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Albertsons Media Collective works with NBCUniversal to provide advertisers with CTV measurement solutions. Best Buy Ads and Roku enable advertisers to use Best Buy鈥檚 first-party data to target and measure CTV campaigns across the streaming platform. This was originally featured in the Retail Media Weekly newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

In June 2023, Albertsons Companies published a white paper with a preliminary framework proposing standardization in retail media. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in partnership with the Media Rating Council (MRC), and with broad industry buy-in, subsequently released its Retail Media Measurement Guidelines, in January 2024, to build on 础濒产别谤迟蝉辞苍蝉鈥� initial efforts.

For example, in December 2024, 础濒产别谤迟蝉辞苍蝉鈥� website traffic (6.5 million) was nearly 500 times smaller than Amazon鈥檚. But 础濒产别谤迟蝉辞苍蝉鈥� loyalty program (44 million members) was only about four times smaller than Amazon Prime membership, highlighting the value of first-party data beyond just ecommerce. Broader forces are creating tailwinds for off-site retail media.

The long-delayed merger between Kroger and Albertsons finally ended in December after multiple judges鈥攐ne state, one federal鈥攂locked it. Meanwhile, advertising holding companies Omnicom and Interpublic Group announced in December that they would merge, in effect creating the world's largest ad agency.

Kroger leans into value: The grocer is hosting a big sale about a month before a crucial court hearing on its proposed merger with Albertsons.

Since the pandemic, online ordering and delivery have become table stakes for the grocery industry. Retailers like Albertsons have begun to develop tools and capabilities that provide added value for customers, focusing on creating a more convenient experience. 鈥淐onsumers think about food 226 times a day, that鈥檚 a lot of cognitive load,鈥� said Jill Pavlovich, senior vice president of digital shopping experiences at Albertsons Cos. 鈥淪o we want to take the experience from a transactional one to a helpful set of tools that can help people manage this.鈥� Albertsons leveraged customer data to identify areas for improvement across its website and mobile app.

Collective TV integrates CTV and retail media: Albertsons' new platform offers advanced ad solutions, driving digital video ad growth through shoppable content.

Other retailers looking to get in on the CTV boom include Albertsons and Instacart. Overall, we expect off-site RMN ad spending to grow 42.1% YoY in 2025. Attracting non-endemic brands is crucial for long-term growth. As the retail media industry matures and spending from existing advertisers plateaus, RMNs are looking to non-endemic brands as a growth opportunity.

Albertsons adds non-endemic ads: Retail media expands its ambitions as the category matures.

Albertsons, Costco, and Instacart are enhancing their retail media offerings. TikTok Shop reached a $1 million livestream. And three-time consecutive first place winner Walmart is developing immersive ways to shop and catering product lines to younger shoppers. Here鈥檚 our Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List for June 2024.

Albertsons hit its marks in Q1: The company is leaning into private labels, growing its loyalty program, and boosting its digital sales.

础濒产别谤迟蝉辞苍蝉鈥� earnings beat expectations as debate over its acquisition by Kroger rages on: A wave of antitrust concerns from consumers, employees, suppliers, and government officials is putting the deal in doubt.

Retail media is moving from its initial state (search and on-site display ads) up the funnel toward social, open web, and connected TV. As retail media networks move into their next era, they should leverage partnerships to explore new channels, said Evan Hovorka, vice president of product and innovation at Albertsons Media Collective.

Casper鈥檚 subway ads give commuters fun puzzles to solve while increasing its brand awareness. Albertsons Companies leverages a game to entice consumers to play for discounts and rewards. And Nike鈥檚 mobile app earns the brand a spot in consumers鈥� everyday lives. Here are five ways brands are embracing gamification across different stages.

While Trump鈥檚 presidency will undoubtedly be friendlier to large mergers like the Kroger-Albertsons deal, that doesn鈥檛 mean retailers should expect a cakewalk given some of his more aggressive stances on antitrust during his first term and Vance鈥檚 potential influence on policy.

As retail media evolves, ad placements off-site and in-store will help grocery advertisers reach shoppers in new and more engaging ways, but consumers may not be in a spending mood as credit card balances grow and savings accounts shrink. If Amazon can get grocery right, it may be able to fight off losing share to Walmart. But if the Kroger-Albertsons merger goes through, it could change everything.

EV owners show preference for Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Market, Costco, and Albertsons. These media networks and the brands that advertise on them should consider leaning into OOH advertising on EV charging stations. 3. Publishers rebrand as 鈥渃ontent media networks鈥�.

That trend hasn鈥檛 gone unnoticed as Kroger, Amazon, Target, and Albertsons have expanded their private label offerings to appeal to value-focused shoppers. Still, the shift isn鈥檛 evenly distributed across categories.

Our take: Kroger, which is awaiting a decision on its planned merger with Albertsons, is putting itself in a strong position to succeed regardless of the outcome. This article is part of 蘑菇AV鈥檚 client-only subscription Briefings鈥攄aily newsletters authored by industry analysts who are experts in marketing, advertising, media, and tech trends.

Players like Home Depot, Expedia, and Albertsons all made announcements in the space. In February, Q4 2023 Amazon earnings impressed and put retail media in the spotlight. Retail media placements have high engagement rates, despite lower viewability. #1: Connected TV. What fueled interest: This year, CTV ad attention began catching up to linear, DoubleVerify reported.

Growth rates will decline, but digital grocery will remain a key focus for retailers looking to drive incremental sales dollars in ecommerce.

Adding Grubhub to Wonder鈥檚 mix could help the company round out its vision of a mealtime super app by providing it with access to a vast array of restaurants, 础濒产别谤迟蝉辞苍蝉鈥� and independent grocery stores, drivers, and technology, as well as a built-in customer base.

Amazon, Target, and Albertsons are expanding their private label brands, which tend to cost less. Sixty percent of Americans with lower incomes prefer to buy store-label or generic brands, the Collage Group report noted.