Instacart launches new ad formats to help CPGs drive impulse purchases: The delivery platform will roll out shoppable recipes, occasions, and bundles to facilitate discovery and boost brand engagement.

Retail media is the fastest-growing ad channel we track in the US, driven by new innovations, inventory growth, and new players launching media networks. Here’s a look at some of the biggest retail media moves from the first six months of 2024.

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’s our Unofficial Most Interesting Retailers List for June 2024.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the unofficial list of the most interesting retailers for the month of June. Each month, our analysts Arielle Feger, Becky Schilling, and Sara Lebow (aka The Committee) put together a very unofficial list of the top eight retailers they're watching based on which are making the most interesting moves: Who's launching new initiatives? Which partnerships are moving the needle? Which standout marketing campaigns are being created? In this month's episode, Committee members Becky Schilling and Sara Lebow will defend their list against vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman, who will dispute the power rankings by attempting to move retailers up, down, on, or off the list.

While intermediaries’ share of ecommerce sales (grocery or otherwise) will remain relatively flat for the next couple of years, they’re still a long-term threat to traditional retail. But there’s an opportunity for retailers to use intermediaries’ strategies against them.

Instacart expands offsite retail media capabilities with YouTube partnership: The retailer’s first-party data will power shoppable ads for CPG brands

Bad weather drove more shoppers to Instacart in Q1: The company expects the positive trend to continue in Q2 as it prepares to add Uber Eats to its platform.

Instacart and Uber team up to keep DoorDash at bay: Instacart hopes the deal will protect its grocery business and widen consumer appeal, while Uber looks for new customers.

Retail media has matured greatly since our 5 retail media networks (RMNs) worth watching. That evolution has come from growth in spend (we forecast US omnichannel retail media ad spend growth at 26.0% this year, with larger increases in off-site and connected TV), in-store innovations, and new entrants from other non-retailers.

It takes time to learn a new technology and sometimes, along the way, stumbles happen. As the role of AI in marketing grows, brands must be transparent about how, where, and when they are using the technology. Nearly half (49%) of CMOs in North America plan to focus more on using AI in strategy, creative, and content development for media use over the next 12 months, according to an August 2023 Dentsu survey conducted by B2B International. Here are three missteps brands have made with AI and content creation and what brands can learn from them.

PubMatic's strategic alliance with Instacart boosts programmatic advertising: The initiative merges retail media data with advanced targeting for improved ad impact.

Amazon will continue to gain market share, but new competition from Temu, Walmart, and other retailers could stunt future dominance.

Canada’s click-and-collect buyer growth tops our rankings among the countries we forecast. It’s a key option for consumers in Canada who prefer speedier order fulfillment and want to avoid home-delivery costs.

The cost of advertising on Amazon spiked in 2023: Our industry KPIs show that while CPCs are rising, healthy consumer demand is stabilizing return on ad spend.

Uber, Lyft, and Instacart fine-tune their ad strategies: The platforms are leaning into personalization and experimenting with formats as they try to boost revenues without alienating users.

Instacart’s ad growth slowed in Q4: That could create problems for the company as it relies more heavily on ads to offset softening grocery delivery demand.

While some were skeptical of Temu’s staying power, the app’s low prices and social-first marketing strategy seem to be resonating with consumers. Opening its platform to US sellers could bring competition for Temu at a time when consumer perception is flagging.

Retailers are going big on innovation. AI-powered improvements to the customer journey, ambitious market expansion, and viral partnerships and marketing campaigns have caught our attention, just in time for the first edition of our monthly ‘unofficial’ ranking of most interesting retailers.

What is shoppable media and which formats have the most potential?

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Walmart plans to use AI to enhance the customer shopping experience, Instacart pushing smart carts into in-store retail media, why consumers are dissatisfied with their in-store shopping experience, how best to reduce clothing returns, the rise—and potential fall—of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.