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Run matched-store incrementality tests with regional retailers to verify which shelf placements actually lift sales.
According to Grocery Dive, Mondelēz partnered with Albertsons to test the retailer's new in-store retail media measurement capability, verifying actual sales lift from specific on-shelf placements. The collaboration marks a shift in how CPG brands can measure physical retail media beyond digital impressions.
Mondelēz ran controlled tests using Albertsons' measurement infrastructure to isolate which in-store placements drove incremental purchases. The system tracked sales before, during, and after specific media activations at shelf level, allowing Mondelēz to attribute lift to particular placements rather than relying on aggregate sales data. This incrementality testing answered the core question: did the placement generate new sales, or simply capture existing demand?
The mechanism works because Albertsons controls both the shelf space and the point-of-sale data. By designating test stores with specific placements and control stores without them, the retailer can measure the delta. For Mondelēz, this meant understanding exactly which shelf configurations, endcaps, or secondary placements justified their cost in actual incremental revenue. The test structure removes the guesswork that has plagued physical retail media for decades.
For a small physical-product brand, the steal is straightforward: request incrementality tests from any retail partner with loyalty card data. Start with a single retailer running two matched store groups. Group A gets your endcap or shelf talker for four weeks. Group B runs business as usual. Pull loyalty card sales data for your SKU across both groups. The difference is your lift. Most regional grocers and specialty chains can run this if you frame it as a joint learning exercise. Propose splitting the placement cost if they provide the measurement. The conversation opener: "We'd like to test whether our Q4 endcap investment drives incremental sales. Can your team pull matched-store sales data for a four-week test?" Total cost: your standard placement fee plus 10 hours of internal analysis. No new software required.
The broader pattern is retail measurement infrastructure becoming a competitive moat for grocers. Albertsons built this capability to win CPG media dollars away from Amazon and Walmart. For brands, it means shifting budget from unmeasured trade spend to measured retail media where you can prove the return. The test structure Mondelēz used works at any scale because the logic holds: matched stores, defined treatment, clean measurement window.
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