Albertsons Media Collective: the grocery retail media network, explained

Albertsons sells one network across many local grocery brands. The 2021 launch release listed fifteen banners, from Safeway and Vons in the West to Shaw's and Acme in the Northeast (Albertsons, 11 November 2021). Shoppers know the local name, not the parent. For a brand, one buy reaches all of them, but creative and offers still have to fit each banner.

Its real calling card is measurement. In January 2026 the network launched a matched-market test for in-store media. It compares sales in stores showing an ad with control stores, matched on nearly 60 variables (Albertsons, 6 January 2026). The method is a form of incrementality testing, and it is rare for in-store screens.

In September 2026 it added multi-touch attribution built with LiveRamp. The tool links ad exposure on Albertsons channels, Meta, Display & Video 360, Google Ad Manager and Perion to Albertsons transactions, then removes double counting. PepsiCo is the pilot partner (Albertsons, 17 September 2026). Few grocers offer a single cross-platform view of this kind.

The network is also changing shape. Its head, Brian Monahan, left in 2026, and media and marketing now report to chief marketing officer Emily Turner inside merchandising. Albertsons said the team and current campaigns continue (Grocery Dive, 9 October 2026). In October 2026 the parent also began a company-wide business review (Albertsons Q2 FY2026 call, 13 October 2026). Buyers should confirm contacts and roadmaps before planning 2027.

Onsite. Native display and sponsored products launched on banner sites and apps in 2022, with CitrusAd and Merkle as partners. Since June 2026, sponsored products also appear in carousels inside the app's AI conversational search, powered by Criteo (Albertsons, 23 June 2026). Albertsons says over 85% of those conversations open with an exploratory question (company claim).

Offsite and TV. Collective TV, launched in June 2024 (Marketing Dive, 13 June 2024), plans and measures streaming and digital video in one place. Offsite display and social video run alongside it.

In-store. A screen pilot began in 80 stores in mid-2025 and drew more than 50 advertisers. The rollout reaches about 800 stores in 2026 (Modern Retail, 20 January 2026). In August 2026 Creative Realities said it was taking over the network from Stratacache, with about 3,000 screens live (invidis, 18 August 2026). See in-store retail media for how screen audiences are counted.

Branded entertainment. In June 2026 Albertsons and Procter & Gamble released "Rico's Tacos", a short mobile drama filmed in Albertsons stores (Albertsons, 17 June 2026).

Targeting starts from loyalty data across the banners, joined to what shoppers buy in stores and online. The network's site cites 51 million-plus loyalty members and 36 million-plus customers a week (company claims, Albertsons Media Collective, accessed 9 November 2026). Shoppers are identified when they use a loyalty account, app or digital coupon.

Advertisers get audiences and aggregated results, not customer files. The attribution product runs in what Albertsons calls a neutral environment powered by LiveRamp's infrastructure. Compare that set-up with other options in clean room architectures compared. Albertsons also runs pharmacies, and pharmacy pages and pharmacy-area screens are sold as placements. We found no published rule on how pharmacy data is handled.

The January 2026 method measures in-store media at store level against control stores. In one example, Mondelēz's Sargento campaign showed a 14% sales lift, according to the network's measurement lead (company claim, Modern Retail, 20 January 2026). Albertsons says it aligns this roadmap with IAB in-store standards.

The September 2026 attribution product extends the same idea across digital channels. Neither tool has published independent validation. The retail media measurement standards explainer sets out the IAB and MRC guidelines to compare against.

1. Contact the network's sales team. Buying is managed; there is no public self-serve sign-up.
2. Pick your banners and regions. Check which banners carry your products, because creative and offers differ by banner.
3. Start with sponsored products and onsite display. Add conversational search placements if your category suits recipe or meal-planning questions.
4. Add Collective TV and offsite. Use Display & Video 360 or The Trade Desk if those are your current platforms.
5. Set up the test before launch. Agree whether you will use the in-store matched-market test or the multi-touch attribution tool, and which control design applies.

It suits:

• CPG brands with wide distribution across Albertsons banners;
• buyers who want incremental sales evidence for in-store screens;
• advertisers already buying Meta and Google video who want one deduplicated view.

It suits less:

• brands sold in only one region or a few banners;
• advertisers who need a self-serve tool or an API;
• teams that need stable contacts during the parent company's 2026 business review.

• Retail media revenue; Albertsons does not report it.
• Current self-serve options, minimum spend and rate cards.
• The exact screen count after the 800-store rollout.
• How pharmacy data is excluded or limited in targeting.
• Whether the multi-touch attribution tool is open beyond the PepsiCo pilot.

1. Albertsons Companies, "Albertsons Companies Unveils New Retail Media Network" (11 November 2021). https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-details/2021/Albertsons-Companies-Unveils-New-Retail-Media-Network/
2. Albertsons Companies, "Albertsons Media Collective Launches Incrementality Measurement to Prove True Media Impact of In-Store Campaigns and Plans Expansion" (6 January 2026). https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-details/2026/Albertsons-Media-Collective-Launches-Incrementality-Measurement-to-Prove-True-Media-Impact-of-In-Store-Campaigns-and-Plans-Expansion/default.aspx
3. Albertsons Companies, "Albertsons Companies, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results" (14 April 2026), Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260414352692/en/Albertsons-Companies-Inc.-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-Results
4. Albertsons Companies, "Albertsons Media Collective Unveils Industry-First Branded Entertainment Model, Co-Developed with Procter & Gamble" (17 June 2026). https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-details/2026/Albertsons-Media-Collective-Unveils-Industry-First-Branded-Entertainment-Model-Co-Developed-with-Procter--Gamble/default.aspx
5. Albertsons Companies, "Albertsons Media Collective Brings Sponsored Product Discovery to AI-Powered Conversational Search" (23 June 2026). https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-details/2026/Albertsons-Media-Collective-Brings-Sponsored-Product-Discovery-to-AI-Powered-Conversational-Search/default.aspx
6. Albertsons Media Collective, "Albertsons Media Collective Pioneers Bleeding Edge Incremental Multi-Touch Attribution" (17 September 2026), Business Wire via Nasdaq. https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/albertsons-media-collective-pioneers-bleeding-edge-incremental-multi-touch
7. Albertsons Media Collective, homepage (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.albertsonsmediacollective.com/
8. Albertsons Companies, Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings call (13 October 2026), transcript by The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/10/13/albertsons-aci-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/
9. Marketing Dive, "Albertsons aims to remove silos as retail media, connected TV converge" (13 June 2024). https://www.marketingdive.com/news/albertsons-media-collective-launches-collective-tv-retail-media-technology-omnichannel/718938/
10. Modern Retail, "Albertsons is putting digital screens for ads in more than a third of its stores" (20 January 2026). https://www.modernretail.co/technology/albertsons-is-putting-digital-screens-for-ads-in-more-than-a-third-of-its-stores/