Boots Media Group: how the Boots retail media network works and how to buy it

Boots set up its network as an agency, not as an ad platform. Its own page calls Boots Media Group "a full-service advertising offering" for supplier brands, run as a partnership between Threefold Agency Ltd and Boots UK (Boots UK). At launch, chief marketing officer Pete Markey said Boots wanted suppliers to feel they were dealing with an internal media agency rather than a partnership marketing team. The existing partnership marketing team moved to Threefold (Retail Week, 17 September 2021). For a brand, that means campaigns are planned with people, around joint marketing, more than bought through a dashboard.

The second difference is the shop itself. Boots is a pharmacy as well as a beauty store, so some of what it could know about customers concerns health. UK GDPR treats "data concerning health" as special category data, which may be processed only under the conditions in Article 9 (UK GDPR, Article 9). Boots Media Group describes its targeting in terms of Advantage Card purchase data. We found no public statement on how pharmacy records are kept apart from advertising.

Brands in medicines or wellness should therefore ask before they target health-related audiences. The pharmacy retail media guide compares how Walgreens and CVS handle the same question under US law.

Third, Boots joined online and store sales early. In November 2024 it became the launch partner for a combined Criteo and LiveRamp offer. It merges Advantage Card audiences with online exposure and in-store transactions. Criteo's first analysis of the top 50 brands on Boots, from mid-September to mid-October 2024, found a 22% higher ROAS once store sales were counted (company claim, ExchangeWire, 12 November 2024).

In-store. Digital signage, shelf-edge displays and print in Boots stores (InternetRetailing, 27 June 2024). The current screen count is n/d.

Onsite. Display and video on Boots.com and the Boots app, reaching people researching health topics or shopping for beauty products. Criteo's Commerce Yield supports onsite activation.

Content and offsite. Boots Media Group produces articles and how-to videos with brands. At launch it also promised reach on social media and other third-party channels (Retail Week). An offsite media partner list is not published.

Targeting uses Advantage Card purchases, demographics and browsing on Boots' sites (InternetRetailing, 27 June 2024). LiveRamp's data collaboration platform joins those audiences with sales data for attribution. Advertisers receive audience-led targeting and reports, not customer files.

The Information Commission, which took over the Information Commissioner's functions on 30 September 2026, regulates this processing under UK GDPR (Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 9) Regulations 2026). Because Boots holds pharmacy data, the line between front-of-store purchases and health records matters more here than at a grocer such as Nectar360.

Since November 2024 Boots Media Group has offered closed-loop measurement across Boots.com and stores, with omni-ROAS reporting by brand. Its page promises campaign measurement and "clear ROI reporting" (Boots UK). We found no incrementality method, accreditation or independent audit. Ask whether the uplift figures compare against a control group.

1. Email the Boots Media Group team at the address on Boots UK's page, or ask your Boots commercial contact.
2. Plan a joint campaign. Boots Media Group works like an agency, so bring objectives, products and budget to a planning session.
3. Start with onsite and store media for products Boots stocks.
4. Request omni-ROAS reporting so store sales count alongside online sales.
5. Clarify data limits in writing, especially for medicines and health products.

It suits:

• beauty, personal care and consumer health brands stocked by Boots;
• brands that want planned, joint campaigns with store and online reach;
• advertisers that value attribution covering store sales.

It suits less:

• buyers who want self-serve control;
• brands that need audited or certified metrics;
• advertisers whose targeting would rely on sensitive health signals.

• The current number of active Advantage Card members; recent figures were not found on Boots' own pages.
• Any Boots Media Group product news from 2025 or 2026.
• Whether Threefold still runs the service; a 2026 vacancy for a Boots head of retail media mentions agency management but does not name the agency.
• The ownership of The Boots Group after its former parent, Walgreens Boots Alliance, became a private company in 2025 (Digital Commerce 360, 9 December 2025).
• Revenue, rate cards and minimum spend.

1. Boots UK, "Boots Media Group" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.boots-uk.com/about-boots/company-information/boots-media-group/
2. Boots UK, "Company Information" (accessed 9 November 2026; figures as of 28 February 2026). https://www.boots-uk.com/about-boots/company-information/
3. Boots UK, "Newsroom" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.boots-uk.com/newsroom/
4. Retail Week, "Boots launches marketing agency to supercharge brand partners' campaigns" (17 September 2021). https://retail-week.com/health-and-beauty/boots-launches-marketing-agency-to-supercharge-brand-partners-campaigns/7040611.article
5. ExchangeWire, "LiveRamp & Criteo Collaborate to Propel First-Party Data Capabilities for Omnichannel Retail Media, with Boots as Launch Partner" (12 November 2024). https://www.exchangewire.com/blog/2024/11/12/liveramp-criteo-collaborate-to-propel-first-party-data-capabilities-for-omnichannel-retail-media-with-boots-as-launch-partner/
6. InternetRetailing, "KEY PLAYER PROFILE Boots Media Group" (27 June 2024). https://internetretailing.net/?p=65299
7. legislation.gov.uk, UK GDPR, Article 9 "Processing of special categories of personal data". https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/article/9
8. Digital Commerce 360, "Walgreens adopts Rokt for retail media network expansion" (9 December 2025). https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/12/09/walgreens-adopts-rokt-for-retail-media-network-expansion/
9. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1015 (made 10 September 2026). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/1015/made