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. “Consumers think about food 226 times a day, that’s a lot of cognitive load,” said Jill Pavlovich, senior vice president of digital shopping experiences at Albertsons Cos. “So we want to take the experience from a transactional one to a helpful set of tools that can help people manage this.” 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.

Retail media is the fastest-growing ad channel we track in the US, growing by 26.0% this year. Its share of total US media spend will reach 14.1% this year, and come 2028, nearly 1 in 5 ad dollars spent in the US will go to retail media. But the channel has the potential to grow even more. Here are four key factors that present challenges to retail media growth right now.

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

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.

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.

Targeted, relevant advertising that motivates shoppers to buy is the goal of any retail marketer. But with retail media advertising sitting so close to the point of purchase, the potential upside is even greater.

US omnichannel retail media ad spend will increase by 22.6% next year for a total of $55.64 billion. One thing that could unlock spend even further? Standardization.

As retail media grows, it is changing. At the moment, search remains retail media’s bread and butter and sales ads are the best awareness drivers. In the future, in-store media and shoppable video ads may take on a bigger role. But no matter how ad formats change, one thing is for certain: Measurement will be key for retail media’s continued growth.

Retail media networks may be working on standardization, but a universal measurement system is still a dream. Aside from a sluggish move toward standardization, here are four predictions about the future of retail media networks our analysts gave on our “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast.

Here’s how ad buyers ranked the retail media networks of 14 leading CPG-focused retailers—including Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Amazon, Costco Wholesale, CVS, Instacart, Kroger, Target, and Walmart—according to the attributes they value most.

Kroger’s sales sag as grocery prices stabilize: That new state of play could drive the grocer to look to high-margin retail media to drive growth.

Casper’s 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’s mobile app earns the brand a spot in consumers’ everyday lives. Here are five ways brands are embracing gamification across different stages.

In-store retail media initiatives are gaining momentum: Loblaw, Macy’s, and Schnucks Markets are the latest retailers to invest in the channel.

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

Amazon is the biggest retail media network in the US, accounting for three-quarters of retail media revenue share, per our forecast. But its limited grocery footprint leaves an opportunity for competition. Here are recent updates in grocery retail media, and a prediction on the future of in-store retail media.

Walmart was the biggest US retailer by US sales in 2022 with nearly $500 billion in sales, more than double the size of runner-up Amazon, according to the National Retail Federation.

Retail media has transitioned from its 1.0 era, defined by on-site search and sponsored product ads, into the era of retail media 2.0, which consists of a mosaic of ads on-site, in-store, and across other media channels. “The opportunity gets much bigger, but realizing the opportunity also gets a lot more complex,” our analyst Andrew Lipsman said on “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail.”

Amazon, Costco Wholesale, and other retailers now face an uphill battle to win recurring revenues in the era of subscription fatigue.