I had the pleasure of attending this year's Australian Food and Grocery Council "Highlands" conference in Brisbane at the end of May.   There were a number of erudite speakers both from Australia and from around the world.  The international speakers and our local analysts all pointed to an industry in some turmoil globally, but with many strategies to help get ahead in an increasingly competitive marketplace.  We also had local representatives from Coles, Costco, Metcash and Woolworths present.  The key lesson for me was that while many overseas retailers continue to explore new ways of working, innovative ways of connecting to consumers, and different ways of fulfilling demand, our local retailers still have work to do.  Just some examples are the use of analytics to better connect to shoppers, the use of technology in store to help shoppers, using shopping basket data to allow shoppers to shop smart, using solutions to better understand the provenance of products, and, perhaps most importantly, being prepared to innovate in store, on the web, along the supply chain and with people to deliver a better shopper experience.  The focus on price is real, but innovative mechanisms to "price match" exist globally to make sure shoppers get the best deal without having to shop around.  I am sure it is just a matter of time before our retailers pick up the learnings from overseas, but maybe there is an opportunity in the Australian market for our retailers to lead the innovation rather than just follow.  We have a very profitable grocery retail industry in Australia - but those margins will continue to erode without real and fast innovation.