Albertsons to Measure Incremental Lift for Retail Media

Albertsons Media Collective, the retail media arm of the US grocery chain, is to introduce in-store incrementality measurement, comparing sales after promotions with those in control stores, and promising 'true causal insights' into how in-store media drives incremental sales.

Albertsons is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, and its retail media network connects with consumers in more than 2,200 locations across 35 states (plus D.C.). The network helps brands to engage shoppers in-store using 'sophisticated' first-party data - it is used by more than 50 unique advertising partners.

The Collective says its 'matched market framework' isolates the effect of in-store advertising and delivers a statistically validated measure of true lift, by comparing sales performance in test stores exposed to ads against a rigorously selected set of control stores with no media exposure. The solution taps nearly 60 variables for advanced store-level matching to reduce bias and noise, scales nationally across a full range of store formats, and works across both existing and new in-store screens, including deli and pharmacy placements.

Strong results to date mean the Media Collective is focused on expansion, with plans to add around 800 stores during 2026. Liz Roche, VP of Media and Measurement, comments: 'For too long, in-store media has been measured with tools that confuse correlation for impact. Our matched market incrementality approach cuts through that noise. By isolating causal lift at the store level, we're showing brands the actual impact of in-store media activation - and giving them confidence that their investment is driving net-new sales. We look forward to advancing the measurement capabilities we offer in the future with closed-loop measurement, while remaining compliant with and closely aligning our measurement roadmap with IAB current and future standards for in-store media.'

Web site: www.albertsonsmediacollective.com .