Do I have to replace Catapult or NetSuite?

No. I work with what you already run. The point is to stop people from carrying data between systems by hand, not to add another system.

How big does a store need to be?

One store up to about ten. Big enough to have a back office, small enough that the back office is one or two people.

Do you only work with Nashville grocers?

No. I'm in Nashville and can be in your store this week. Most of the work can run remote.

With the Walkthrough. Two sessions with your team and a one-page map of the workflows worth fixing. If none of them are, I'll say so.

For grocery stores

AI and automation for independent grocery stores

For independents with one to ten stores. You already have the systems. The hand work lives in the gaps between them.

Where this comes from

Most of this page comes from a discovery checklist I ran with the finance lead at a four-store natural grocer in Nashville. Nothing has been built for them yet. The rest comes from reading how independent grocers run their back office.

That grocer didn’t need AI explained. The finance lead had already built Claude projects and a reporting pipeline out of NetSuite. What was missing was the step after: staff using the tools, and someone chasing the money vendors owed.

Where the systems stop

Your POS knows what was ordered and what was sold. Your accounting system knows what got paid. Neither one chases a vendor for a missing credit, or notices that a cost went up on the invoice and never changed in the item file. Those gaps get filled by people, by hand, when they remember.

That’s where I’d start. Not with a new system. With the work that falls between the ones you have.

What I'd automate first

1
Credits and billbacks you're owed
A delivery shows up short or damaged and the store asks for a credit. Then someone has to remember to chase it. Billbacks and scan-deal money work the same way, and some of it never arrives.
What I'd build
Every credit and billback logged when it's promised and tracked until it posts. Follow-up emails drafted and waiting for a person to approve.
Handoff
2
Invoice costs that drift
A vendor raises a cost. The invoice changes and the item file doesn't, so margin slips without anyone deciding it should.
What I'd build
Each invoice line checked against the agreed cost and the cost in your item file, with the gaps on one list every week.
Make Your Tools Talk
3
The answers staff keep asking for
The owner and the finance lead answer the same questions every week. Every new hire asks them again.
What I'd build
An assistant that holds those answers, written down once, that staff ask in plain English.
Ask-Once
4
Margin and loyalty questions in plain English
Margin by category by store means somebody builds a report. Loyalty data gets collected and nobody looks at it.
What I'd build
Ask the question in a sentence and get the numbers back, with the query behind the answer shown.
Ask-Your-Data
5
Reports nobody opens
The tools are paid for and set up. Staff don't use them, so the work still runs through one or two people.
What I'd build
Hands-on sessions with the people who should be using them, built around their actual week.
Team Sessions

Systems I'd expect to work with

ECRS Catapult
NetSuite
QuickBooks
Paycom
Instacart
Reciprofity

What I wouldn't build

Electronic shelf labels. That's hardware, and I don't sell it.
A new auto-ordering system. If your POS already orders for you, I'd rather check the costs it orders from.
Temperature logs. Sensors do that job better than software I'd write.
A new online store sync, unless yours is breaking. Most stores already have one running.

Something I've built

I haven't built anything for a grocer yet. The closest thing I've built is fridge-door, a household app that searches Kroger products and fills a cart through Kroger's API.

fridge-door screenshot[NEEDS REAL PHOTO]

Personal build

fridge-door: a household app that reads the mail

School emails and flyers in, organized to-dos out. Real API integrations, built for my own family.

What it shows: Email and paper in, drafted to-dos out, and a person approves before anything lands.

My own household

How the Walkthrough works Take the 5-minute AI readiness checklist Grocery stores in Nashville

Questions

Do I have to replace Catapult or NetSuite?: No. I work with what you already run. The point is to stop people from carrying data between systems by hand, not to add another system.
How big does a store need to be?: One store up to about ten. Big enough to have a back office, small enough that the back office is one or two people.
Do you only work with Nashville grocers?: No. I'm in Nashville and can be in your store this week. Most of the work can run remote.
Where do I start?: With the Walkthrough. Two sessions with your team and a one-page map of the workflows worth fixing. If none of them are, I'll say so.

Start with a free 30-minute call.

If the Walkthrough is the right next step, I'll say so. If it isn't, I'll say that too.

Request a free 30-minute call

Where this comes from

Where the systems stop

What I'd automate first

Credits and billbacks you're owed

Invoice costs that drift

The answers staff keep asking for

Margin and loyalty questions in plain English