Chewy Ads: the pet retail media network, explained

On Chewy, one sale often becomes many. Autoship lets owners schedule repeat deliveries of food, litter or medication, and it accounts for about 84% of net sales. CEO Sumit Singh said Chewy converts "a large portion of ad attributed purchases directly to Autoship orders" (Chewy Q4 2025 call, 25 March 2026). An ad that wins a new customer for a dog food brand may therefore earn months of orders, not one basket.

Chewy Ads measures that directly. Its "LTV ROAS" metric links campaign results to later Autoship purchases, so a brand can see lifetime value per ad dollar (Chewy Ads solutions, accessed 9 November 2026). Most networks report return on ad spend on the first order only. For subscription-heavy categories, Chewy's view can change which campaigns look profitable.

The business is also a central part of Chewy's margin plan. Sponsored ads reached about 1% of net sales in fiscal 2024 and were the largest contributor to gross margin gains that year. Chewy puts the long-term ceiling at up to 3% of net sales (Chewy Q4 2024 call, 26 March 2025). In June 2026 Singh said the business had exited 2025 at roughly the midpoint of that growth curve (Chewy Q1 2026 call, 10 June 2026).

Onsite. Sponsored products appear in the product grid when pet owners search. Sponsored Brands combine creative and products near the start of a search, and sponsored video sits in the grid. Chewy Max (Cmax) automates campaigns toward a business goal across onsite and offsite placements. About 40% of advertisers tried it in its first quarter, Singh said in June 2026.

Offsite. Chewy runs shopping and social ads on Google Shopping, Meta and TikTok that send shoppers back to Chewy. It also sells display and YouTube campaigns on the open web and full-screen connected TV ads. Chewy began scaling offsite in 2025, with demand above its own expectations (Chewy Q1 2025 call, 11 June 2025). Our offsite retail media explainer covers how these audiences move.

Owned channels. Custom activations combine Chewy's digital, CRM, content and experiential channels. Chewy has not described in-store media; its vet care clinics are not sold as ad inventory in the sources we read.

Audiences come from what Chewy customers buy, how often they reorder and what they browse. Brands can combine their own customer data with Chewy retail data in a clean room powered by LiveRamp, with inclusion and exclusion rules. Audiences built there can be activated across Chewy Ads.

Advertisers receive aggregated insights, not customer records. Chewy says it offers "full data transparency" on new-to-brand and incrementality results (company claim).

Reports cover new-to-brand customers, Autoship enrolments, repeat purchases, lifetime value ROAS and incrementality. Chewy says advertised SKUs generate 6.4 times more sales than those that are not advertised (company claim, Chewy internal data). That comparison does not prove the ads caused the difference, so ask for incrementality tests as well.

We found no MRC accreditation or independent audit of Chewy Ads metrics. The retail media measurement standards explainer lists what to request.

1. Request access. Submit the request form on the Chewy Ads site with your brand and goals.
2. Optimise product pages first. Chewy advises clear listings, good images and competitive prices before you spend.
3. Start with Sponsored Products on a CPC basis. Add Sponsored Brands and video once search terms are stable.
4. Test Chewy Max or offsite channels. Use Meta, TikTok or Google Shopping to bring new pet owners to Chewy.
5. Judge results on lifetime value. Compare LTV ROAS and Autoship enrolment, not only first-order ROAS.

It suits:

• pet food, treat, litter and health brands with replenishment demand;
• brands that want new-to-brand customers who reorder;
• teams already using Pacvue, Skai, Flywheel, CommerceIQ or Stackline.

It suits less:

• brands not sold on Chewy, since the network serves its own sellers;
• advertisers seeking in-store reach;
• buyers who require accredited metrics.

• Chewy Ads revenue in dollars; Chewy gives only shares of net sales.
• Minimum spend and offsite pricing.
• The launch date of the Chewy Ads brand name and of Chewy Max.
• How LTV ROAS is calculated, including the time window.
• Partner integrations beyond the logos shown on the Chewy Ads site.

1. Chewy Ads, homepage and FAQ (accessed 9 November 2026). https://discover.ads.chewy.com/
2. Chewy Ads, "Solutions" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://discover.ads.chewy.com/solutions
3. Chewy, Inc., Q4 fiscal 2024 earnings call (26 March 2025), transcript by The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2025/03/26/chewy-chwy-q4-2024-earnings-call-transcript/
4. Chewy, Inc., Q1 fiscal 2025 earnings call (11 June 2025), transcript by The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2025/06/11/chewy-chwy-q1-2025-earnings-call-transcript/
5. Chewy, Inc., Q4 fiscal 2025 earnings call (25 March 2026), transcript by The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/06/02/chewy-chwy-q4-2025-earnings-transcript/
6. Chewy, Inc., Q1 fiscal 2026 earnings call (10 June 2026), transcript by The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/06/10/chewy-chwy-q1-2026-earnings-transcript/
7. Chewy, Inc., Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings call (9 September 2026), transcript by The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/09/09/chewy-chwy-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/