Retail media complicates price talks between retailers and suppliers: Hardline tactics like pulling products from shelves can make brands reluctant to invest in RMNs, forcing concessions.

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

Last year, Kroger found success embracing omnichannel shoppers and personalizing digital promotions, which helped it grow its identical sales (without fuel) 0.9% YoY. Looking ahead, the retailer is counting on its digitally engaged customers to fuel its retail media network, which Kroger expects to grow 20% next year.

Since bringing its retail media capabilities in-house, grocery giant Kroger continues to develop its self-service strategy for advertisers, Cara Pratt, SVP, Kroger Precision Marketing at 84.51°, recently told EMARKETER.

2024 is shaping up to be the year of the AI-powered shopping assistant. Just two months in, retailers from Walmart and Amazon to Ikea and Chevron have released a flurry of AI-based updates, hoping to make the shopping experience easier and more relevant.

Some 71% of US retail decision-makers have invested in data and AI-enabled content for personalization, according to an August 2023 survey by Coresight Research. As more brands adopt AI to scale tailored content, they’re also confronted with the challenge of protecting—and respecting—their audience’s privacy. Here are three ways—and real-world examples—retailers can implement AI without overstepping customer boundaries.

It may be a new year, but 2023 shopping habits aren’t going anywhere, according to Barbara Connors, vice president of strategy and acceleration at 84.51, a retail data company under The Kroger Co. Customers are still motivated by price and value, still expecting the shopping experience to seamlessly shift between online and offline channels, and still interested in buying private label goods.

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.

The Hershey Co. found a way to apply retail media data from Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to other consumer packaged goods ads. The company learned that shoppers were buying shapes of Reese’s Cups based on their chocolate to peanut butter ratio, so it made two new products—one for peanut butter lovers and one for chocolate lovers, said Vinny Rinaldi, US head of media at The Hershey Co.

What are 2023’s top retail media networks for CPG brands? From Amazon to Kroger, we share a selection from our in-depth report evaluating ad buyers’ perceptions of leading platforms.

Less than 19% of US digital grocery buyers used Amazon Fresh within the past year. Nearly all of them have also shopped on other digital grocery platforms.

In-store sales data is a massive opportunity gap. The biggest gap between how retail media networks (RMNs) perform today versus their most desired attributes was with in-store sales data. With nearly 90% of grocery sales still occurring in physical stores, RMNs that deliver seamless omnichannel sales attribution will be well positioned to capture consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertising budgets.

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.

Cara Pratt, SVP of Kroger Precision Media, is right when she says that “retail media is media.” While the fast-rising ad format may draw its unique power from retail—specifically the first-party consumer purchase data used for high-octane targeting and closed-loop measurement—it’s not a physical product sold on store shelves and shouldn’t be treated as such.

Walmart expands in-store retail media opportunities: The big-box retailer is giving advertisers more opportunities to reach physical shoppers with digital screens, audio ads, and sampling.

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.