Stewart Samuel

by Stewart Samuel IGD’s latest research, Global hypermarket and supermarket trends 2026, points to a shift that deserves more urgency than it is currently getting. Large-format stores will continue to grow and remain central to grocery, but they are losing share to faster-moving channels and, more importantly, exposing how little of their economic model has really changed. The uncomfortable reality is that this is not a demand problem.

by Stewart Samuel Discount supermarkets are expanding their footprint in Canada, and a variety of discount formats are drawing more food, household, and everyday consumables into trips that were once occasional. More Canadian shoppers are using discount as part of their normal shopping pattern. It’s a channel growth model globally.

I spent time recently at Curbivore in LA, one of the leading events for understanding how last-mile delivery is evolving in practice. It was a great opportunity to get hands-on with a wide range of solutions and to understand the broader ecosystem that supports last mile, including mapping, robotics and fleet operations. What comes through is that the conversation has settled on one issue. Grocery and restaurant delivery has scaled, but the economics have not.