The news: Wegmans added Instacart’s Caper Carts—AI-powered smart carts—to a store in Syracuse, New York. Our take: Wegmans has staked its brand on exceptional customer service.

At Cannes Lions 2025, commerce media partnerships once again reigned supreme. Once the domain of digital shelf tactics and retail data, commerce media is now reshaping how brands show up across social platforms, connected TV (CTV), and in-store displays. This year’s festival offered a glimpse into a more integrated, AI-driven future—one where conversational ads, programmatic pipes, and real-world touchpoints blur the lines between media and purchase.

The insight: Amazon is trying to figure out how it can benefit from the AI agentic boom without giving shopping agents unfettered access to its site, according to a report by The Information. Our take: While agentic commerce is far from the norm for the time being, retailers need to be prepared. That’s especially true for companies with retail media businesses, given the potential for AI agents to upend their ability to monetize their sites.

The news: Cannes Lions 2025 marked a shift in retail media strategy, with platforms like Pinterest and Reddit forging deeper ties with retailers. CVS announced a clean room data partnership with Reddit to allow targeting based on shared first-party data, launching a Sensodyne and Advil campaign this fall. Pinterest partnered with Instacart to enable shopping from pins and connect ad exposure to sales via closed-loop attribution. Our take: Social platforms are becoming full-funnel retail media environments. By fusing community context with purchase signals, these integrations aim to blend discovery and commerce in real time—paving the way for more data-rich, measurable campaigns.

The news: Pinterest is partnering with Instacart to allow advertisers to power their campaigns using the latter’s first-party data—a move that will enhance the value of both companies’ ad platforms while advancing Pinterest’s shoppable ambitions. Our take: Pinterest’s ability to engage the all-important Gen Z cohort, along with its role as a source of inspiration and product discovery, is making it a more strategic asset for brands and retailers. As economic uncertainty drives companies to be more careful with their ad dollars, Pinterest’s ability to reach audiences at every stage of their customer journey—now bolstered by access to Instacart’s first-party data—positions it as an even more valuable partner.

Grocery delivery intermediaries like DoorDash and Uber are gaining ground, offering new ways to reach high-intent shoppers. Meanwhile, retailers like Walmart and Amazon continue to lead with strong delivery infrastructure and valuable customer data.

Instacart has launched a new standalone app, Fizz, to help groups plan, purchase, and pay for party snacks and drinks.

Food delivery platforms are in expansion mode: DoorDash, Uber, Instacart, and Wonder are turning to acquisitions and new markets to maintain their momentum.

Consumers stick with Instacart amid uncertainty: The delivery platform’s orders jumped 14% in Q1 thanks to its Uber partnership and a lower minimum for Instacart+ members.

This is the Q1 2025 installment of our quarterly “Ad Spending Benchmarks” series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.

The tool turns prompts into deployable software, opening doors for marketers and small teams, but human oversight is still necessary to avoid risky code.

Retailers that aimed to be media giants are hitting headwinds as ad growth slows. To stay competitive, retail media networks must rethink org structure, sharpen media skills, and plan smartly to thrive in a more challenging landscape.

Instacart adds AI-powered tools for advertisers as ad growth slows: The new features make it easier for brands to create and optimize campaigns.

Amazon outperformed rivals during February 28 economic boycott: Industry KPI data shows Walmart's and Instacart's online traffic declined.

Instacart projects healthy order growth thanks to Uber partnership, affordability initiatives: But profitability is under pressure as ad growth slows and basket sizes shrink.

Shoppable ads will be a focus for brands in 2025 as they test new formats offered by retail media networks and their media partners.

Retail media’s rapid growth has spurred nonretail verticals to harness their first-party data to fuel their own commerce media networks. Retail media spending still dominates the commerce media landscape, but distinct challenger cohorts are finding their footing.

Retail media will set the pace for digital advertising growth in the coming years as more retailers invest in monetizing the channel and more advertising options become available to media buyers.

The future of Super Bowl advertising is multi-platform: Brands are investing in second-screen engagement and digital-first campaigns to maximize impact beyond the game.

The company made major strategic moves during its transition year, but it may take longer for them to bear fruit