What the Next Era of Retail Media Success Looks Like, According to Giant Eagle

Retail media is a term grocers today are intimately familiar with, but in the grand scheme of the industry it's still a new concept. More importantly, according to Heather Feather, Giant Eagle's senior director of digital, e-commerce and retail media, it's a continuously evolving one.It's with an eye on this dynamic view of retail media that Giant Eagle Inc., one of the nation’s largest multi-format food and pharmacy retailers, has spent years laying the foundation for its retail media business, Feather told attendees at Progressive Grocer's GroceryTech event last month, during a session moderated by Jackie Barba, senior editor at the Path to Purchase Institute. In particular, Feather pointed out an important shift in retail media, from looking at it as technology to focusing more on the education and collaboration that make retail media successful in today's consumer environment."Retail media is not just a mobile and web play anymore, it really is end to end," she told attendees. As a result, Feather pointed out that ownership of retail media has bounced around a lot over the years. The key for Giant Eagle has been to look at its retail media network and the customer loyalty data it's built on and work out how to break down information silos and bring different teams together, from marketing and media to IT, in a way that maximizes retail media returns.At Giant Eagle, the reality of that approach — and something Feather said is powerful and unique for the grocer — is that retail media is treated like its own line of business, with its own profit and loss and cross-functional support, just like anything else in the physical store."I think that's really powerful in how we've positioned [retail media] that way," she said.Taking a Flexible Approach to Customer DataA big focus for Giant Eagle has been taking an approach to the data from its longstanding loyalty program that allows the retailer to be flexible as retail media evolves, Feather said."We talk about data all day, every day," she mentioned.Giant Eagle's loyalty program started out as fuel perks decades ago, which means the grocer has accumulated a lot of rich customer data over the years. This is a strength for Giant Eagle, but, if it's not managed properly, it can become a hindrance, Feather pointed out."We have to continuously assess the accuracy of that data," she said.For Feather, the biggest area of opportunity is working out how to manage that customer data so that it's accurate. What that looks like at Giant Eagle is building a digital experience that gives the grocer a lot of control, Feather explained, and investing significantly in "build" as it relates to customer experience as opposed to "buy.""That flexibility and agility is key," she stated.A big part of that at Giant Eagle is focusing on moving loyalty members through different channels in today's shopping environment."It allows us to do really good things with our brand partners," Feather said.Finding the Balance With Brand StorytellingIn working with those brand partners, retailers must have an eye for balancing retail brand storytelling and advertising partner brand storytelling. The key, Feather said, is ensuring the brand messages Giant Eagle is supporting through its retail media help tell the grocer's story."We want to make sure that the prominent message is really about our brand promise, our differentiation, whether that be through fresh, through quality, through loyalty," she explained. "And then we also ensure that the brand messages that we're supporting help tell that story as well."Feather noted Giant Eagle tries to keep the balance at 50-50.Similarly, Giant Eagle looks at retail media metrics through the lens of its partnerships with brands, Feather said. As standardizing and improving metrics becomes a much bigger part of the retail media conversation, Feather mentioned Giant Eagle is bringing its merchandising partners into the fold to identify joint goals related to defining metrics of success.It's that measurement conversation that Feather said will usher in the next phase of retail media in grocery — one that she noted will be defined by open dialogue and the ability to pivot. In addition, Feather said cross-functional collaborations and brand collaborations will be key to continued retail media success."It's really more of a build, an augment, of our enterprise message to keep things consistent for our customers," she said.This article was originally published on P2PI sibling brand Progressive Grocer.

What the Next Era of Retail Media Success Looks Like, According to Giant Eagle

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Business Topic

Company

Market Segment

Popular Articles

P&G Expands Retailer Conversations Beyond Pricing, Promotions

P2PI Names 40 Under 40 Class of 2026

P2PI Names 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees

P2PI Events

Colgate-Palmolive Bets Big on Digital Transformation, Unified Commerce Marketing