BJ’s Wholesale Club, Instacart expand retail media opportunities

Article by Rachel Wolff | Dec 5, 2022

The news: The retail media boom shows no signs of subsiding.

BJ’s Wholesale Club became the latest retailer to join the retail media club with BJ’s Media Edge, built in partnership with Microsoft, per a release.
Instacart is expanding its advertising suite to include promotions-focused tools to help brands attract cost-conscious shoppers.

BJ’s gets in on the act: BJ’s is hoping that access to the club retailer’s 6.5 million members—and their data—is a strong enough incentive to drive marketers to its platform.

The retailer said that early advertisers on its network “have seen a significant return on media investments,” although they currently lack the ability to match up ad exposure to online and in-store purchases.
However, brands can purchase on and off-site media placements, reach members across BJ’s owned properties, target audience segments to drive purchasing activity, and get real-time insights into campaign performance.

Instacart’s new ad tools: With Instacart Promotions, advertisers can set up coupons and deals to drive awareness, engagement, and sales. These promotions can also be personalized to customer segments, allowing brands to adopt a tailored approach to discounting.

Instacart is making two new tools, Coupons and Stock Up & Save, available to advertisers now. Marketers will soon also receive the ability to offer free gifts and buy one, get one free promotions.

The big takeaway: As the third wave of digital advertising, retail media presents an irresistible revenue opportunity for retailers to cash in on—provided they offer the measurement, sophistication, and, most importantly, the results marketers need to continue investing in the space.

We expect US retail media spending to grow 25.8% next year to $51.36 billion, although the bulk of those funds will be concentrated among a handful of retail media networks (Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, and eBay).