As part of their ongoing mission to help clients stay ahead of the competition in a fast-paced, constantly evolving marketplace, the field teams in Mars UnitedSM Commerce’s Retail Consultancy closely monitor the strategic activity taking place across all key retailers and channels.
Each month, the teams compile Marketplace Assessment reports on the retailers (including Walmart, Target, Amazon, and Kroger) and channels (such as Regional Grocery, C-Store, Club, Pet, Beauty, and On-Demand Delivery) that are most important to the business success of our clients. The following report outlines noteworthy events across five key retailers from the team’s most recent round of assessments. (To receive copies of the full reports, contact EVP-Retail Consultancy Kandi Arrington at [email protected].)
Walmart Fuels Up with Gas Stations
Walmart plans to open or remodel approximately 45 fuel stations across the U.S. this year. The unspecified number of new locations will bring the retailer’s total to roughly 450 fuel stations/convenience stores adjacent to Walmart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets in 34 states. Stores offer competitively priced gasoline, along with Walmart’s standard low prices on snacks and beverages. Walmart+ loyalty program members save up to 10 cents per gallon.
Relevance: With gas stations, Walmart is addressing an additional shopper need that can be solved during the weekly grocery trip while gaining both consumer mindshare and share of wallet. “By adding dozens of fuel and convenience stations this year, we are bringing even more value to our customers,” said Dave DeSerio, Vice President of Fuel and Convenience for Walmart U.S.. “Customers shop Walmart for our everyday low prices and convenience offerings, and fuel stations are another example of us responding to our customer and member needs.”
Opportunity: The fuel/convenience stores give brand partners another channel for reaching Walmart shoppers while the fuel rewards program could offer opportunities for cross-promotion.
AD Retail Media Elevates Omnichannel Scope
Ahold Delhaize USA’s AD Retail Media network is enhancing opportunities for brand advertisers to engage with shoppers across the path to purchase through the launch of new media partnerships with:
- Inmar Intelligence to offer digital coupons and other promotions that can be measured for impact using the vendor’s proprietary tools.
- Vibenomics to offer in-store audio advertising that can be targeted by designated market area, store, local demographics, daypart, and SKU.
- Chicory to offer contextually relevant content and advertising opportunities through the company’s online recipe solutions.
Relevance: These partnerships support AD Retail Media’s efforts to help advertisers build omnichannel strategies that can deliver smarter shopper engagement and measurable results.
Opportunity: AD Retail Media continues to improve and expand its media menu to deliver an omnichannel playbook for advertisers and a richer experience for shoppers. Brands should evaluate how these new offerings can be leveraged to better achieve their objectives at AD USA.
Instacart Partners with Other Retail Media Networks
Instacart is expanding its own retail media reach by forging partnerships with other established networks. Hy-Vee RedMedia and Uber Advertising have recently struck deals to leverage Instacart’s Carrot Ads technology solution, which is now being used by approximately 220 retail chains to power their own digital media opportunities. Hy-Vee and Uber are two of the 20 retail media networks covered in Mars United’s quarterly Retail Media Report Card.
The integration will let CPG advertisers extend their Instacart media campaigns to Hy-Vee’s ecommerce platform and the Uber Eats ecosystem while giving the partners access to the on-demand delivery leader’s extensive CPG advertiser base — as well its ad personalization tools.
Relevance: Instacart’s latest partnerships underscore its efforts to become a leader in the retail media marketplace, as well as the need for other retailers to expand their reach into the advertiser community as competition intensifies.
“Our advertising team already works with many of the world’s largest brands directly, but we want to be there for brands of all sizes to help them easily reach our engaged audience in a way that suits them,” said Travis Colvin, Uber Advertising’s GM of Grocery & Retail. “For the U.S. market, we believe this integration best achieves that goal.”
Opportunity: It will be key for brands to tap into Instacart’s growing momentum as the platform continues to forge new retailer and platform partnerships through the Carrot Ads solution.
Instacart Wheels in New Ad Tools, Too
Across its own media ecosystem, Instacart recently rolled out several features to boost advertising capabilities. The enhancements include:
- AI-powered automation tools to improve ad campaign performance. Among them are Universal Campaigns, which lets advertisers create a program under a single budget that will automatically optimize execution across various ad formats in real time. (Machine-learning algorithms continuously analyze performance data and adjust the format mix accordingly.)
- In-store advertising on Caper Carts. Instacart’s fleet of smart shopping carts (pictured on the right) is now being utilized by roughly 10 retailers in 60 cities, where ad opportunities are available for 7,000 potential brand partners. The carts enable omnichannel campaigns for advertisers.
Relevance: Instacart’s latest rollouts deliver more streamlined and sophisticated way for advertisers to reach shoppers. They also improve the shopping experience through ad tech capabilities that personalize messaging and enhance product discovery.
Opportunity: Brands should learn how to effectively leverage these new opportunities as Instacart continues improving and expanding its retail media platform. (To learn about other recent initiatives, download Mars United’s latest Retail Media Report Card.)
CVS Health Slims Down
CVS Health plans to open “a dozen or more” smaller, pharmacy-focused stores across the U.S. over the next year. Averaging fewer than 5,000 square feet in size, the new locations will contain a full-service pharmacy and a limited assortment of health-related products — but are unlikely to carry such other staples of CVS’s product assortment as beauty products, groceries, and greeting cards.
The goal of the new format is to better address the specific needs of local communities in serving pharmacy customers and other shoppers. The company also plans to open about 30 traditional CVS Pharmacy stores this year.
Relevance: Although three-fourths of average store traffic at CVS is driven by front-of-store trips, the retailer has been using machine learning to identify the ideal product assortment for each store, explained Musab Balbale, CVS Health’s SVP-Chief Merchandising Officer, while speaking at Shoptalk Spring last month. Pharmacy-focused stores will be placed in locations where there is less need among shoppers to purchase grocery and beauty items at a drugstore. “There are [also] places where the pharmacy is a desert, so we have to balance that, too,” said Balbale.
Opportunity: With this new format carrying a far-more-limited product assortment than a traditional CVS, health-focused brands should investigate ways to work with their merchants on ways to help promote the store mission and stand out in the new environment.
DoorDash, Dollar General Team on SNAP Eligibility
DoorDash is bringing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online payment capabilities to an estimated 16,000 Dollar General stores, which represents about 80% of the retailer’s total doors. The arrangement nearly doubles the number of stores through which the DoorDash Marketplace can accept SNAP payments to over 35,000.
Powered through payments company Forage, the agreement gives SNAP recipients access to on-demand grocery delivery from Dollar General stores in 48 states. Eligible products include fresh and frozen foods, pantry staples, and snacks.
Relevance: There currently are 2.4 million SNAP users on DoorDash, many of whom face mobility or health challenges: according to a DoorDash survey conducted in 2024, nearly one in four SNAP recipients use the platform because they have difficulty shopping in stores.
DoorDash’s efforts to expand access to SNAP electronic benefit users are a great way to broaden its shopper base while meeting the needs of underserved consumers.
Opportunity: Ongoing expansion of the on-demand delivery marketplace exemplifies the growing importance among shoppers for accessibility and convenience. Brands with SNAP-eligible products should consider helping to raise awareness for DoorDash’s rollout at Dollar General through relevant offers to this shopper base.
Mars United Commerce’s Retail Consultancy is an unrivaled team of in-market commerce experts who simplify the complexity of retail for our clients. Located in Bentonville, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Tampa and the “backyards” of other key retailers, they provide deep knowledge of the retailer, expertise in key business areas (like strategy, media and creative), and door-opening personal relationships with key executives to deliver an unmatched level of business success for clients across accounts, channels, and shopper engagement platforms. For more information, contact EVP-Customer Development Kandi Arrington at [email protected].
