Retail media networks have started popping up in the convenience-store industry and adjacent channels, like grocery and dollar. Casey’s General Stores and 7-Eleven are among the chains in the c-store industry that have started the networks, aimed at leveraging consumer data to connect those consumers with relevant promotions, offers and marketing content.
Essentially, retail media networks are an advertising model, said Paul Brenner, chief strategy officer with Indianapolis-based Vibenomics. Vibenomics is a Mood Media company whose platform provides a single, all-in-one retail media network, allowing advertisers to connect with customers via display, audio and experiential channels.
- 7-Eleven Inc. is No. 1 and Casey's General Stores is No. 3 on CSP’s 2023 Top 40 update to the 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
“I would said any retailer that has any first-party data, like a loyalty app or shopper data, they should be figuring out how to monetize that,” Brenner said.
What Are Retail Media Networks?
It has been just over a decade since Amazon launched what is widely believed to be the first retail media network.
In the years since, Amazon’s digital advertising business has grown to sales of $11.6 billion, up 19% year over year, in its most recent quarter. And across the industry, retail media opportunity for grocers and food retailers has grown from a tiny slice of the pie to a major revenue driver—with even more impressive returns predicted for the future.
In short, retail media is a digital stream by which consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands can advertise, not unlike web search or social media. What began as advertising through in-store ads, coupons, in-aisle sampling and more has grown to entail digital advertising on retailer websites, apps and social media platforms.
In some cases, retailers own these channels directly and, in others, grocers might align with a company like Instacart’s Carrot Ads or others to run advertising operations.
But these e-commerce channels can now extend far beyond old-fashioned, broad-stroke ad plays, giving CPGs the chance to get their message to a highly targeted audience, thanks to access to all-important first-party data, while also being able to closely track the ad’s performance.
And the opportunity for both retailers and advertisers is potentially huge. At stake by 2026 is $820 billion for retailers that develop new media networks and $280 billion for CPGs due to higher returns on ad spending, according to a 2022 “Commerce Media” report by consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
“Even though several retail and e-commerce giants have multibillion-dollar ad businesses, it’s not too late for newer entrants to get into the game by leveraging their first-party customer data,” McKinsey said in the report.
For those looking to get started with a retail media network, Brenner said the first step would be to have loyalty data in order. The next is finding a platform, such as CitrusAd, Criteo or PromoteIQ, to partner with. Those partners will source advertisers for the retailer, he said.
Vibenomics is one “cog on the wheel” of the way advertisers might try to reach shoppers once they’re in the store. It works with retailers in the c-store and grocery channels to prove how much lift an ad has, Brenner said.
“So the biggest thing the retailer can do is make sure their data is good, make sure they have a relatively high use rate of loyalty, and then just work with one of those vendors to start activating,” he said.
7-Eleven Launches Gulp Media Network
7-Eleven, Irving, Texas, launched its retail media network, Gulp Media Network, in the fall of 2022.
“With Gulp Media, we’re focused on connecting our very large customer database with third-party advertisers—including display, social and connected TV solutions. We are also testing in-store media and plan to integrate our digital channels in the future,” Marissa Jarratt, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, and Mario Mijares, vice president of loyalty and analytics, told CSP magazine in emailed responses.
The idea came together over the past year in a response to a need that 7-Eleven saw within the immediate consumption market.
Through its analytics platform, C-Shopper, 7-Eleven analyzes shopper purchase behavior and data, helping vendor partners identify opportunities for their brands, Jarratt and Mijares said. The company also uses its Brianfreeze Collective, a proprietary customer panel, that provides 7-Eleven with quantitative and qualitative research that gives them the “why behind the buy.”
“Later this year, we’ll also test our Lab Stores, which will allow vendors to run experiments in real stores with real consumers. The goal is to de-risk activities such as new packaging, product innovation or pricing changes and better understand the impact of merchandising and messaging on the customer in real time,” Jarratt and Mijares said.
C-stores are the core channel for innovation. The smaller packaging size and price point compared to other channels lowers the barrier for customer trial, which in turn makes c-stores the ideal place to test innovations before scaling and expanding distribution to larger pack sizes and larger-format retailers, they said.
“We believe Gulp Media will help us forge stronger partnerships with our CPG vendors in addition to opening up new opportunities with non-endemic partners in auto, sports and gaming categories,” they said.
Casey’s Access Kicks Off
Casey’s General Stores, Ankeny, Iowa, introduced its retail media network, Casey’s Access, in December. Casey’s Access is the only end-to-end retail media business bringing together convenience guest data alongside Casey’s pizza restaurant offering, the retailer told CSP.
CPG and other vendor partners will be able to leverage rich data to connect audiences with relevant promotions, offers and marketing content. The program also provides partners the benefit of all owned and operated store locations delivering strong, consistent execution from digital to brick-and-mortar experience.
The retail media network will create opportunities for brands to leverage the company’s scale and new capabilities, including:
- Targeting customers visiting Casey’s more than 2,400 stores across 16 states.
- Omnichannel presence with in-store, online and at-the-pump opportunities for consumers to transact.
- Onsite owned media, in-store media and offsite paid media leveraging rich, first-party data.
- Campaign measurement and analytics to enable ongoing investment optimization. The company has selected Citrus Ad to build and launch the in-house retail media network.
—Greg Lindenberg and Heather Lalley contributed to this report.