3 Brands, 3 Retail Media Playbooks

Key Takeaways from the Report:

• Kroger: Using Dwell Time to Guide the Endcap Rollout
  Kroger is adding digital endcap screens meant to spark discovery and longer visits. Markets or locations where the average stay falls below the chainwide average, could signal early priorities, and a change in visit duration over time could help measure the screens’ impact. The same approach can guide any retailer in quantifying offline engagement.
• Kroger: Different Banners, Different Shopper Audiences
  Kroger Precision Marketing spans more than a dozen grocery banners that can draw very different audiences. For advertisers, an umbrella retail media network with many audiences is a selling point, allowing for precision targeting and broad reach.
• Sam’s Club: A Growing Audience for Advertisers
  Sam’s Club visits and unique visitors rose year-over-year (YoY) in every month from October 2025 through September 2026, giving its retail media network a growing audience of both new and returning visitors. For any in-store network, growth in both visits and unique visitors is one of the strongest proof points to bring to advertisers.
• Sam’s Club: Traffic Fuels a New Ad Channel
  Sam’s Club began selling ads on its fuel-pump screens in April 2026, just as repeat fuel visitors posted double-digit YoY gains. Frequent, routine stops beyond the main store, such as fuel or pickup, can become valuable media placements, especially when that traffic is on the rise.
• CVS: Retail Media’s Weekday Traffic Opportunity
  While discretionary and essentials chains peak on Saturday, CVS draws an above-average share of visits on weekdays, giving its in-store media a steady audience of errand-driven shoppers ready to buy. Consumer behavior should shape the most valuable advertising windows and retail media strategy.
• CVS: Quick Trips, Quick Messages
  More than two-thirds of CVS visits last under 15 minutes. Screens in pharmacy waiting areas, on endcaps and at checkout, along with storewide audio, suit those short trips with quick, timely messages. For any retail media network, ad length and placement should match how long shoppers actually stay.

‍