Sprouts retail media network: how brands advertise with Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts outsourced the whole stack. Its website and app run on Instacart's platform, and Instacart's Carrot Ads sells the ads on them. In November 2025 Instacart said both now run on its Storefront Pro product (Instacart, 4 November 2025). There is no separate Sprouts media brand, sales team or console in the sources we read. For a brand, Sprouts is a line item inside an Instacart campaign.

That makes entry cheap for brands already on Instacart. The launch release said brands could extend their Instacart Ads campaigns to Sprouts and, "for the first time", target Sprouts' site alone. The first advertisers were Califia Farms, General Mills, Primal Kitchen and Siete Family Foods. Sprouts' president and chief operating officer, Nick Konat, tied the network to its "innovative and distinctive brand partners". A small plant-based snack brand can therefore buy Sprouts shoppers without a new contract.

The trade-off is dependence on one platform that is changing hands. DoorDash agreed in October 2026 to acquire Instacart; the deal may not close before 2028 (PPC Land, 29 October 2026). Instacart is also winding down its Caper smart-cart business by the end of the second quarter of 2027 (Grocery Dive, 27 October 2026). In November 2025 Sprouts had said it would work on Instacart's Cart Assistant across its site, app and Caper Carts. Any in-store ad surface on those carts now looks unlikely.

Timeline: Sprouts and the Instacart platform

Onsite. Ads appear on the Sprouts website and app. Instacart's release does not list formats for Sprouts. Because brands extend their Instacart Ads campaigns to Sprouts, the formats follow Instacart's; the Instacart Ads profile lists them. Confirm which ones run on Sprouts before you plan creative.

In-store and offsite. We found no Sprouts in-store media or offsite audience product. Instacart's Carrot Ads page now offers retailers in-store surfaces as well as e-commerce ads (Instacart, accessed 9 November 2026). Whether Sprouts uses them is n/d.

Campaigns target shoppers on Sprouts' own site and app, which Instacart operates. Sprouts launched its Sprouts Rewards loyalty programme nationwide in 2025 and says it is using more data analytics for personalisation (Sprouts 10-K, filed 19 February 2026). Whether that loyalty data reaches advertisers is not stated.

Instacart gives brands reports, not customer records. The Sprouts launch materials do not mention a clean room or offsite matching.

Brands get attributed sales and return on ad spend for their Sprouts campaigns, alongside their wider Instacart results. Instacart's Carrot Ads page reports expanded Media Rating Council accreditation across 240+ sites. We could not confirm that the accreditation covers Sprouts. Ask Instacart whether your Sprouts metrics fall inside it.

1. Open or use an Instacart Ads account. Sprouts inventory is sold through Instacart, not by a Sprouts team.
2. Decide between extend and target. Add Sprouts to an existing campaign for reach, or run a Sprouts-only campaign to focus on its shoppers.
3. Check formats and placements on the Sprouts site and app.
4. Set goals by banner. Compare Sprouts ROAS with Instacart's marketplace so you can judge the two separately.
5. Watch the platform transition. Ask how the DoorDash deal could affect contracts, tools and reporting.

It suits:

• natural, organic and emerging brands ranged at Sprouts;
• brands that already run Instacart Ads and want Sprouts shoppers too;
• teams that want self-serve buying with familiar tools.

It suits less:

• brands that need in-store media or store-sales measurement at Sprouts;
• advertisers who want loyalty-based audiences;
• buyers wary of a platform changing ownership.

• Any Sprouts-specific ad product, format or result after May 2023.
• Whether Sprouts Rewards data is used in advertising.
• Whether Carrot Ads' MRC accreditation covers Sprouts.
• Online traffic, ad revenue and minimum spend.
• How the DoorDash transaction will affect Carrot Ads retailers.

1. Instacart, "Sprouts Launches New Retail Media Network Powered by Instacart's Carrot Ads Solution" (San Francisco, 3 May 2023). https://company.instacart.com/pressreleases/sprouts-retail-media-network-powered-by-instacart
2. Path to Purchase Institute, "Instacart Powers Sprouts' New Retailer Media Network" (10 May 2023). https://p2pi.com/instacart-powers-sprouts-new-retailer-media-network
3. Instacart, "Instacart Announces New Enterprise AI Solutions to Democratize AI for Grocers of All Sizes" (4 November 2025). https://company.instacart.com/pressreleases/instacart-announces-new-enterprise-ai-solutions-to-democratize-ai-for-grocers-of-all-sizes
4. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (filed 19 February 2026). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1575515/000157551526000008/sfm-20251228.htm
5. Instacart, "Retail media, built to scale" (Carrot Ads page, accessed 9 November 2026). https://company.instacart.com/enterprise-platform/retail-media/carrot-ads
6. Grocery Dive, "Instacart to stop offering smart carts" (27 October 2026). https://www.grocerydive.com/news/instacart-stops-smart-carts-business/872824/
7. PPC Land, "Instacart ad revenue gains 23% to $331m in quarter before DoorDash deal" (29 October 2026). https://ppc.land/instacart-ad-revenue-gains-23-to-331m-in-quarter-before-doordash-deal/