Retail Media in Grocery: From Side Hustle to Growth Engine

Grocery retail media just graduated from side hustle to strategy, and the shift is reshaping how value gets created across the entire store. We dive into why ad spend is racing from roughly $52B to $98B, how Amazon and Walmart set the pace, and why grocers like Albertsons and Kroger are rapidly building networks that don’t just sell ads—they power smarter merchandising, tighter loyalty programs, and better store operations.

I walk through the mindset change that moved retail media beyond banner clicks to business outcomes: incrementality, sales velocity, and measurement that brands can actually trust. We talk about what CPG partners now expect—clarity on methodology, consistent reporting, and proof that dollars move product, not just dashboards. Then we head to the aisles, where digital displays, smart carts, and connected signage transform the physical store into an addressable media environment. When offers sync with inventory, loyalty data, and real-time context, the path from inspiration to purchase gets shorter and more measurable.

Of course, it’s not all smooth. Headcount and tech costs can climb fast, standards are still uneven, and scaling across networks is messy. The winners will align media with merchandising and ops, invest in trustworthy analytics, and deliver transparency that earns repeat spend. If you want a clear lens on what’s hype and what’s working—plus a practical view of how grocery can close the loop between ad and basket—this conversation lays out the playbook. If you enjoyed it, follow the show, share it with a colleague who cares about retail transformation, and leave a quick review to tell us what you want unpacked next.

Chapters

• 0:08 Welcome & Topic Setup
• 0:31 From Bolt-On Revenue to Big Bets
• 0:48 The Spend Surge and Market Leaders
• 1:30 Beyond Ads: Integration Across Retail
• 2:14 What CPGs Demand: Proof and Transparency
• 2:50 In-Store Media: Closing the Loop
• 3:25 Challenges: Costs and Standards
• 3:42 The Bottom Line & Who Wins
• 4:19 Closing Thanks

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Scott's Thoughts. I'm Scott Benedict. I want to talk a little bit today about the evolution of retail media, a topic that's obviously been in the retail news a lot, but in particular, how grocery retailers are transforming what was really seen previously as a side hustle, if you will, into a true growth engine uh in their business. Now, it wasn't that long ago that retail media networks broadly, not just in grocery retail, were seen as bolton revenue streams a way for retailers of all stripes to monetize their shopper data in their digital ad inventory. But if you fast forward to today, and the numbers are starting to tell a little bit of a different story, U.S. retail media's ad spend is projected to nearly double over the course of the next few years from about 52 billion in 2024, not a small number, to almost 98 billion by 2028. And while Amazon and Walmart continue to really play dominating roles uh in that space, grocery retailers like Albertson's, Kroger's, Aholt, just to name a few, are building serious capabilities in that space of their own. So what's changed? Retailers have learned that retail media isn't just about selling ads. It's about fueling smarter growth across their entire business. Successful retail media networks are deeply integrated into merchandising, into loyalty programs, into store operations, a lot of really interesting ways. They're becoming strategic engines for growth, not just in individual silos, but they have dedicated leadership, dedicated analytics capabilities, and a lot of really interesting AI-enabled tools that are driving collaboration between those retailers and the consumer brands that they work with. For consumer packaged goods companies, the expectations are clear. Retail media has to prove its performance for them to garner those companies, those brands ad spend dollars. That means incrementality, sales velocity, and measurement that goes beyond just the basic ROI are what those brands are looking for. Brands want transparency, they want consistency, and they want proof that those investments that they're making in retail media are moving the needle. Some of the most exciting frontiers right now are in-store retail media capabilities. Think digital displays, smart carts, uh digital signage that turn a physical store into a connected media environment. Kroger's and Albertsons are rolling out some new networks that extend digital precision into the aisles of their physical stores, closing the loop between inspiration and actual purchase. It's powerful, but challenges may still remain. Headwork costs and measurement uh standards are still a little bit complex, and uh they're having difficulty in some cases scaling across uh uh different networks. The bottom line is this retail media has moved from a side project to a strategic pillar of the modern retail business model in retailing broadly, but most particularly in grocery. The winners will be the retailers and the brands that integrate retail media into the core of their strategy, deliver transparency and measurable performance, and unlock new ways to engage a consumer, whether that's online, in an app, or at the point of purchase in a physical store. That's what I'm watching in retail media right now. I really appreciate you joining us for Scott's thoughts. I'm Scott Benedict.