Local Express

08/28/2026

What a great three days at GroceryNEXT 2026 in Illinois. 100+ conversations at our booth. Strong panels. And the hallway talks that actually matter, operators sharing what is working on the floor right now.

The themes we kept hearing: agentic commerce moving from buzzword to budget line, retail media as a real margin conversation, and loyalty coming together with storefront, fulfillment, and personalization as one experience.

A highlight: hosting the Vallarta Supermarkets team at our booth. One of California’s largest Latino grocery chains, 60+ stores. When operators at that scale sit down with Grocery Agentic AI, you see where the category is going.

Most of all, these three days were about meeting grocers face to face, comparing notes, and strengthening the partnerships we want to build next.

Thank you to the GroceryNEXT team, to every partner who stopped by, and to every grocer who shared their story with us. This is why we build.

On to the next one.

Supermarket News

08/24/2026

We're at ! 🛒

The Local Express team is on-site at The Westin Chicago Lombard as this year's Silver Sponsor, ready to talk grocery e-commerce, delivery, and unified retail tech.

Whether you're scoping out solutions or ready to upgrade your stack, come find us. We've got time set aside for conversations all three days.

Can't catch us in person?
Book a meeting on-site or virtually here → https://hubs.la/Q04qKQZL0

See you in Chicago. 👋

08/24/2026

From "What's for dinner?" to a full cart and a completed order. With Local Express, one question and one tap means a bigger basket for your store.
And shoppers love it.

Everyone wants to try something new for dinner, and an assistant that turns that curiosity into a ready-to-checkout cart is what surprises and delights them.

AI Shopping Assistant is now live on Local Express storefronts.

It knows your hours, your coupons, your aisles, and builds a cart from any recipe a shopper asks for.

Every question typed is demand data that stays with you, not a marketplace.

Ted Alvarado from our product team runs the full demo in two minutes.

08/17/2026

One week out from .

If grocery e-commerce, delivery, or unifying your tech stack is on your 2026 roadmap, here's what our team will be talking through on-site:

✅ A storefront that launches in days, not months
✅ In-house delivery & pickup tools that protect your margins
✅ Integrated marketing, loyalty, and digital circulars
✅ Seamless POS and inventory connections

As Silver Sponsor, we'll be around all three days. Grab 20 minutes with our team here → https://hubs.la/Q04qJTMS0

See you at The Westin Chicago Lombard, August 24–26!

08/17/2026

The right product takes two taps instead of twenty → Is the difference between a customer checking out and exiting → Means bigger basket sizes → Less time until next order.

In grocery, that repeat visit is the whole game. This is why shoppers should love your online storefront → you make their life easier.

Shop Preferences is now live on Local Express storefronts.

Want to highlight organic or vegan items, show the brands you like in front, hide the brands you don't?

Save once, and it's applied on every visit.

And every preference a shopper sets is data you own, not a marketplace’s.

Ted from our product team shows it in under a minute.

08/14/2026

Local Express just ranked #1 among grocery ecommerce platforms for independent and regional retailers in 2026. National chains have engineering teams to stitch together a dozen vendors. Independent and regional grocers shouldn’t need one. The full stack has to come in one system, under the retailer’s own brand, not a marketplace’s.

Local Express combines:

• White-label ecommerce website
• Fully branded mobile app
• Prepared-food kiosks for Made to Order
• Order management + last-mile delivery
• Retail media and more

All in one connected system, with grocery-specific AI for search, substitutions, and promotions.

In an industry with razor-thin margins, every order that goes through a third-party app costs the grocer customer data, pricing control, and a cut of the basket.

The retailers reclaiming that margin in 2026 are bringing the digital experience back under their own brand.

08/04/2026

It was great to be at the grand opening of our friends' new store - Seafood City in Chandler, AZ. This is their first location in Arizona, and the excitement from the whole Filipino community (and beyond!) was incredible. Huge lines to get in - people waited hours in 104° heat just to be part of the celebration: food, music, gifts, and more.

"Salamat" means thank you in Tagalog. It was written above the entrance, and you could feel it everywhere in the building.

David and I have been to many store openings. This one felt different - it felt like a homecoming. It was so great to see our old friends and be part of this amazing community.

Seafood City is already the largest Filipino grocer in North America, and this new location is a proud addition to the chain - nearly 66,000 sq ft with a food hall for 300+ guests. But what impressed me most was the team. Everyone was cutting, shelving, cleaning, and cooking together - including top management - all to create a great experience for their guests on opening day. That's what a great retailer looks like.

Being your partner since 2020 - across online, kiosks, delivery, and Grill City - is an honor.

Go, Seafood City! Wishing you continued growth and all the best. 🎉
If you were there and felt it too, my DMs are open.

07/30/2026

🎙️ Introducing the Local Express Expert Series.

We sat down with some of the most respected voices in grocery retail for honest, no-fluff 20-minute conversations on where the industry is heading.

Our first guests:

Phil Lempert - Founder & CEO, SupermarketGuru
Greg Buzek - President, IHL Group & RetailROI
Ken Fenyo - Host, The Retail Playbook
Bill Gillispie - The Grocery Guy
Art Sebastian - NexChapter, Retail Media & Digital Transformation

Each episode is built for grocers navigating a fast-changing industry - real insights from people who've spent years inside it.

🎬 The first episode is live now → https://hubs.la/Q04rnfFY0

🔔 Follow Local Express so you don't miss what's next.

Welcome to the Local Express Expert Series - straight-talking conve...

07/27/2026

Don’t miss us at . Day 2 is on fire 🔥.
Join Tigran Zograbyan, Jonathan Alexander and Linda Yassen at Booth #1113, today and tomorrow.

If you serve grocers, come see what they’ve been asking for, live: Made to Order for prepared food, AI Data Fusion for clean catalog and store data, LEA Shopping and Pricing Agents, and one unified commerce platform behind it all.

A practical conversation on what actually drives grocer revenue: prepared food, pricing, fulfillment, and delivery.

Meet us on the show floor. Booth #1113, Caesars Forum.

07/26/2026

The doors are open at - and so is Booth 1113! 🎉

The Local Express team is on the show floor at Caesars Forum all day. Come see live demos of our all-in-one eCommerce, delivery, and POS-integrated platform built for independent grocers.

Walk-ins welcome - or book a private demo slot here: https://hubs.la/Q04pNwQ_0

See you in Vegas! 🌵