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.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Scott's
Thoughts.
I'm Scott Benedict.
I want to talk a little bittoday about the evolution of
retail media, a topic that'sobviously been in the retail
news a lot, but in particular,how grocery retailers are
transforming what was reallyseen previously as a side
hustle, if you will, into a truegrowth engine uh in their

(00:30):
business.
Now, it wasn't that long agothat retail media networks
broadly, not just in groceryretail, were seen as bolton
revenue streams a way forretailers of all stripes to
monetize their shopper data intheir digital ad inventory.
But if you fast forward totoday, and the numbers are

(00:51):
starting to tell a little bit ofa different story, U.S.
retail media's ad spend isprojected to nearly double over
the course of the next few yearsfrom about 52 billion in 2024,
not a small number, to almost 98billion by 2028.
And while Amazon and Walmartcontinue to really play

(01:13):
dominating roles uh in thatspace, grocery retailers like
Albertson's, Kroger's, Aholt,just to name a few, are building
serious capabilities in thatspace of their own.
So what's changed?
Retailers have learned thatretail media isn't just about

(01:34):
selling ads.
It's about fueling smartergrowth across their entire
business.
Successful retail media networksare deeply integrated into
merchandising, into loyaltyprograms, into store operations,
a lot of really interestingways.
They're becoming strategicengines for growth, not just in

(01:57):
individual silos, but they havededicated leadership, dedicated
analytics capabilities, and alot of really interesting
AI-enabled tools that aredriving collaboration between
those retailers and the consumerbrands that they work with.
For consumer packaged goodscompanies, the expectations are

(02:18):
clear.
Retail media has to prove itsperformance for them to garner
those companies, those brands adspend dollars.
That means incrementality, salesvelocity, and measurement that
goes beyond just the basic ROIare what those brands are

(02:39):
looking for.
Brands want transparency, theywant consistency, and they want
proof that those investmentsthat they're making in retail
media are moving the needle.
Some of the most excitingfrontiers right now are in-store
retail media capabilities.
Think digital displays, smartcarts, uh digital signage that

(03:04):
turn a physical store into aconnected media environment.
Kroger's and Albertsons arerolling out some new networks
that extend digital precisioninto the aisles of their
physical stores, closing theloop between inspiration and
actual purchase.

(03:25):
It's powerful, but challengesmay still remain.
Headwork costs and measurementuh standards are still a little
bit complex, and uh they'rehaving difficulty in some cases
scaling across uh uh differentnetworks.
The bottom line is this retailmedia has moved from a side

(03:46):
project to a strategic pillar ofthe modern retail business model
in retailing broadly, but mostparticularly in grocery.
The winners will be theretailers and the brands that
integrate retail media into thecore of their strategy, deliver
transparency and measurableperformance, and unlock new ways

(04:11):
to engage a consumer, whetherthat's online, in an app, or at
the point of purchase in aphysical store.
That's what I'm watching inretail media right now.
I really appreciate you joiningus for Scott's thoughts.
I'm Scott Benedict.