Instacart, Ahold Delhaize Boost Ad Sales to Augment Grocery Business

As rising food prices put additional margin pressure on businesses that rely on grocery sales, some are turning to advertising to supplement their revenue.

Instacart, for one, announced Wednesday (Oct. 19) the debut of new advertising features within its advertiser portal, Ads Manager. These include tools to center campaigns on specific, quantifiable targets such as maximizing reach or engagement. Additionally, the grocery aggregator is also launching shoppable video ads for advertisers, with which brands can offer pre-planned digital baskets for consumers or feature individual products.

“Over the last year, we’ve built multiple new ad formats to enable brands to drive impact on Instacart by deploying a comprehensive suite of ad solutions,” Ali Miller, VP of ad products at Instacart, said in a statement. “Today marks a significant next step in our ad platform’s evolution by making this new format fully available, alongside a new Ads Manager buying experience that helps brands align their campaign setup with business results that matter.”

The news comes just two days after the leading U.S. food delivery aggregator DoorDash, which also competes with Instacart for grocery sales, announced the launch of new self-serve advertising tools for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands including an ads manager and partnerships with ad tech companies.

You may also like: DoorDash Seeks Fresh Revenue From CPG Ads

Ahold Delhaize USA Building in-House Ad Business

In related news, the United States branch of multinational grocery retailer Ahold Delhaize is building out and “end-to-end, in-house retail media business,” as the grocer’s U.S. eCommerce  company Peapod Digital Labs announced Wednesday.

The ad business will offer opportunities for CPG brands to market to Ahold Delhaize USA’s customers across its digital and physical channels. The grocer intends to leverage its data to offer targeting opportunities and to provide insights into campaign results.

“Retail media is already a sizable percentage of total advertising spend – with forecasts showing it will continue to grow significantly,” JJ Fleeman president of Peapod Digital Labs, said in a statement. “By bringing AD Retail Media inhouse, we will create a connected go-to-market offering for CPGs, grounded in new capabilities, simplicity and value generation.”

Grocers ranging from Walmart to Kroger to Albertsons have all been investing in their in-house ad offerings in the past few months.

Related news: Retailers Sharpen in-House Ads to Bring Fresh Revenue, Better Brand Service

Albertsons Boosts Ad Offerings

Sam’s Club Completes National Rollout of Inventory Robots

Walmart warehouse club subsidiary Sam’s Club announced Thursday (Oct. 20) that it has completed its national deployment of inventory robots, which scan shelves to automate the process.

In addition to providing labor savings, these robots also enable greater visibility into data about product availability, pricing, location and more.

“Our initial goal at Sam’s Club was to convert time historically spent on scrubbers to more member-focused activities,” Todd Garner, Sam’s Club vice president, in-club product management, said in a statement. “Our autonomous scrubbers have exceeded this goal. In addition to increasing the consistency and frequency of floor cleaning, intelligent scrubbers have empowered associates with critical insights.”

Kroger Grows eCommerce Fulfillment Reach to Detroit Area

In far from the most pressing Kroger news this week, the United States’ leading pure-play grocer announced Tuesday (Oct. 18) the expansion of its eCommerce delivery business to the Detroit area with the opening of an automated fulfillment center, powered by technology from UK-based grocery automation company the Ocado Group, in Romulus, Michigan.

Related news: Kroger-Albertsons Merger Creates Pickup and Delivery Powerhouse

“We are passionate about delivering a fresh, convenient customer shopping experience with zero compromise on quality, selection, and affordability,” Bill Bennett, Kroger vice president and head of eCommerce, said in a statement. “From the refrigerated trucks, to the trained and uniformed drivers, to the white glove delivery experience at the door, Kroger Delivery brings that same zero compromise experience to a new delivery option for customers.”

The July edition of PYMNTS’ ConnectedEconomy series, “The ConnectedEconomy Monthly Report: The Rise of the Smart Home,” which drew from a May survey of more than 2,600 United States consumers, found that 40% order groceries online for home delivery every month, and about 1 in 4 do so once a week or more.

Get the study: The Rise of the Smart Home