages Ydistri's AI-driven platform to tackle the issue of dead stock. By identifying underperforming inventory and redistributing it to stores with higher demand, FreshMart reduces the need for heavy discounts and minimizes waste. This dynamic rebalancing of inventory improves sales of full-price items and enhances overall profitability.

To expand their reach and offer convenient shopping experiences, FreshMart deploys 1MRobotics' autonomous stores. These modular and scalable stores can be placed in various locations, from existing retail spaces to pop-up sites. Supporting multiple demand channels, including third-party marketplaces and BOPIS options, these stores enhance customer convenience and streamline operations with features like inventory tracking and live reporting.

Omnistream's AI-powered platform helps FreshMart optimize store-level assortment and planograms. By capturing store-level data and providing tailored recommendations, FreshMart can create customized planograms that reflect customer behavior and local preferences. This leads to better product placement, reduced overstock, and minimized food waste, ultimately driving growth and profitability.

FreshMart transforms its static product data into a dynamic resource with Harmonya's solution. By enriching product data with dynamic attributes and automating categorization, FreshMart gains deeper insights into performance drivers and consumer preferences. This enriched data supports advanced analytics, helping FreshMart make better-informed decisions and uncover new growth opportunities.

By integrating these innovative solutions, FreshMart significantly improves store performance, enhances customer experiences, and drives growth and profitability. Each technology complements the others, creating a seamless and efficient retail operation that sets FreshMart apart in the competitive grocery market.

Partner with Innovative Startups:

To remain competitive and meet the demands of their customers, retailers are actively innovating. Utilizing startup solutions can enhance and expedite this process. The Microsoft for Startups Pegasus ecosystem can help augment in-house innovation for brands and retailers. Please reach out to me if you'd like to meet with startups and/or explore our startup portfolio.