1. Albertsons paired up with Criteo and Capgemini

The news: Albertsons Companies announced partnerships with Criteo to power its retail media ecosystem and Capgemini for media planning and content creation.

Why it matters: Albertsons will account for 8.8% of US grocery sales and 2.7% of grocery ecommerce sales in 2024, according to our November 2023 forecast. That means the business has a massive audience when it comes to advertising. We expect to see more retail media networks partnering with ad tech companies to serve these large audiences this year.

2. Microsoft launched an AI-powered Retail Media Creative Studio

The news: Microsoft is leveraging generative AI to become a hub for retail media ad creation with this new platform, which is currently available in preview.

Why it matters: Microsoft has been working to distinguish itself, both as a generative AI innovator through its OpenAI partnership and as a retail media must-have. The brand is wise to build a creative studio, but it risks competition from agencies and in-house tools from retail media networks.

3. Instacart announced Google Shopping Ads

The news: Instacart’s ad partners can now use the company’s retail media data to deliver Google Shopping ads.

Why it matters: Instacart will account for 2.0% of US retail media ad spend in 2024, according to our October 2023 forecast. As third-party cookies go away, expect to see more partnerships from retail media players like Instacart using first-party data to deliver ads with other platforms.

This was originally featured in the Retail Media Weekly newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.