Building a retail media network (RMN) requires a major investment in time, talent, and money. While the largest retailers have these resources, independent and regional retailers often may not.
Retail tech platforms can help smaller grocers compete on a larger scale.
- Wholesale distributor United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), in partnership with tech platform Swiftly, launched a RMN to help independent and regional grocery retailers connect with consumers online.
- Swiftly also teamed up with nonprofit ad organization Alliance Retail Group to launch a RMN, connecting independent grocers with consumers across digital and physical channels.
Other partnerships can help small grocers expand their retail media capabilities:
- Schnucks partnered with Ibotta Performance Network (IPN) to deliver promotions across the grocer’s platforms, third-party publisher sites, and Ibotta’s direct-to-consumer properties.
- The Save Mart Companies teamed up with Quad/Graphics Inc. to launch in-store digital screens and kiosks across the Lucky, Save Mart, and FoodMaxx banners.
- The Save Mart Companies also recently expanded its partnership with Instacart, implementing Instacart’s Storefront Pro platform (which features ecommerce and ad capabilities) and bringing Instacart’s smart Caper Carts in-store.
Why we care: Amazon dominates the retail media channel, capturing 77.0% of US retail media ad spend this year, per our forecast. But smaller retailers are valuable retail media partners for brands, giving them access to regional (and potentially very loyal) audiences.
- Providing smaller retailers with retail tech they may otherwise not have the resources to implement ensures brands have a wide variety of retail media partners to choose from. It also helps the channel continue to grow.
- We forecast US omnichannel retail media spend to more than double in the next four years, reaching $129.93 billion by 2028.
This was originally featured in the Retail Media Weekly newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.