Albertsons partners with Rokt to boost retail media offerings

The news: Albertsons Media Collective has teamed up with Rokt, an AI and ML-based personalization technology provider, to enhance its retail media network. This collaboration enables Albertsons to include ads from brands that it doesn’t sell—that is, non-endemic advertisers.

• The partnership will see targeted ads and messages delivered to the grocery chain’s ecommerce customers across 11 portfolio brands, such as Safeway, ACME Markets, Vons, and Jewel-Osco.
• Moreover, Albertsons will expand its brand messaging across Rokt's network of ecommerce retailers, which includes prominent names like Kohl’s, Uber, AMC Theatres, Grubhub, and Ticketmaster.
• The network, launched in November 2021, aims to deliver branded content to shoppers across Albertsons properties and off-site targeted ads. With access to over 100 million consumers nationwide, including more than 2,200 stores and 27 million Just for U loyalty program members, the platform is a significant retail media player.

This comes on the heels of Walmart Connect expanding access to non-endemic brands in April.

Why it matters: Worldwide retail media spending is expected to rise 13.7% year over year to $153.3 billion in 2024, according to a new WARC forecast. In part due to definition differences, our own forecast has it at $137.31 billion. Both forecasts project slowing expansion into 2025, which is why players like Albertsons Media Collective will get creative to keep that growth going.

• With Amazon holding a dominant 77% retail media market share in the US, Albertsons, which has agreed to be bought by Kroger, is undoubtedly playing catch-up.
• Retail media networks are increasingly using shopper data for off-site campaigns on platforms like TikTok and connected TV, with programmatic buying becoming a key area of interest. This shift is driving the growth of off-site programmatic retail media, expected to generate over $20 billion this year.

Our take: Albertsons' collaboration with Rokt is a forward-thinking move that aligns with current industry trends and taps into a new revenue stream.

• The integration of Rokt's technology across Albertsons' portfolio brands ensures that the company can deliver personalized and relevant ads to its customers, fostering greater loyalty and engagement.