Ocado retail media network: how Ocado Ads works and how to buy it

Ocado has no shops. Every order is placed online by a logged-in customer, so Ocado Ads can claim "100% purchase coverage" of its active shoppers (company claim, Ocado Ads). Store-based grocers must match loyalty cards to till data and miss shoppers who do not scan. Ocado sees every basket by design. The trade-off is reach: an online grocer has fewer customers than a national chain, and no in-store media to sell.

Its warehouses also become a test bench. The NPD Lab lets a brand launch test volumes of a new product through a single customer fulfilment centre and gather real sales before a national rollout. It can also A/B test merchandising. No store-based network can offer a controlled launch in one warehouse serving real customers.

Ocado moved early on offsite data. In March 2023 it became the first UK grocer to give advertisers direct access to its customer data through The Trade Desk. Brands could use it to target and attribute campaigns across the open web (The Trade Desk, 7 March 2023). In June 2025 WPP Media named Ocado Ads, with Criteo and Dick's Sporting Goods, as an early partner of its Open Intelligence data product (WPP Media, 5 June 2025). The offsite retail media explainer shows how such audience extensions work.

Finally, Ocado rents its ad stack. Ocado Ads Manager runs on Zitcha, whose chief executive said Ocado would be the first in EMEA to use its single customer-view platform (Zitcha, 12 September 2024).

Onsite. Sponsored products, display ads and banners, coupons, trade events and sampling on Ocado.com and the app (Ocado Ads). Placements include search banners and "checkout walk" banners shown before payment.

Offsite. Paid social, connected TV and streaming, and open web display, built on Ocado audiences and sold self-serve or managed.

Testing. The NPD Lab for limited launches and merchandising A/B tests.

Audiences come from consented first-party purchase data. In a published case, PHD Media used Ocado's verified buyer data for Andrex, including purchase history, basket composition, location and purchase timing (company case study, Ocado Ads). Ocado says its data is not modelled.

Offsite matching runs through partners such as The Trade Desk and Meta. Ocado has not published a clean room specification or the full list of what advertisers can export. UK GDPR, enforced by the Information Commission since 30 September 2026 (Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 9) Regulations 2026), governs this processing.

Ocado reports closed-loop results from click to checkout, using Beet, its self-serve insights platform. At launch it described a metrics roadmap aligned to IAB standards (Zitcha, 12 September 2024). We found no IAB Europe certification for Ocado Ads by 9 November 2026.

A worked example shows how to read Ocado's numbers. For Walkers, Ocado offered £1 off to light and lapsed buyers and £0.80 off to wider crisps buyers, on site and on Meta (Ocado Ads). A control group saw the campaign without a personal discount. Ocado reported a ROAS of 1,023% but an incremental ROAS of 204% (company claims, figures in pounds, Ocado Ads). The gap shows why buyers should ask for incremental results, not total attributed sales.

1. Contact Ocado Ads through its site or your Ocado trading contact.
2. Choose the operating model: self-serve in Ocado Ads Manager, managed service, or a mix.
3. Start with sponsored products and search banners for products Ocado lists.
4. Add offsite audiences on social, CTV or the open web, or through The Trade Desk.
5. Ask for a control group. Agree how incremental sales will be measured before launch.

It suits:

• FMCG brands listed on Ocado, including challenger brands;
• brands that want to test new products before a wide launch;
• advertisers who value complete purchase coverage of a smaller audience.

It suits less:

• brands that need store reach or in-store screens;
• advertisers who need national scale from one grocer;
• buyers who require certified or audited metrics.

• Ocado Ads revenue, rate cards and minimum spend.
• Why Ocado Ads (2 million+ active shoppers) and Ocado Retail (1 million+ active customers) give different audience figures; definitions may differ.
• Whether Epsilon Retail Media still has a role; Ocado's logo appears on Epsilon's site, but Ocado Ads names Zitcha as its platform partner.
• The exact headquarters address of Ocado Retail.

1. Zitcha, "Ocado Retail enters new chapter of retail media with the launch of Ocado Ads" (12 September 2024). https://www.zitcha.com/newsroom/ocado-retail-enters-new-chapter-of-retail-media-with-the-launch-of-ocado-ads
2. Ocado Ads, home page (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.ocadoads.com/
3. Ocado Ads, "Why Ocado Ads" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.ocadoads.com/why-ocado-ads/
4. Ocado Ads, "Walkers Personalised Value Campaign with Ocado Ads nominated for Retail Media X award" (undated, accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.ocadoads.com/news-and-insights/press-releases-walkers-personalised-value-campaign/
5. Ocado Ads, "Case study: Ocado & Andrex" (undated, accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.ocadoads.com/case-studies/ocado-andrex/
6. Ocado Retail, "About us" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://ocadoretail.com/about-us/
7. The Trade Desk, "The Trade Desk partners with Ocado to pioneer a new approach to retail media on the open internet" (7 March 2023). https://www.thetradedesk.com/press-room/the-trade-desk-partners-with-ocado-to-pioneer-a-new-approach-to-retail-media-on-the-open-internet
8. WPP Media, "Expanding Open Intelligence Across Commerce and Premium Media" (5 June 2025). https://www.wppmedia.com/news/open-intelligence-retail-premium
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