Kroger Expanding In-Store Retail Media Push

Partnership with Cooler Screens brings marketing platform to 500 stores throughout the U.S.

5/23/2023

Cooler Screens is rolling out its retail media technology to 500 Kroger stores throughout the United States.

Following a three-year pilot, The Kroger Co. is expanding its partnership with Microsoft-backed Cooler Screens. The in-store retail media company will bring smart screens into 500 Kroger stores across the United States to offer shoppers a digital media and merchandising experience.

Cooler Screens utilizes an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled advertising and analytics platform that lets brands engage with shoppers at brick-and-mortar stores. The company’s multi-retailer nationwide network already reaches more than 90 million viewers monthly and is expected to reach more than 200 million per month in early 2024.

“We’re excited about this continued collaboration as it extends our vision for the future of retail media, offering brands another powerful marketing lever inside the store,” said Cara Pratt, SVP at Kroger Precision Marketing. “Cooler Screens shares and further enables this vision by bringing the best of digital experiences directly into our retail stores while integrating with our 84.51° data science platform to create an engaging and valuable experience for our customers, associates, and brands.”

“We’re humbled to expand our strategic alignment with Kroger, which is a pioneer in retail media and second-to-none in the use of consumer insights,” said Arsen Avakian, founder and CEO of Chicago-based Cooler Screens. “And like Kroger, we use consumer insights to create a triple win for consumers, brand and the retailer.”

In January, Cooler Screens expanded its platform beyond the cooler through its “One Store, One Platform” offering, bringing screens to end-caps, checkout lane coolers, pharmacy screens and more. The technology can be integrated by retailers – and activated by brands and marketers – to offer targeted and relevant advertising.

Cincinnati-based Kroger has almost 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names. The company is No. 4 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Kroger one of the Retailers of the Century.