GROCERY & FOOD SERVICES
In the grocery industry, the margin for error is as thin as the margins themselves.
From fresh produce to foodservice distribution, every partner in the grocery supply chain needs to execute with precision. SPS Commerce gives grocers, food distributors, and suppliers the shared infrastructure to stay in stock, stay compliant, and stay profitable.
What is shaping the future of the grocery industry?
52%
Reduction in late ship violations
3,500+
Supplier connections managed by Gordon Food Service via SPS
2–6%
Improvement in in-full performance
What challenges are defining the grocery industry supply chain?
Private label and fresh categories require every partner to execute perfectly, and most don't have the infrastructure
A miss cascades from vendor to grocer to distributor to 3PL — compounding brand, fill rate, and spoilage exposure across every partner.
Traceability demands from retailers already exceed what the FDA requires, and most suppliers can't meet either
Most suppliers aren’t transmitting required lot-level data fields — creating audit exposure for every partner as FSMA 204 enforcement accelerates.
Fill rate variability between suppliers and distributors cascades directly to empty shelves and broken operator promises
Short-ships compound at every handoff — from supplier to distributor to operator — because no one has real-time visibility across the full chain.
Why grocery & food services companies trust SPS commerce
FSMA 204 compliance readiness
We help grocers and distributors build compliant lot-level data flows across supplier networks — before enforcement deadlines arrive.
Foodservice distribution at scale
We connect supplier networks spanning thousands of locations and millions of SKUs to the data standards operators require — at any scale.
Grocery OTIF performance management
Our Supply Chain Performance Suite surfaces root causes of fill rate and delivery failures — giving grocers and vendors the tools to fix them together.
Supplier onboarding for all sizes
From EDI-ready manufacturers to small producers, our solutions meet every supplier where they are — without slowing the grocer’s operation.
Grocery Industry Success Stories
Supplier EDI onboarding reduced from months to weeks. Proactive shortage management achieved.
North America’s largest food distributor automated supplier EDI, order flows, and traceability infrastructure across 3,500+ suppliers.
On-time performance up 4–8%. Late ship violation down 52%. Out-of-stocks reduced.
SPS unified supplier scorecards and compliance data for a top-50 U.S. grocery chain, driving measurable OTIF improvement within the first year.
4-8%
On-time performance up
52%
Late ship violations down
Ready to see how SPS can improve your business?
Featured Resource
Spotlight
The Order Management Playbook
Proactive order management strategies that reduce inventory risk and improve service levels across the grocery supply chain.
Get the PlaybookProduct assortment: meaning, examples and strategy
Build a smarter grocery assortment strategy using demand, inventory, and shopper data to optimize shelf mix, reduce waste, and improve sales performance.
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