The Explainer Series: Supermarkets

The Explainer Series is about exploring the questions we’re all asking.

Supermarkets are part of everyday life, but there’s a lot more happening in the aisles than deciding what’s for dinner. From pricing and loyalty programs to store layouts, online shopping and the growing influence of AI, the way we buy our groceries is changing fast. The Explainer Series: Supermarkets will take a look behind the shelves to explore how Australian supermarkets became the giants they are today - and where they might be heading next. As smaller stores, home delivery, automated fulfillment and personalised shopping reshape the supermarket experience, what do we gain from all that convenience, and what might we be giving up? Join us as we unpack the power and psychology of supermarkets, the technology changing the way we shop, and what the supermarket of the future might look like.

Meet Your Speakers

Professor Gary Mortimer is a retail marketing and consumer behaviour expert at the QUT Business School. His retail career began at fifteen, pushing shopping trolleys after his dad told him if he couldn't find a job, he'd have to finish high school. So he found a job. At our upcoming Explainer Series event, he's most excited to dispel the 'myth of the supermarket duopoly' and explain how supermarkets of the future may look a lot like those of the past.

Ashwin Segkar is a radio presenter and comedian, currently hosting ABC Overnights. He's a frequent supermarket shopper, with deep experience weighing up whether it's faster to stick with self-checkout or switch to a staffed register. At our upcoming Explainer Series event, he'll be sharing insights on supermarket shopping: the quirks in how we behave inside, the power supermarkets wield, and how it will all change with new technology. His key question? How will we be supermarket shopping in 2035?

The Explainer Series

The Explainer Series is a space for thoughtful conversations with people who really know their stuff, sharing insights and context so we can better navigate the big and small questions in our lives.

From international law and cryptocurrency to climate change, gut health and space junk, these talks bring ideas, trends and debates into focus, helping us form our own understanding, guided by curiosity and expertise.

There’s no spin and no hype, just experts helping us think more clearly about the world around us.

The Explainer Series is generously supported by Gina Fairfax AC and Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Library Foundation.

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The views expressed by the speakers are their own and the promotion of products/services is not endorsed by State Library.