Dive Brief:

• Northeast Grocery has expanded its partnership with Instacart to incorporate new retail media features into its online shopping platform, including sponsored search and banner ads, according to a Tuesday announcement.
• The grocery company, which oversees Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Friendly Markets, is also using Instacart technology to power machine learning that serves up more personalized recommendations to online shoppers, the announcement stated.
• This expanded tie-up comes as regional grocers enhance their online offerings and continue to enter the retail media sector, following in the footsteps of larger competitors like Albertsons, Kroger and Walmart.

Dive Insight:

With Instacart’s e-commerce technology, machine learning technologies will offer shoppers more personalized recommendations, streamline the reordering process and provide offerings like custom online coupons to bolster customer loyalty, the press release said. 

In addition, Northeast Grocery is launching Instacart’s Carrot Ads solution, which lets brands advertise directly on Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops’ e-commerce platforms and apps as well as allows brands to expand the reach of campaigns to include the two banners when targeting consumers nationally. The overall goal of the initiative is to drive bigger baskets, the announcement noted. 

Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops have been using Instacart’s Storefront Pro to power their e-commerce websites and apps since 2019, offering pickup and delivery to customers in as fast as an hour, according to the press release. The banners’ footprint consists of nearly 300 stores across New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

As more grocery giants continue to build out retail media offerings through in-house networks, regional grocers are linking up with technology companies to establish networks of their own. 

In March 2022, Schnucks Market began using Instacart’s Carrot Ads and its Carrot Tag software, using the e-commerce giant for its back-end e-commerce fulfillment while Schnucks controls the front-end experience, Schnucks Senior Vice President Bob Hardester said in a previous interview with Grocery Dive.

Save Mart announced the launch of a retail media network through a partnership with Swiftly in May, while Giant Eagle announced this month the launch of Leap Media Group, an in-house retail media arm that taps into the grocer’s customer loyalty program.