The next generation of in-store digital ads are coming to Hy-Vee.
The grocery chain has partnered with Grocery TV, an Austin, Texas-based company that has built out a network of digital screens across more than 5,000 retail stores across the U.S. The deal allows Hy-Vee to plug its in-store digital screens into that network. Advertisers will be able to buy that ad space through the demand-side platform The Trade Desk.
Hy-Vee has more than 285 stores across the Midwest and launched its retail media network, RedMedia, in 2023. Marketers can buy ads that appear on Hy-Vee’s website and app, in stores, and across the open web. Partnering with Grocery TV allows RedMedia to manage off-site and in-store campaigns through the same platform.
In-store retail media is growing faster than online, noted Emarketer retail media analyst Sarah Marzano. In-store represents less than 1% of total retail media ad spend, but there’s significant opportunity once retailers like Hy-Vee can solve for the physical tech, infrastructure, attribution, and measurement capabilities.
The partnership could be meaningful if Grocery TV, “can ease the omnichannel ad buying and campaign management process for existing RedMedia advertisers,” Marzano said. It may also allow Hy-Vee to tap into Grocery TV’s network of non-endemic advertisers, which, “could represent significant incremental revenue for RedMedia and further fund their holistic retail media efforts,” said Marzano.
Cashing in on in-store ads
This is one of Grocery TV’s largest retail partnership to date, and has more touch points across the stores than any of Grocery TV’s other retailers. The deal made sense for two main reasons, said Marlow Nickell, CEO and founder of Grocery TV.
First, selling digital ads through Grocery TV’s network creates an additional revenue stream for Hy-Vee that it isn’t able to get elsewhere. That’s because advertisers buying through the platform or The Trade Desk will be able to make regional or national buys that include Hy-Vee.
Second, the tech behind Grocery TV is specifically designed for in-store ads, unlike other bigger tech players that power in-store digital ad networks.
