Petco retail media network: what brands can buy and how

Petco sells two kinds of buyer through two routes. Pet brands that Petco stocks buy sponsored products and display on Petco's own platform. Brands that Petco does not stock can now reach its shoppers too. In October 2025 Petco began showing offers from Rokt's network of non-endemic advertisers (Digital Commerce 360, 22 October 2025). Petco's checkout is therefore open to brands outside the pet category, while its search results stay with the brands it stocks.

Services set Petco apart from online pet sellers. Petco offers veterinary care, grooming and training in its pet care centers. Services and other sales rose 2.6% to $1.03 billion in fiscal 2025 while merchandise sales fell (Petco 10-K, FY2025). A brand selling pet health products may value that link. Petco has not said whether service or veterinary records inform ad targeting, so ask before you plan on it.

The data base is being rebuilt. CEO Joel Anderson said Petco would "relaunch" its loyalty layer in 2026, integrated with the mobile app, after an encouraging pilot (Digital Commerce 360, 12 March 2026). Audiences built on the old Vital Care structure may change. Brands planning 2027 budgets should ask how the relaunch affects targeting and reporting.

Onsite. Sponsored products and display ads run on Petco's e-commerce site on desktop and mobile. Petco's retail media platform at launch was CitrusAd, now Epsilon Retail Media.

Checkout offers. Rokt places relevant offers at checkout on Petco.com and in the app. Rokt says it powers its AI with more than 7.5 billion transactions a year (company claim, Digital Commerce 360, 22 October 2025).

Paid and owned channels. Petco's 10-K says the network enables "advertising activities across paid and owned channels". It does not list them. In-store media and offsite audience extension are not documented. The onsite vs offsite vs in-store guide explains each surface.

At launch Petco combined CitrusAd's relevancy engine with Petco's first-party data so ads would appear "in an organic, relevant way" (CitrusAd, May 2021). Petco's Vital Care program has a free tier, Vital Care Core, and a paid tier, Vital Care Premier (Petco 10-K, FY2024). Brands receive reports, not customer records.

The 2021 CitrusAd dashboard reported awareness, engagement, conversions and return on ad spend (ROAS). Pilot campaigns averaged 300% to 400% ROAS, before any in-store effect (company claim, CitrusAd, May 2021). Petco has not published whether store sales are now included or how incrementality is tested.

1. Talk to your Petco vendor team about the retail media program and current platform.
2. Start with sponsored products on the items Petco already sells.
3. Add display for launches and seasonal events.
4. If you are not a pet brand, buy checkout offers through Rokt, which sells Petco placements to its advertisers.
5. Agree measurement, including whether store sales and the 2026 loyalty changes are covered.

It suits:

• pet food, supplies and pet health brands stocked by Petco;
• non-pet brands seeking pet owners at checkout, via Rokt;
• brands wanting self-serve sponsored products, if still offered.

It suits less:

• advertisers needing in-store screens or offsite audiences;
• buyers who need published measurement methods.

• An official name for the network.
• Whether CitrusAd still runs Petco's onsite ads after February 2024.
• Which "paid and owned channels" are sold.
• Revenue, minimum spend and the current self-serve tool.
• Whether veterinary or service data is used for targeting.

1. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (filed 13 March 2026). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1826470/000119312526106114/woof-20260131.htm
2. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Form 10-K for fiscal 2024 (filed 31 March 2025). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1826470/000095017025047693/woof-20250201.htm
3. CitrusAd, "Petco and CitrusAd Team Up to Connect Pet Parents and Brands in Support of Pet Health and Wellness" (May 2021). https://citrusad.com/blog/2021/05/15/citrusad-launches-retail-media-technology-on-petco-com
4. Digital Commerce 360, "Petco opens up retail media network advertising to outside brands" (22 October 2025). https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/10/22/petco-retail-media-network-rokt-non-endemic-brands/
5. Digital Commerce 360, "Petco builds around 'integrated omnichannel' experiences" (12 March 2026). https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2026/03/12/petco-integrated-omnichannel-ecommerce-sales-q4-2025/
6. Path to Purchase Institute, "Wawa Unveils Retailer Media Network" (27 February 2024), listing Petco among CitrusAd retailers. https://p2pi.com/wawa-unveils-retailer-media-network