Circle K Full Circle Media: the convenience retail media network, explained

Circle K built its media inside the store first. It has no e-commerce website, so it has no sponsored search. Instead it sells space on Lift, its own upsell screens: 13,200 of them at 6,600 locations. Joell Robinson, who runs the network, compares Lift to sponsored search: buy one candy bar and the screen suggests "two for $3" (Modern Retail, 3 August 2026). Only in May 2026 did Circle K add social and offsite placements. Modern Retail notes that other retailers, Giant Eagle among them, built web and mobile ads first and are only now adding store screens.

The pump is the big prize and the hard part. Full Circle Media has screens at more than 3,800 fuel pumps. Robinson says even a small share of pump traffic walking into the store "would be material". Circle K is testing ways to pull drivers inside, through the screen itself or through SMS and push messages. Proving that a pump ad caused a store purchase is the measurement problem every fuel retailer faces. Robinson's answer is the loyalty program, Inner Circle, with 14.7 million members, because "who I know I can measure" (Modern Retail, 3 August 2026).

Retail media is also a stated corporate priority. Couche-Tard named Full Circle Media among its "new revenue initiatives" in the assumptions behind its 2030 targets (Couche-Tard, 11 February 2026). Chief Digital Officer Erica Fortune told investors that Circle K "has a right to win in this space" (C-Store Dive, 20 August 2026). Robinson came from Giant Eagle, where she helped build Leap Media Group. Couche-Tard has since also acquired Giant Eagle's GetGo convenience chain.

In-store. Lift upsell screens, in-store digital walls and checkout displays. The relaunch release counts these with pump media toward up to 200 million monthly impressions (company claim, Couche-Tard, 18 August 2026).

At the pump. Screens at more than 3,800 fuel dispensers (Modern Retail, 3 August 2026). Circle K is experimenting with linking them to SMS and push offers that bring drivers into the store.

Owned digital. The Circle K app, Inner Circle, SMS and email. Inner Circle relaunched with visit-based rewards on 2 September 2026 (CSP, 19 August 2026).

Social and offsite. Added in May 2026. Circle K has not named the platforms. The in-store retail media guide explains how screen and offsite inventory are usually priced.

Targeting rests on Inner Circle membership and on store and fuel transactions. The relaunch promised "enhanced audience targeting" without listing segments. Circle K has not said whether audiences can be activated in outside demand-side platforms (DSPs) or matched in a clean room. Brands should ask which signals define each audience and whether non-members are included.

The relaunch added "measurement tools" and promised "measurable ROI". Robinson describes the goal as omnichannel closed-loop measurement that is "transparent and defensible". In 2026 the team was still experimenting with closed-loop and incrementality measurement in email. We found no published methodology, accreditation or independent audit.

1. Contact the Circle K retail media team through your Circle K category manager.
2. Tie media to a promotion. Robinson says the team works with merchandising so the network can be "the megaphone" for promotions that suppliers fund.
3. Combine pump and store. Pair pump screens with Lift and checkout placements on the same offer.
4. Add owned and offsite channels. Use app, email and SMS for loyalty members, and social or offsite for reach.
5. Ask for a measurement plan. Agree whether results come from Inner Circle purchases, store sales or a test-and-control design.

It suits:

• drink, snack and other impulse brands sold in Circle K stores;
• brands with promotions that benefit from a point-of-sale reminder;
• advertisers who want to reach drivers at the pump.

It suits less:

• brands that need online sponsored search;
• advertisers who require self-serve buying or audited metrics;
• buyers who need published offers outside the US today.

• Formats, scale and pricing in Canada and Europe.
• Technology partners behind pump screens, offsite and social buying.
• Whether former GetGo stores are part of Full Circle Media.
• Measurement methodology, revenue, rate card and minimum spend.
• Store count: the company release says more than 6,600 US stores; CSP reported more than 6,000.

1. Alimentation Couche-Tard, "Circle K Strengthens Retail Media Offering with Full Circle Media Relaunch" (18 August 2026). https://corporate.couche-tard.com/Circle-K-Strengthens-Retail-Media-Offering-with-Full-Circle-Media-Relaunch
2. Alimentation Couche-Tard, "Alimentation Couche-Tard Presents Its 2026 Business Strategy Update and New Long-Term Guidance" (11 February 2026). https://corporate.couche-tard.com/2026-02-11-ALIMENTATION-COUCHE-TARD-PRESENTS-ITS-2026-BUSINESS-STRATEGY-UPDATE-AND-NEW-LONG-TERM-GUIDANCE
3. Modern Retail, "Circle K gets serious about retail media" (3 August 2026). https://www.modernretail.co/marketing/circle-k-gets-serious-about-retail-media/
4. CSP, "Circle K relaunches its retail media network" (19 August 2026). https://www.cspdailynews.com/technologyservices/circle-k-relaunches-its-retail-media-network
5. C-Store Dive, "Circle K relaunches its retail media network" (20 August 2026). https://www.cstoredive.com/news/circle-k-relaunches-its-retail-media-network/828306/
6. C-Store Dive, "RaceTrac adds retail media network" (28 October 2026). https://www.cstoredive.com/news/racetrac-adds-retail-media-network/872944/