News Briefs

The Kroger Company has rolled out a Hispanic-inspired private label to its stores and online.

Kroger Mercado includes an assortment of more than 50 products, including fresh meat, beverages, snacks, sides and desserts.

The brand is inspired by the tradition of Latin American foods and incorporate core Hispanic ingredients, according to a media release. Products include queso fresco, chorizo ground sausage, pre-cooked white corn meal, Oaxaca cheese ball and Agua fresca in tropical mango and watermelon guava flavors.

"Kroger Mercado embraces Hispanic culinary heritage with the quality and innovation our customers have come to know and expect from Our Brands," Juan De Paoli, vice president, Our Brands for Kroger, said in the release. "We are thrilled to offer authentic products that are accessible and exceptional in quality, creating a brand that fills a void for some customers and creates a cultural experience for others."

Kroger Mercado joins the retail giant’s roster of private-label brands sold at its banners. Kroger's Our Brands includes more than 13,000 items under brands such as Private Selection, Simple Truth, Murray's Cheese, Home Chef, Smart Way and Vitacost.

Kroger Mercado products are available in-store, through Kroger Pickup or delivered using Boost by Kroger Plus, the retailer’s delivery membership.

Retail media managed service provider Flywheel has completed its global reporting API integration with Publicis Groupe’s CitrusAd.

The integration of CitrusAd’s reporting API allows data to connect to Flywheel’s application and provides versatility for client reporting, according to a media release. Additionally, the integration makes new features, ongoing data improvements with enhanced shopper history and reporting metrics readily available to support clients.

The CitrusAd API provides clients with greater support and better customer experiences through “hyper-intelligent” advertising, per the release. Flywheel has a client services team of more than 250 people that provide high-touch managed services to drive strategy, planning, execution and reporting.

“Flywheel works with many of the world's largest, most sophisticated brands, and who in turn are critical customers for our retail clients,” Jaclyn Nix, executive vice president, media sales and operations at CitrusAd, said in the release. “Their skilled client services team now has access to advanced metrics to better support clients.”

According to data released in “The State of Retail Media in 2023” report from CitrusAd and its parent company, Epsilon, 75% of brands want transparency on up-to-date campaign performance reports. The global survey of retailers and brands also identified total sales (47%) and return on ad spend (47%) as brands’ top metrics for measuring retail media campaigns. P2PI members can access the report’s full findings here.

“This integration allows us to drive better results for our clients and their retail partners through reliable data and ad technology,” Sandy Welsch, vice president, omnichannel platforms at Flywheel, said in the release.

German grocery chain Aldi Nord is testing self-checkout solutions at several stores in the Netherlands. The scan & go technology, kiosks and exit terminals are supplied by Shopreme, an Austria-based self-checkout solutions provider.

Not to be confused with Aldi Sud, which operates Aldi stores in the U.S., Aldi Nord does own Trader Joe’s, though there are currently none in the Netherlands and the chain primarily runs independently.

This initiative marks the first time Aldi Nord is testing dedicated self-checkout areas across all selected pilot stores, according to a media release from Shopreme.

The test implements Shopreme’s scan & go technology in the retailer’s mobile app, allowing shoppers to use the app to scan products and make payments via their preferred payment method (e.g., iDEAL, debit card, credit card, Google Pay and Apple Pay). Shoppers are issued a digital receipt within the app, allowing them to leave the store by scanning an exit code at the Shopreme vector terminal, which opens the checkout gate.

Shoppers can also leverage an alternative purchase method by scanning their products at Aldi Nord’s self-checkout kiosks provided by Shopreme, which says its user interface “resembles a modern smartphone app,” per the release. The kiosks dispense a short exit code receipt that opens the vector exit terminal so shoppers can exit the store after payment.

"At Aldi Nord, we are systematically leveraging the advantages of digitization and automation,” Dr. Christian Bock, team lead self-service checkout & cashless payment at Aldi Nord, said in the release. “To offer our customers a hassle-free experience, we are testing different shopping experiences and evaluating modern checkout systems. Shopreme has proven to be a reliant partner to gain a bigger picture of future checkout technologies, also referring to our in-store processes. These aspects play a crucial role when developing a long-term checkout strategy."

Dollar Tree’s Family Dollar will roll out an enhanced mobile app, which includes an updated shopping and savings experience, in October.

The discount chain’s mobile overhaul includes a fresh interface and more seamless navigation system to help shoppers manage coupons using a redesigned wallet feature, explore engaging weekly ads and easily locate products with intelligent searches, according to a media release.

"The launch of our new Family Dollar app is one more step in the digital transformation currently underway at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar,” Bobby Aflatooni, chief information officer, Dollar Tree, said in the release. “We are investing across the enterprise to make shopping with us even easier and more enjoyable. The redesigned Family Dollar app reflects the customer-centric approach we've applied to our digital roadmap to improve the shopping experience for our loyal shoppers and new customers alike."

Future phases of the digital transformation will include Family Dollar app features in early 2024, including in-app e-commerce, personalization capabilities and an evolved rewards experience, as well as a Dollar Tree mobile experience the retailer says its customers are seeking, per the release.

"We believe this new user experience will not only appeal to our customers but to brands who want to promote their products to our millions of customers through Chesapeake Media Group, our retailer media network," added Emily Turner, chief marketing officer, Dollar Tree.

The discount retailer selected digital consultancy Publicis Sapient to lead the program and enable Family Dollar’s enhanced mobile experience platform.

"We are proud to support Family Dollar in the launch of its new mobile experience using our core capabilities (strategy, product, experience, engineering and data and AI),” Sudip Mazumder, senior vice president, retail industry lead, North America at Publicis Sapient, said in the release. “The work is designed to offer exceptional usability and a best-in-class customer experience."

Retail media solutions provider Wovenmedia has partnered with Place Exchange, a supply side platform (SSP) for programmatic out-of-home (OOH) media, to help retailer clients attract spending from brands looking to advertise programmatically on in-store digital screens.

In-store media has been rapidly growing within the retail media sector, particularly given the proliferation of in-store digital screens that can deliver relevant messaging. With physical stores still overwhelmingly the place shoppers are making purchases – accounting for 85% of total retail sales in the U.S., according to Statista – digital screens in stores are poised to attract a growing share of spend. 

The integration of Wovenmedia’s in-store retail media network in the U.S. with Place Exchange will allow Wovenmedia’s existing and prospective retail clients to access the largest pool of demand from advertisers looking to leverage in-store screens as part of their omnichannel campaigns, according to a media release.

Place Exchange’s patented technology enables planning, targeting, execution and measurement of DOOH networks on par with other programmatic channels, all within the DSP platforms.

Jeff Karnes, chief operating officer at Wovenmedia, said in the release, “We are excited to partner with an industry leader in Place Exchange at a time when retail media networks are exploding. Retailers and grocers are looking to expand advertising opportunities for their brands and partners in the store.” 

“This partnership will allow Wovenmedia’s clients to unlock a new revenue stream as their inventory will now be readily accessible in the leading programmatic buying platforms used by digital advertisers and agencies, and increase the opportunities for in-store media to be integrated into omnichannel marketing strategies,” added Dave Etherington, chief commercial officer at Place Exchange.

Cresco Labs, the cannabis company behind popular THC brands and dispensaries such as Sunnyside, says it is the first cannabis company to launch advertisements on music and audio streaming platform Spotify.

The ad campaign communicates the benefits of shopping at Sunnyside dispensary through 30-second audio and in-app digital banners that drive to the retailer’s proprietary e-commerce platform. Advertising is supported by a volume-driving paid media campaign including programmatic buying, native ads and connected TV, per a media release.

“Audio streaming services represent a major opportunity for brands to reach large audiences in a targeted manner, and we’re excited to collaborate with Spotify to launch the first-ever cannabis ads from our Sunnyside national retail brand,” Cory Rothschild, Cresco Labs’ national retail president, said in the release. “Our Sunnyside advertising strategy is built on a data ecosystem enabling best-in-class targeting and measurement.”

Rothschild added that Spotify’s platform, which boasts more than 551 million users and 220 million subscribers, will enable Cresco’s marketing team to target ads “compliantly and profitably” to its core shoppers in Illinois where he says the company has a leading share in retail.

“This important partnership is not only a step in normalizing cannabis, but it also showcases the sophistication and quality of marketing that we have unlocked at Cresco Labs,” he added.