CART, WGB Launch Retail Innovation Pitch Webcast

The Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART) and Winsight Grocery Business have teamed up to host a Retail Innovation Pitch webcast designed to bring relevant, transformative innovation to the entire food retail industry. This year, for the first time, the CART pitch event is open to all industry members to participate via a webcast. CART has run the pitch as a private event for top food retailers and wholesalers for several years.

The pitch webcast will leverage the pipeline of 1,000-plus new startups CART looks at every year to curate the top solutions from across the nation and international markets looking to enter the U.S.

“The speed and volume of innovation in commerce is staggering,” said Sterling Hawkins, who leads venture relations for CART. “There is no way retailers and brands can internally keep pace with industry transformation coming from emerging technologies such as robotics, AR/VR, artificial intelligence and IoT.”

The program will be run twice a year, and will give emerging technology companies an opportunity to pitch the webcast participants and key panelists from companies such as Supervalu, Lowes Foods, Albertsons and more. Attendees will learn about top new and curated innovation coming into retail.

“We at Winsight Grocery Business are redefining grocery trade media with our commitment to advancing the incredible transformation taking place in retail industry, where the intersection of technology and food is the crux of driving consumer engagement and sales," said EVP Jeffrey Friedman.

Related:Local Roots Wins CART 2017 Virtual Pitch Event

“This program can serve as the in-house innovation lab or incubator for retailers and brands,” said Sterling Hawkins. “It is designed to act as an accelerator for the broader retail industry, especially important now that retail innovation is being increasingly driven from outside forces such as rapid adoption of consumer technology and new competitors like Amazon/Whole Foods and Google.”

The Retail Innovation Pitch Webcast will take place at 1 p.m. EST on May 15, 2018, with startup applications due by April 13, 2018.

Applications can be submitted here. To attend the webcast, register here.

More information is available via [email protected] or by calling (877) 712-2538.