BJ's and Instacart accelerate their retail media offerings

Retail media is having a moment. And BJ’s Wholesale Club and Instacart are seizing the opportunity.

BJ’s Wholesale Club is rolling out its new retail media program, BJ’s Media Edge, that will connect advertisers with its more than 6.5 million members, the membership-based warehouse club announced on Thursday.

Through a partnership with Microsoft, using Microsoft PromoteIQ, BJ’s Media Edge offers brand partners the ability to buy onsite and offsite media via one platform to reach members across touchpoints on the wholesale club's owned properties, such as in-store signage and digital channels. Advertisers also have access to real-time analytics and data, while closed-loop measurement reporting capabilities are currently in development, BJ’s said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Microsoft and offer brand partners a highly effective, omnichannel approach in order to increase brand exposure to our members,” said Rachael Vegas, EVP, chief merchandising officer at BJ’s Wholesale Club, in a statement. “This program will continue to provide a tremendous opportunity for brands to drive growth, accelerate new product launches and deliver on their business goals.”

Early adopters to BJ’s Media Edge who have activated a campaign on the Microsoft PromoteIQ platform have seen a significant return on media investments, the wholesale club said.

“BJ’s Media Edge is a meaningful step forward for both our company and our brand partners. We designed this program to leverage the power of first-party data from our highly engaged 6.5 million members,” said Monica Schwartz, EVP, chief digital officer at BJ’s Wholesale Club, in a statement. “This new program builds upon our existing digital marketing offerings with a customizable solution for brand partners to influence our members at every stage of their purchase journey, all while driving measurable returns.”

Instacart is also powering up its retail media with Instacart Promotions, a new suite of advertising solutions that will streamline the ability of CPG brands to better engage with customers of the same-day delivery platform.

Brands will now have self-service access and capabilities to launch new deal structures, promotions and incentives with their Instacart Ad campaigns.

“With the average cost of groceries going up, we’re proud to unlock more ways for consumers to save money and connect with their favorite brands and retailers via Instacart,” said Ali Miller, VP of ads product at Instacart, in a statement. “With the launch of our new Instacart Promotions, all of our brand partners now have the ability to set up coupons and promotions that can drive meaningful business results while also passing on more savings opportunities to consumers. We’re proud to continue expanding our portfolio with additional self-service capabilities, ad formats that drive results, and measurement that brands need to understand the true impact of their campaigns on Instacart.”

Hundreds of thousands of deals and coupons run across the marketplace every day, which has saved customers over $700 million so far in 2022, Instacart said in a statement.

With Instacart Promotions, CPG brands can provide coupons and savings, giving shoppers the ability to discover more promotions across the app that appear directly on product item cards and before checkout. 

In the coming months, Instacart will expand promotions offerings with new deal structures such as free gifts and buy one, get one (BOGO).

In October, Peapod Digital Labs, the e-commerce engine for Ahold Delhaize USA, announced plans to bring its media network, AD Retail Media, to an in-house digital media agency.