Ahold Delhaize USA Brands' Media Network to Go In-House

Peapod Digital Labs, the Ahold Delhaize USA’s digital, e-commerce and commercial company, has revealed plans to expand its media network by creating an end-to-end in-house retail media business. AD Retail Media will employ Ahold Delhaize USA brands’ market presence and close customer connections to help consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies engage a large East Coast omnichannel customer base. 

Collectively, Ahold Delhaize USA’s brands operate more than 2,000 stores, process 23 million-plus transactions weekly, have almost 24 million active loyalty card users and total more than $51 billion in annual sales, according to the company.

[Read more: "The Ascendancy of Ahold Delhaize"]

“Retail media is already a sizable percentage of total advertising spend – with forecasts showing it will continue to grow significantly,” noted JJ Fleeman, president of Peapod Digital Labs. “By bringing AD Retail Media in-house, we will create a connected go-to-market offering for CPGs, grounded in new capabilities, simplicity and value generation. As the space continues to grow, we’re proud to invest in retail media to continue to propel our companies – and our CPG partners – forward.”

Peapod Digital Labs intends to spur key advancements in AD Retail Media via new strategic partnerships and expanded capabilities, among them:

• The launch of a unified on- and off-site platform to deliver a single point of activation and measurement;
• The ability to leverage proprietary data to create more targeted ads and improve returns on ad spend;
• The introduction of one dashboard for transparently measured campaign results spanning transactions made on-site and across the web; and
• The enhancement of self-serve control to reach customers in a simple, targeted way.

As it grows into an in-house digital media agency, AD Retail Media will expand its retail media team, whose establishment and scaling will be supported by Publicis Groupe’s CitrusAd, Epsilon and Publicis Sapient.

“This is a great example of Publicis Groupe’s ‘Power of One’ retail media strategy, with Epsilon, CitrusAd and Publicis Sapient all involved helping AD Retail media transform with new talent, expertise and capabilities,” said Thibault Hennion, managing director of international operations at Irving, Texas-based Epsilon. 

AD Retail Media will transition to CitrusAd powered by Epsilon, becoming the first major retailer to launch a unified on- and off-site platform featuring Epsilon’s accuracy and reach.

“The integration with Peapod Digital Labs will allow us to work efficiently together to achieve the goals of driving sales growth, reaching more customers with relevant content and investing in customer value proposition,” observed David Haase, CEO of St. Petersburg, Fla.-based CitrusAd Americas. 

Further, AD Retail Media will team up with LiveRamp Safe Haven as a data collaboration solution.

“Data collaboration has become an absolute necessity for CPG brands seeking a competitive edge,” noted Warren Jenson, president of San Francisco-based LiveRamp. “By leveraging Safe Haven technology, AD Retail Media will empower CPGs partners to transform both their business outcomes and customers’ experiences.” 

Salt Lake City-based Quotient will continue as AD Retail Media’s digital coupon provider. 

“These new partnerships are the beginning of many new capabilities that AD Retail Media will bring to market in 2023 and beyond,” added Fleeman. “Through the enhanced network, we expect our partners will be able to create more relevant, measurable real-time campaigns that produce greater ROI both for the CPG and the customer.”

In other Ahold Delhaize tech news, the company has acquired a minority stake in Belgian advertising technology company Adhese. With this step, Ahold Delhaize aims to ramp up the development of innovative digital advertising opportunities for B2B partners across Europe to create more customized and relevant customer experiences. 

As the innovation lab for Ahold Delhaize USA brands Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Co., Hannaford, and Stop & Shop, Peapod Digital Labs promotes digital and e-commerce innovation, technology and experience to meet the evolving needs of customers. Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize operates more than 2,000 stores across 23 states under the above brands and is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in the United States.