Albertsons Cos. is deepening customer engagement with shoppable video ads through the commerce media company Criteo.
The grocery giant was an early adopter of Criteo’s newly launched Onsite Video solution. The videos helped deliver a 280% jump in click-through rates and a 460% lift in sales during early tests, Criteo said in a news release. Albertsons is now rolling out the tool more broadly to grow its retail media network and connect brands with high-intent shoppers at the point of purchase.
While Albertsons was an early tester, Criteo’s Onsite Video rollout now extends to a broad network of retailer partners as part of its general availability launch. This expands Criteo’s reach across hundreds of retail media networks, including Costco, Walmart Mexico and Albertsons.
How Albertsons is using Criteo for shoppable video
The new format allows brands to run shoppable video ads across multiple retailer sites without customization. That approach streamlines campaigns and creates a more consistent shopper experience, according to Criteo.
Through Criteo’s platform, Albertsons Media Collective — the retailer’s media arm — can now offer consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers a full suite of onsite formats. The formats include video, display and sponsored product ads.
Albertsons ranks No. 19 in the 2024 Digital Commerce 360 Top 2000, which tracks North America’s largest online retailers by annual ecommerce sales. Costco ranks No. 7, while Walmart ranks No. 2.
Video’s role in Albertsons’ retail media network
Retailers are increasingly leaning on onsite retail media to drive profitability, with gross margins reaching up to 70%, according to a Coresight Research report.
Criteo positions its new Onsite Video solution as another way for retailers to unlock incremental revenue by attracting premium CPMs (cost per 1,000 ad views).
By integrating shoppable video ads directly into retailer websites, Criteo said the new format helps brands reach high-intent shoppers. Moreover, it does so at critical decision-making moments when customers are already close to buying.
The launch gives Criteo’s retail partners a full-funnel advertising suite combining video, display, and sponsored product ads within one platform. When paired with other formats, shoppable video has delivered a 5.6x lift in new-to-brand customers, the company reported.
“With the launch of Onsite Video into general availability, we’re giving brands, agencies and retailers the tools to captivate, convert and create meaningful shopping experiences,” said Stephen Howard-Sarin, managing director of retail media for the Americas at Criteo, in a prepared statement.
Early results in Albertsons’ testing
Albertsons selected Criteo in early 2024 to expand its sponsored ad formats. Since then, Albertsons Media Collective became an early beta partner for the Onsite Video solution.
In its test campaign, shoppers exposed to both onsite video and sponsored product ads drove a 280% increase in click-through rates. When paired with sponsored product ads, onsite video also delivered a 460% lift in sales, Criteo said.
“We’re committed to identifying ways to reduce friction and add value across the shopper journey,” said Liz Roche, vice president of media and measurement at Albertsons Media Collective, in a statement. “That translates to an omnichannel approach, and also to a varied approach for each channel, ensuring that we can empower brands to go beyond reaching customers, to meet them where they are.”
Albertsons sharpens retail media strategy through digital growth and loyalty efforts
Retail media continues to boom, with more than 200 networks now active worldwide. Advertisers are expected to boost their retail media spend by 20% to $62.4 billion in 2025, according to eMarketer. That total would be $10.4 billion more than they spent in 2024. Meanwhile, a report from Forrester found that nearly two-thirds of marketers increased their investments in retail media last year. Its findings showed a common focus on growing onsite advertising.
While Amazon and Walmart continue to dominate the market, retailers like Albertsons are scaling up their retail media offerings in a bid to stay competitive.
Launched in 2021, Albertsons Media Collective places ads directly in front of shoppers. The ads appear across digital channels, such as the retailer’s website, mobile app and email. By leveraging first-party data, Albertsons said it can give advertisers deeper insights into campaign performance and shopper behavior.
During the Albertsons’ Q4 2024 earnings call, incoming CEO Susan Morris said the retailer has driven customer growth and engagement through four key digital channels. Those are ecommerce, loyalty, pharmacy and its mobile app integration for in-store use. Growth across these channels is helping generate “robust data” to power the Albertsons Media Collective, Morris said during the April call.
In its fiscal Q4, which ended Feb. 22, 2025, Albertsons grew digital sales at more than 10 times the rate of its identical store sales growth. However, Morris noted that ecommerce penetration remains below industry peers. The gap makes it one of the company’s biggest opportunities for customer acquisition and retention in 2025 and beyond.
Albertsons also expanded its loyalty program to more than 45 million members in Q4, a 15% increase year over year. Morris called the company’s newly simplified loyalty program “a key enabler of digital customer engagement and a rich source of data” for the Media Collective.
Looking ahead, Albertsons plans to improve measurement transparency for its retail media network in fiscal 2025.
“All these digital platforms are working together to generate deeper customer engagement, increase digital inventory and enrich our data to accelerate growth in the Albertsons Media Collective,” Morris said.
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